One Snowy Night (Sweet Home, Alaska #1) - Patience Griffin Page 0,117

you out with our carrying on. He wants you well rested for tonight.” Piney gave her a wink, then turned to the others. “Aberdeen, help Ella and Hope get settled on the couch. Lacy, Uki, and you other girls, pour the punch in the plastic cups we brought and pass them around. After that, give out the snacks.”

“Excuse me.” Donovan was back, this time with Jesse.

“What is it?” Piney asked with a little irritation in her voice. “You’re cutting into our time.”

“Jesse forgot Ella’s present,” Donovan said.

Jesse maneuvered carefully past Donovan, holding another sewing machine, this one with a pink bow on top.

“Sorry about that, kiddo,” Jesse said, placing Ella’s machine next to Hope’s.

For being so thoughtful, Hope needed to give Donovan another kiss—a mind-blowing one—but she guessed that could wait until they were alone tonight . . . after they were married.

Ella jumped up and gave her father a hug. “Love you, Dad,” she whispered. But Hope heard her and it melted her heart.

“Love you, too,” he said back hoarsely. Then he disappeared from the doorway again.

“Okay, now for the main attraction,” Piney said. “Lisa, you go first.”

The women lined up behind Miss Lisa. Ella’s friends lined up next to them.

“We didn’t have time to make you a quilt,” Piney said. “I apologize. I should’ve had everyone working on these from the start, instead of just focusing on the food.”

“Working on what?” Hope noticed everyone was holding a tissue-wrapped something in their hands.

“Go ahead, Lisa, show her,” Piney said.

Miss Lisa came forward and handed the present to her. “We all saw your Izzie Memory Tree quilt drawing the first day we met here.”

“Actually, Bill made sure they saw it,” Piney chimed in.

Miss Lisa acted like Piney hadn’t admitted that part and continued. “Since you were laid up with your hurt ankle, and then busy with decorating and the other quilts for the lodge, we thought we would each make a block for you to give you a head start on Izzie’s quilt. I hope it was okay that we got into your Izzie fabric.”

“Of course it’s all right,” Piney said. “We’re family. Now open it.”

Hope gently pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a moose block for the upper right corner of the quilt. Miss Lisa had embellished it with two of Izzie’s buttons. Hope pushed herself off the couch. “Oh, Miss Lisa, it’s beautiful.” She hugged the older woman.

“Stop all that hugging,” Piney said. “We’ll never get through everyone. Now, Hope, sit back down.” Piney pointed to Lacy. “It’s your turn.”

Lacy came forward and handed Ella her tissue-wrapped package. “You’re my best friend, Ella, and I’m so happy you’ve got a dad now.”

Hope knew this was hard for Lacy; her parents were divorced when she was two, and her father wasn’t involved in her life.

Lacy went on. “Each of the Chicas has made a block, the start of a Friendship quilt for you. Open it. Look, we’ve all signed our blocks.”

Ella pulled back the paper to reveal a Log Cabin block with Lacy’s name stitched in the middle of one of the logs. “Look, Mom.”

Hope examined it, and then Ella held it up for everyone to see.

One by one, everyone—Aberdeen, Lolly, Paige . . . even Courtney, whose wolf block was a work of art—brought up their blocks and gave them to Hope or to Ella.

Hope was overcome with joy and love for these women. When she woke up that morning she hadn’t believed her heart could handle a smidge more emotion, but she was wrong. She was flooded with happiness.

Piney was the last one to come forward but carried a much larger package than the others. A box, actually. “This is from Bill. I tried to get him to join us, but apparently he’s too much of a man to attend a girly wedding shower.” She passed Hope the plain box. “He didn’t just make you one block for Izzie’s Memory Tree. You better open it up and take a look to see what’s inside.”

Hope pulled off the lid to reveal a stack of blocks—some houses, some trees, and some traditional blocks—none of which were in her design. “What’s this for?”

Piney handed her a piece of paper. “He took liberties with your original design and expanded it to include all of Sweet Home.”

Hope studied the paper and saw that Bill hadn’t just expanded her design, he’d made it a work of art.

“The fabrics in his blocks are from each of our own stashes,” Aberdeen explained. “See, my