Skein of the Crime Read Online Free Page B

knitting rules to mess up your boyfriend’s sweater.”
    “Not to worry. I saw Marty wear a bright green scarf once last winter and it looked great,” Jennifer said.
    Megan glanced over to Kelly. “Another hat? Don’t you have enough hats, Kelly? I swear, you’ve gone overboard in the hat department.”
    “This one is for Steve. I’m hoping he can wear it skiing this winter. Assuming he has time to ski.” Her voice couldn’t conceal her concern.
    Time was something Steve didn’t have enough of. Ever since he’d started working with the architectural firm in Denver in July, spare time had evaporated. Kelly had envisioned summer would be a repeat of the year before—hiking and camping in the mountains, sleeping under the stars with Carl by their sides. Plenty of baseball and softball games, plus summer nights in Old Town with friends Megan and Marty, Lisa and Greg, and Jennifer and café owner Pete.
    But it didn’t happen. Steve had thrown himself into his new job in Denver, hoping to make enough money to keep his business going. Kelly got to play ball and go out with her friends, but Steve was rarely there. When he did get home, they’d grab a pizza on the way to a game. Kelly would stay, and Steve would go to his Old Town office instead, trying to keep his own construction business afloat. By the time he returned to the cottage, he’d fall asleep beside Kelly, exhausted.
    Megan glanced over at Kelly. “Maybe the housing market will get better this winter. What do you think, Jen?”
    Jennifer gave a deep sigh before answering. “I wish I could say that will happen, but I really don’t think so. There are still too many houses for sale now, and buyers are looking for bargains. That’s why they’re scooping up those foreclosure homes.”
    “Let me guess what you guys are talking about,” Lisa said as she strode into the room. She pulled out a chair beside Megan. Long blonde tendrils had escaped the scrunchy hair band holding back Lisa’s hair. She pulled out a multicolored shawl and picked up her stitches. “How’s Steve holding up?”
    “As well as you can expect, considering Steve,” Kelly observed wryly. “He can’t control any of this, and it’s driving him crazy. He’s holding on, but if Jennifer’s right, I don’t know what will happen. If he loses Baker Street Lofts . . .” Kelly’s voice trailed off.
    Baker Street was the project nearest Steve’s heart. The one he’d dreamed of doing ever since he was in college. Remodeling an old warehouse in Old Town into a distinctively designed building with offices below and trendy loft apartments above. With their great view of the Cache La Poudre River meandering nearby, the lofts had sold out quickly as had the retail space. But now . . . the constantly deteriorating real estate market was causing chaos all over northern Colorado, including Steve’s last building site in Wellesley.
    Lisa’s pretty face puckered into a worried frown. “Darn it, I hadn’t planned to mention this, but I guess I have to.” She looked over at Kelly with concern. “Another foreclosure sign appeared at Steve’s Wellesley site. I saw it this morning when I drove into work. I’m sorry, Kelly.”
    Kelly winced. “Damn,” she said softly, so as not to disturb customers who were browsing the yarn bins lining two walls of the knitting room. Bookshelves stuffed with books and magazines on every fiber subject imaginable lined the other two walls. “I can’t tell him, I just can’t.”
    “Don’t worry. The mortgage company will tell him,” Jennifer said gently. “I saw that sign today when I took a buyer out to look for foreclosed homes.”
    “Damn, damn, damn ,” Kelly repeated in frustration, her stitches getting tighter. The emotions ran straight through her all the way into the yarn. “Now Steve will have to work even harder. He’s just started to work a second job at night to earn extra money. This builder-developer guy, Fred, hires extra