red awning and door. Inside, blond wood shelving cubes crammed with yarn occupied all available wall space. The yarn had been sorted by color and texture so that stepping into The Knit & Stitch was almost like walking into a rainbow.
In the corner, near the front window, stood a group of comfy-looking easy chairs, with a scarred coffee table in the middle. A couple of women whom Savannah recognized from the book club sat in the chairs knitting away. One of them, a young mother with a sleeping infant in the stroller beside her, was someone Savannah had yet to meet.
The tall, gray-haired woman behind the checkout counter gave a big wave. “Hey,” she whispered loudly, giving the slumbering baby a meaningful look. “How are you doing, Miz Miriam?”
Aunt Miriam’s eyes lit up behind her trifocals. “Hey, Pat, I’d like you to meet my niece, Savannah White. Savannah, this is Pat Canaday, Molly’s mother.”
Pat smiled. “Well, hello. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m so glad someone is going to do something about The Kismet.” She glanced through her front window, which provided a bird’s-eye view of the dilapidated theater. “That place is an eyesore. The other merchants on Palmetto will be ever so grateful when The Kismet is restored to its former glory.”
Savannah smiled politely while simultaneously wishing that Rocky had kept her mouth shut. So many people seemed to be depending on her. She wasn’t used to that.
“So, Pat, what’s new?” Miriam asked.
“Well, I just got a shipment of possum yarn.”
Possum yarn? It was a joke, right?
“Oh,” Miriam said, “I heard about that stuff. It’s supposed to be very soft.”
Apparently it wasn’t a joke.
“Oh, it is. Here, let me get you a skein of it. You have to touch it to believe it.” Pat crossed the room and pulled down a hank of dark purple yarn. “Here, have a feel. Isn’t that the yummiest thing ever? They call that color claret.”
Miriam stroked the yarn as if it might be a real live possum. “Oh, that is soft. And I do love the color, too.” Her voice sounded wistful.
Savannah watched her aunt and knew right then that she needed medical attention. If not for the arthritis then for her obvious dementia.
“Don’t you look at me that way,” Miriam said with a suddenly sharp stare. “I’m not crazy.” She turned toward Pat. “Am I crazy?”
Pat snorted a laugh and turned a pair of gray eyes on Savannah. “Honey, you have obviously never knitted or crocheted. It’s always about the yarn. Now, you take that yarn, for instance. It’s as soft as cashmere. It’s spun of forty percent possum, fifty percent washable merino, and ten percent silk. It comes from New Zealand where possums are an ecological threat to the kiwis. So it’s even environmentally sound.”
Miriam held out the skein of purple possum. “Touch it, honey. You’ll see.”
She took the yarn. And it almost took her breath away. It was the softest thing she had ever felt. “Wow.”
“So, you want to take lessons?” Pat asked. “You could make your aunt a beautiful sweater.”
“No!” Savannah said.
“Yes!” Miriam said at the same time.
“Miriam, I have no desire to knit.” She handed the yarn back to her aunt, who stroked it against her cheek.
“Cooking is my thing,” Savannah said.
“So we’ve heard.” This came from the young mother sitting by the window. She smiled at Savannah. The sun coming through the shop window lit up her red hair. She had the classic looks of a carrot top, including the freckles. The baby in the stroller had red hair, too.
“I’m Kenzie Griffin. I’m also a member of the book club, but I missed you last time, because Junior had a bad cold. I heard all about how you stood up to Nita. Thank you. I really enjoyed reading Pride and Prejudice. I’m looking forward to discussing it on Wednesday.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Amen to that,” the African-American woman sitting beside Kenzie said. Savannah recognized this woman from the book club, but she didn’t remember her name.
The woman gave her a big smile. “Honey, I’m Lola May Lindon. And for the record, I think what you’re doing for the town is just wonderful.”
“This town really needs a theater,” Kenzie said. “I’m a newcomer here. My husband just got a job at deBracy, and we’re not used to having to drive an hour to see a movie.”
Savannah gave Kenzie and Lola May a smile but didn’t say anything for fear of exposing herself as the fraud that she was.