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work in their group. Elise had tried to suggest it must've been Courtney's dad, but Lydia just shook her head. Thankfully, she didn't bring it up again. Elise didn't want to mislead a woman she considered one of her best friends.

She heard the timer on the stove and set aside her knitting to check the cupcakes. Turning off the oven, she took out the muffin tin and placed it on a cooling rack. The scent of warm blueberries filled the kitchen. She intended to slather the cup-cakes with a cream cheese frosting and serve them to Maverick and his friends. Little did the "boys" realize how healthy these desserts were.

A half hour later, Maverick woke, looking noticeably rested. He glanced at his watch; the game would start in less than twenty minutes.

Predictably enough, the phone started to ring at three o'clock and Bart, the first of the boys, arrived. He was quickly followed by Al and Fred.

"Smells mighty good in here," Bart said, sniffing the air. He winked at Elise. "No one bakes better'n you, no sir. I'll bet those taste as good as they smell, too."

Elise smiled at the blatant flattery. "I'll see what I can do to make sure you get one, Bart."

He grinned. "I do appreciate that, Mrs. Beaumont."

Al and Fred weren't far behind, staggering playfully toward the kitchen, led by their noses.

"You been baking again?" Al asked, hat in his hands, eyes comically wide.

Maverick shared a secret smile with her. "You're spoiling my friends," he murmured.

"Those for us poor old men?" Fred rubbed his hands together. "Us poor hungry old men..."

"Would you three stop it," Elise said, halfheartedly attempting to hold in a laugh. "You know darn well I always bake on Tuesdays."

Bart poked his elbow in Al's ribs. "That's the reason we're here, remember?"

"I thought you came for the poker," Maverick teased.

"That, too."

Chuckling, they gathered around the kitchen table. Maverick pulled out a deck of cards and shuffled. Each one bought in for twenty dollars; the winner of the "tournament" took home the pot.

Within minutes, they were involved in their game. Elise frosted the cupcakes, then went back to her knitting. When the men had finished, she served coffee and cupcakes to the accompaniment of much praise and fulsome thanks.

Maverick caught her eye and she smiled at the man she loved. Her husband smiled back. Being in love did something for a woman, she decided. There was no feeling, no experience, to equal it.

CHAPTER 49

"Sock knitting teaches us to take one step at a time - cuff, heel, foot, toe - and not to be overwhelmed by the big picture."

- Kathy Zimmerman, Kathy's Kreations,

Ligonier, PA. www.kathys-kreations.com

LYDIA HOFFMAN

There's a lull at the shop, and after a busy morning, I've decided to take a break in the office. Margaret will handle the customers while I put my feet up. It's been rush, rush, rush all morning.

A Good Yarn is doing well - so well - and I'm grateful. I sometimes feel as if I'm living in a dream. I know I'm not, because the diamond on my finger sparkles and my heart is full of love for Brad and Cody. I'm quite possibly the happiest woman in the world. I'm engaged to marry the hand-so-mest, most wonderful man alive. Within a couple of months, I'll be living with Brad and Cody and Chase. Whiskers, thankfully, tolerates Cody's dog and will probably teach him some discipline.

I don't think my life could get any better than it is right at this moment.

When I first opened the doors to A Good Yarn, it was my affirmation of life. Little did I realize, two years ago, what would happen and all the friends I would make. Jacqueline, Carol and Alix have become very dear to me. They were the three who gave me my start.

I've held several classes since the baby blanket class. All of them were good, but none of those relationships matched the closeness I felt with my first three students. Until recently, with the sock class. That was when Elise, Bethanne and Courtney entered the shop and my life. I didn't think it was possible to feel as close to another class as I did my original one, but again life has taught me a valuable lesson.

I recall how difficult Elise was that first day, fretting over her ex-husband's coming visit. And Bethanne, with her self-esteem shattered by her divorce, and Courtney, a lonely, over-weight teenager struggling with a loss of her own. The four of