Stages of Grace - By Carey Heywood Page 0,80

the funniest story about this girl in Brazil."

"Can’t. I've been told to ‘primp.’” Then I remember Nikita's text. "Kate, do you have any purple yarn?"

"Another knitter?" Jack asks.

"I taught her myself. And yes, dear, I do." Kate beams and then reaches into her basket for a couple skeins.

Taking them, I thank her before heading to my room. Once there, I regard my closet. Primp. That means dressed up, right? But how dressed up? I settle on a black maxi skirt with a white V-necked tank and pair it with a wide brown leather belt and sandals. I take a quick shower and shave my legs. After changing into my outfit, I dry my hair and put on some make up. Not much, mainly my eyes and some lip gloss. I think about curling my hair, but it seems like a wasted effort. Without tons of hairspray, the curls will never hold. I wear it down but slip an elastic around my wrist in case I want to pull it up.

After a spray of perfume, I grab one skein and my needles and sit with Kate and Jack.

"I must be losing my touch," Jack says, shaking his head a few minutes later, looking at the two of us knitting.

I have to laugh. That's pretty funny.

"So what are you making, Grace?"

"A scarf for one of my friends in Cleveland."

"How long does it take to make one?"

"Not long. Maybe three days if I knit in the evenings."

"You could sell them."

"No one would ever buy something from me."

"You'd be surprised. There’s this website I heard about called something like Easy…Tesey."

"Etsy?"

"That's it. I was talking to someone on my plane over about it."

"One of my old co-workers bought a scarf like this from there."

"You should find out how much she paid for it." He turns to Kate. "How much do each one of those balls of yarn cost?"

"These? Maybe three dollars, but there are more expensive options."

"How many balls—"

"Skeins," she corrects.

"How many skeins does it take to make a scarf?"

"If it is really wide or long, at least two."

"That's all? You could make a serious profit."

"Talking numbers again?" Ryan pops his head around the corner.

Seeing how he's dressed, I'm happy with my outfit. He’s wearing a pair of tan khakis and a charcoal grey dress shirt, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He leans down to give Kate a kiss on the check, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Telling Grace she should try and sell her scarves."

"You might want to listen to him, Grace. Jack has very good business sense."

"I'll think about it," I say, standing and walking over to Ryan.

"You look lovely," he breathes into my ear, making me shiver.

"You kids have fun tonight." Kate waves us off.

I wonder if it’s so she can be alone with Jack again. Looks like Kate's a flirt too. Ryan holds my hand as he walks me to his car and opens my door for me.

"So do I get to know where we're going yet?"

"Nope. Still a surprise."

I'm not expecting us to go to work. "Um, did you need to pick something up from the office?"

"You'll see."

He comes around and opens my door. I've never been here at night. There are white Christmas-style lights wrapped around the railing of the dock, and the Seabreeze is lit up similarly, with lights coiled around the metal guards. He takes my hand and leads me down to the dock. He helps me onto the boat, and I see there is a table set on its deck.

"This is beautiful, Ryan."

"This is nothing. You are beautiful. Want to drive?"

"But it's dark out."

"So is that a no?"

"How will I know where to go?"

"You'll have me."

Ryan unties the ropes securing the boat to the dock and uses a long wooden pole to push it clear. He has it away from the dock before he motions for me to come and take the wheel. He stands behind me, hands resting on my hips. He whispers directions in my ear. I look back to watch the lights from the shoreline grow smaller. The water is fairly calm. Once we're maybe twenty minutes out, he cuts the engine and drops the anchor. The moon is near full and out over the water. It gives more light than I'd have expected. It’s as though its glow is diminished by all of the electric lights I'm accustomed to.

We sit, and I laugh when Ryan pulls out a bag of take out and milkshakes from the burger joint. I figure he