A few seconds later, they turned the corner into Anchor Lane—and stared at the line of people waiting to visit The Cozy Quilt Shop.
* * *
Shona couldn’t believethe number of people who were waiting outside. At first, she thought they must be lining up for coffee from The Starlight Café. When the line of people didn't move, she realized they were waiting for her to open the front door.
Andrea wasn’t supposed to arrive for another hour, but she’d called her to see if she could come in earlier. At the rate the crowd was growing, no one would be able to walk down the street.
Someone knocked on the back door. With a glance at her watch, she flew across the store. Hopefully, that was Andrea and not an impatient customer hoping to jump ahead of everyone else.
She opened the door and stared at the three people waiting to see her. “Nate? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to surprise you.” A bouquet of daisies appeared from behind his back. “Congratulations, Mom. I'm really proud of you.”
Shona wrapped him in a hug. “Thank you.” She took the flowers and smiled at her son. “I can't believe you're here. This is the best surprise ever.”
“We had to keep it a secret,” Adele said.
“It wasn't easy,” Joseph added with a smile. “When you talked about Nate not being here, we almost told you he was coming to make you feel better.”
Adele looked up at her dad. “But Pastor John said we had to keep our lips closed.”
“He did.”
“Well, you’re great secret-keepers.” Shona waved them into the store. “Come and have a look. It might be the most stress-free time of the day.”
Adele frowned. “There are lots of people outside. I think they all want to see your quilts.”
“That’s what I’m hoping.” She followed Nate into the store and smiled at his stunned expression. “What do you think?”
Turning in a slow circle, he took everything in. “It’s amazing. The quilts look incredible.” He walked across to a display of felt animals and fabric birdcages. “Where did you find all the other things? They’re perfect for the store.”
“I talked to craft groups and contacted other artists who live around Flathead Lake. They all wanted to be part of what I’ve created.”
Nate ran his fingers across a quilt a young woman at the church had made. The purple and crimson squares were held together with gold thread, woven in a delicate pattern that sparkled under the overhead lights. “I can’t believe the store looks this good.”
Shona grinned. “It’s amazing what can happen when you have a lot of help from your friends.”
“You’re amazing all the time, Mom, even when you do things on your own.”
A lump formed in Shona’s throat. Nate wouldn’t have thought she was wonderful at two o’clock this morning when she was worrying about the store. Every little detail had played over and over in her mind. Did she have enough stock? Did she have too much? Would the store earn enough money to pay a salary for herself and her part-time staff? Could she repay the trust’s loan as quickly as she’d like?
Before she started worrying again, she gave Nate another hug before looking at Adele. “Do you recognize any of the quilts on the walls?”
With an excited smile, Adele pointed at the quilt Shona had made for The Lakeside Inn. “It's the bouquet of roses quilt. It looks awesome.”
“Penny and her sisters let me borrow it for the store’s opening.”
“Mom’s entered it in a big quilting competition,” Nate said proudly. “I think she’ll win.”
“I don’t know about that, but it could be good publicity for the store.”
A gust of wind came through the back door and Jackie rushed into the room. “I left home as fast as I could. People are waiting on Main Street to come inside.” She smiled. “Hi, everyone. I’m Jackie.”
While Joseph introduced everyone, Shona brought another tray of gift-wrapped fudge out of the kitchen and sat it on a table. “If anyone wants a bag of candy to take home, help yourselves now. Otherwise, you might miss out.”
Adele was already standing in front of the table. “Could I have one, please?”
“Of course, you can.”
