The next day, Joseph walked into The Cozy Quilt Shop holding four bags of salted caramel fudge. Nate had beaten him in their first set of races, then doubled his prize when he’d won the next two.
At that stage, Joseph decided he was better off watching—until Shona picked up the controller.
With a smile, he’d watched her beat her son. Not once, not twice, but three times. Nate had eventually won a race, but it hadn’t been an easy victory. To say Joseph was impressed was an understatement.
“Hi,” Shona said to him from behind the sales counter. “You’re here early.”
Considering she’d been run off her feet yesterday, she looked happy and relaxed. “I wanted to see Nate before he heads back to college.”
“I’m here,” a muffled voice said from the storage room behind Shona. Nate appeared holding two boxes in his arms. “I’m helping Mom restock the shelves.”
Joseph held up the fudge. “I believe I owe you three bags of fudge. I bought your Mom one, too. Anyone who can drive a race car like she does deserves some candy.”
Nate left the boxes on the counter. “I thought you might have forgotten.”
“Not when it involves fudge.”
Shona opened her bag and sniffed the sweet, rich scent. “It smells heavenly. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Brooke made it this morning, so it’s nice and fresh. I thought you might appreciate it after how busy it was yesterday.”
“It was busy but enjoyable. Thanks for making dinner for us last night. It was delicious.”
“I’m glad you liked it. Food always tastes better when you’re sharing it with friends.” He looked at the stack of quilts on the counter. “Someone’s been busy.”
“The women from the Polson Quilting Club dropped their quilts off yesterday, but I didn’t have time to put them on the shelves.” She opened one of the quilts and touched the stitching. “Isn’t this lovely?”
He hadn’t paid too much attention to any of the quilts apart from Shona’s, but this one looked good. “I like the blue and purple fabric they’ve used.”
“They dyed the cotton before making the quilt.”
“Don’t ask Mom how they did it,” Nate warned. “You’ll get a lecture about how plants have been used for hundreds of years to permanently color fabric.”
Shona took the quilts across to a table. “It’s an important part of our historyandit’s interesting. If it weren’t, you wouldn’t have remembered what I said.”
“I suppose so.” Nate bit into a piece of fudge. “Yum. I like this flavor better than the one I had yesterday.”
Joseph smiled. “It’s good that I bought you more than one bag, then. When are you heading back to Bozeman?”
“I’ll leave in a couple of hours.”
Shona frowned. “Where’s Adele?”
“She has an early choir practice at The Welcome Center, and then she’s staying with a friend until three o’clock. Hopefully, the residents at the center don’t mind listening to Christmas carols.”
“They’re far enough away from the meeting rooms that they shouldn’t hear too much.” Shona went back to the sales counter and opened a box. “I’d be surprised if anyone complains. The choir sounds amazing.”
Nate placed his half-finished bag of fudge on the counter and opened the other box he’d taken out of the storage room.
Shona pointed to a table beside the fireplace. “The felt animals are over there, Nate. If you can’t fit them all on the table, put what’s left back in the storage room. Do they all have price tags?”
He looked at the ones in his hands. “Yep. I’ll check the others, too.”
Joseph cleared his throat. With Nate here, what he wanted to ask Shona would be harder than he thought. “If Nate is driving back to Bozeman soon, would you like to have lunch with me?”
Shona didn’t seem surprised or flustered by his question. Was that a good thing or was he about to make a fool of himself? He’d thought long and hard about their friendship last night. After a lot of soul-searching, he realized he wanted more from their relationship. But if Shona only saw him as a friend, he was in trouble.
She leaned against the sales counter and frowned. “I’d like to have lunch with you, but I can’t leave the store for too long. Aimee, a friend from our craft group, will be working with me, but she’ll need a break, too.”
