Authors: Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Let it Sew (21 page)

BOOK: Let it Sew

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“But after I came on board with the company and saw how diligent Brian was with every
menial task he was given, I began to wonder if he could do more. Little by little,
as the years went on, I started giving him more and more things to do around the office.
Some of those things had him working with the computers and the programming, and he
was able to do almost everything I put in front of him to do. He was a hard worker.
A really hard worker. And day by day, I watched him plug away while Parker’s real
son—Prince Ethan—proved himself a disgrace again and again. When I tried to make him
see that Brian was the only choice to run the company should something happen to Parker,
he almost changed his will. But in the end, he opted not to. And so I knew it was
time to make him disappear. Permanently.”

“Because if he disappeared, things would continue as they were—with you running Parker’s
company alongside Brian, right?” Oh, how she prayed Milo had answered, that he was
listening, that he was calling for help.

“Smart girl.”

“That’s why I’m at the library,” she said as clearly as she possibly could without
raising too much suspicion. “So you killed Parker, convinced Charlotte that Ethan
had done it, and then had her help you bury the body and craft the whole philandering
story in order to keep Ethan out of jail and keep you running the company through
Brian. Before long, the bilking of money from the center started . . .”

“That about sums it up. Sadie even helped me out by getting rid of that blasted picture
Charlotte drew pointing to Parker’s body like it was some sort of treasure chest.
Though even I know she didn’t dispose of it to help me. She was just cleaning up hoping
not to leave a trail back to herself. Too bad she missed that damn sketch book. If
she hadn’t, Parker’s will wouldn’t be an issue and I’d still be running that company
by way of my son.”

“Your son or your puppet?”

A near silent click from the end of the hallway let her know her call had worked,
yet she resisted the urge to sigh until after Dixie was safe.

“The writing was on the wall, huh?” she asked, her gaze locked on Dixie’s.

“The writing’s on the wall, all right.” Chief Dallas rounded Tori’s office door, his
revolver pointing straight at Jerry Lee Sweeney. “Put your hands in the air . . .
now
!”

Chapter 30

If Tori could only point to one thing as proof that the first annual Cookies and Books
with Mrs. Claus was a success, she’d have to say the smiles of the children as they’d
sat in front of Santa’s wife, eyes wide, listening to her tales of life in the North
Pole with the jolliest of jolly men.

But she didn’t have to point to just one, especially when there were dozens to choose
from.

Not the least of which was the face-splitting smile worn by Mrs. Claus herself as
she savored the utter worship of the children assembled around her, knowing they were
hanging on every word she read and happily devouring every cookie she’d made.

“Every time I think we’ve outdone ourselves, we do it again,” Dixie said, moving in
beside Tori in the doorway of the almost-empty children’s room. “And this on top of
what happened yesterday.”

She heard the slight hitch to her friend’s voice and knew the horror of being held
captive by a killer hadn’t truly worked its way out of the woman’s system quite yet.
Turning to Dixie, she placed a gentle hand on her arm and gave a little squeeze. “What
happened yesterday was this—you were brave and you were steady and you helped put
a killer behind bars.”

“Killers,”
Dixie corrected.

Dixie was right.

Parker’s confession and subsequent arrest had led, in a way, to Sadie’s arrest, too.
For suffocating Charlotte with a bed pillow.

Shaking her head against the thought that threatened to undermine all the good that
had come from the library event, Tori focused instead on the few remaining stragglers
still left in the room, including Melissa, Lulu, Sally, and Molly Sue.

Tori bent at the waist to address Margaret Louise’s three youngest grandchildren.
“Did you enjoy yourselves today, girls?”

Three heads nodded in unison.

“I just wish Mee-Maw had been here, too. She’d have loved Mrs. Claus.”

Her eyes traveled upward to mingle momentarily with Melissa’s. “Well, sometimes mee-maws
have things to do, like moms and little girls.”

“And my youngest has something she’d like to do, too, don’t you, Molly Sue?” Melissa
asked, reaching down to give Molly Sue a pat on her strawberry blonde head before
pulling a book from her oversized mom purse.

Nodding, her eyes solemn, Molly Sue took the book from her mother’s hand and held
it out for Tori.

Confused, Tori looked from the book to the toddler and back. “Why are you giving this
to me? It’s yours, sweetie.”

Lulu stepped forward, placing a reassuring arm around her little sister’s back. “Mama
says we’re going to order another copy for Molly Sue so she can give this one back
to the boy who owns it. So he can remember his own mama, isn’t that right, Molly Sue?”

The little girl nodded again, her understanding of the whole situation more than a
little tenuous. But she trusted her mother and her big sisters, so she did as they
asked.

Swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat, Tori took the book, hugging Molly
Sue in return. “When your copy comes in, sweetie, you bring it to me at the library
and we’ll read it together, okay?”

Molly Sue’s mouth exploded in a smile just before she buried her face in her mother’s
leg.

“Thank you, Victoria.” Melissa nudged her chin toward the little boy nervously watching
them from the other side of the room. “I think someone is trying to catch your attention.”

She followed the path made by Melissa’s chin and smiled.

Kyle.

Turning, she readdressed Dixie, who was still standing in the doorway. “Dixie, it’s
time . . .”

Dixie nodded knowingly. “I’ll alert Rose and Leona that Operation Destroy Grinch is
under way.”

Oh, how she hoped it worked.

For Kyle’s benefit, and for his father’s . . .

She strode across the room to the freckle-faced little boy who’d enjoyed the stories
Mrs. Claus had shared as much as every other child in the room, the lighthearted holiday
fun something he’d needed desperately. “Are you ready?”

Kyle beamed. “I’m ready.” Then, waving to his dad, who was standing a few feet away
with The Grinch, he called, “Dad? I have something for you.”

A flicker of surprise lit Maime’s mud brown eyes, only to recede into full-fledged
irritation as Councilman Jordan left her side to join his son. “What is it, son?”

Reaching onto one of the only remaining shelves in the room, Kyle plucked a Christmas-wrapped
box from the top and handed it to his dad. “I—I hope you like it. I bought this all
by myself with money I earned decorating that tree”—he pointed at his masterpiece
beside Mrs. Claus’s now vacant chair—“with Mom’s ornaments.”

Maime gasped as she, too, turned to look at the tree.

“You did a great job, Kyle,” Avery said. “Mom would be proud.”

Kyle nodded, hopping from foot to foot as he did. “Open it, Dad! Please, please open
it.”

With careful fingers, the councilman tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a plain
white box, Kyle’s exuberant anticipation claiming the attention of the volunteers
who’d stayed behind to clean up the children’s room. “Keep going, Dad. I just know
you’re gonna love it. You have to!”

Avery Jordan smiled down at his son then flipped open the top of the box to reveal
the very same snowflake Maime had thrown at the wall less than a week earlier. “Oh,
Kyle, it’s—it’s perfect,” the councilman said in a voice choked with raw emotion.
“Your mom would have loved this, too.”

“His mom? His mom?” Maime yelled from her spot beside Avery’s elbow. “His mom is
dead
. She’s gone.
I’m
here now. And I told you that when you were trying to wrap the first one, didn’t
I, you little brat!”

Avery’s eyes widened. “The
first
one?”

Kyle nodded, his shoulders slumping at the memory. “She threw it against the wall
and broke it.”

“You broke my son’s gift to me?” Avery asked in a voice that was suddenly wooden.

Before she could speak, Kyle looked up, pointing to Tori as he did. “Miss Sinclair’s
friends—Ms. Winters and Ms. Elkin—took me to the store so I could buy a new one.”

Maime turned on Tori. “Who the hell do you think you are? You had no right to stick
your nose where it didn’t belong. This is
my
life—my life with Avery.”

Holding the ornament box to his chest with one hand, Avery pointed to the door with
his other. “You have no life with me.
My
son
is my life. You hurt him, you hurt me. And while I might be desperate enough to put
up with you hurting me, I could never be desperate enough to put up with you hurting
him. Now get out!” Then, turning to Kyle, he held out his hand for the boy to take.
“As for you, let’s go find the perfect place to hang my new snowflake.”

When the pair was gone, Leona, who’d entered the room with Rose in time to watch the
fireworks, wrapped her arm around her cohort and gave a gentle squeeze. “We sure showed
The Grinch a thing or two, didn’t we, you old goat?”

* * *

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Sewing Pattern

Christmas Stocking Pattern

Want to make Christmas stockings the way Tori and the rest of the Sweet Briar Ladies
Society Sewing Circle do in this book? Here’s how . . .

Decide on the size stocking you’d like to make and cut the shape from fabric—remembering
to cut both a front and a back.
Once you’ve cut, place both stockings together—with the right side of the fabric facing
inward against each other—and sew around the edges, leaving the top of the stocking
open.
Turn the top edge of the stocking down (roughly ½ inch) and hem in place.
Then, turn right side out and attach a ribbon loop for hanging if desired.
Once the stocking is sewn, you can decorate it with ribbon, buttons, jingle bells,
or whatever you decide.
Fill with items designed to fit your size stocking.

To view a photograph of a completed Christmas stocking, click on the “projects” tab
at the top of my website at www.elizabethlynncasey.com.

Holiday Gift Idea

Personal Organizer

Take a fabric place mat (line it if it’s too floppy—damask/tapestry works best) and
fold up the bottom third (this section will become your pockets when done).

Then, fold it lengthwise into thirds to make a folder. Velcro can be added at each
end so your organizer can be closed.

Finally, stitch up some pockets that can be used to hold notepaper, stamps, pens,
etc. Add a few of these items along with the organizer and you have a great gift!

To see a photograph of the completed project, visit www.elizabethlynncasey.com and
click on the “projects” tab at the top.