Harriet took a good look at him. His white shirt was smeared with what looked like blood. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his left arm had a long scratch down its length.
"What happened?” she asked.
"I'm staying in a studio apartment over the vet clinic,” he explained. “My mom was working late, so I took her Chinese food from that Rice Bowl place on Fourth Street, and since I was driving right past here on my way home, Mom asked if I would drop her quilt off. I guess she finished putting the trim on it at work this afternoon."
"Binding,” Harriet corrected. “She finished binding it."
"Whatever,” he said.
"If she finished binding it, where is it?"
"That would be the problem part,” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I was on my way here, and right at the bottom of your hill the car in front of me hit a dog. We both stopped, and the lady that was driving went to the two closest houses. No one knew who the dog belonged to, and it couldn't wait any longer."
"Please tell me you didn't wrap the dog in your mother's quilt,” Harriet said.
The muscle in Aiden's jaw jumped.
"I couldn't let her lay there and bleed to death,” he protested. “She's a big Lab, and I think she's pregnant. I didn't have anything else to use as a stretcher."
Harriet looked pointedly at his shirt.
He grabbed his shirttails in his hands. “My shirt wouldn't hold a dog that big. I know my mom will understand if it comes to that.” The misery was clear in his voice.
Any kid who grew up to be a vet and then went to Africa to save wild animals had probably brought his share of damaged wildlife home to his mother. Avanell likely would understand.
"I can't promise anything, but go get it and let's see what we have."
His shoulders sagged in relief. He went out and gathered the quilt in his arms. Harriet watched him from the door and took it from him. She spread it out on the big cutting table then pulled up a tall stool for herself and another for Aiden.
"Here, sit."
"I can't until you say you can fix it."
"First aid for a quilt is all I can manage right now. If you keel over, I'm leaving you."
He looked at her and must have decided she was serious because he sat.
Harriet turned on the true-color ceiling lights over the cutting table then plugged in her freestanding Ott light and pulled it over to the table. In order to be sure the colors in a quilt truly complement each other, most quilters use lights that are made to match natural sunlight. Any stitcher worth her salt had both a floor version in her home and a portable unit for group gatherings.
Although it was possible to buy a true-color light that wasn't made by Ott, they so dominate the crafter's market that, like Kleenex being used to refer to all tissues or Scotch tape for all transparent cellophane tape, people called all true lights “Ott Lights."
She bent over the quilt, looking at the entire top surface, then flipped it over to look at the back side in two places. Aiden started tapping his fingers on the edge of the table. Harriet glared at him.
"You're killing me here,” he said.
"Tapping your fingers isn't helping me do my job any faster."
She let him squirm for another two minutes. At last she stood up.
"You are one lucky dog savior,” she said. “And it is especially fortunate that the blood didn't get on the cream-colored areas. Your mom used a hand-dyed fabric that has enough shading to it that I think after it's cleaned you won't be able to tell anything happened."
He shocked her by grabbing her in a bear hug and twirling her around in a circle.
"I knew you could fix it. Mom told me you're really talented. Thank you so much."
"Hold on here,” she said, and pushed him away. “This isn't a done deal yet. It all depends on a few things working out just right."
"Anything,” he said. “I'll do anything. Tell me. Just make my mom's quilt be okay. I'm begging you here."
"Calm down,” Harriet said. She couldn't help smiling, though. “First, I need to fix this one place where the stitches are broken.” She scooped it up off the table, grabbed her hand-sewing kit and headed for the chairs. Aiden sat on the ottoman.
"Can I do anything to help?” he asked.
"Here, hold this,” she said. She handed him the half of the quilt she wasn't working on. She didn't really need anyone to hold it for her, but at least it would keep him from tapping his fingers.
"When I finish here, you still have to take it to the dry cleaners on Nisqually Street and get them to clean the spots and then get it back to me by Thursday morning. Can you do that?"
"I have to go to Seattle tomorrow, but I should be able to drop it off before I leave,” Aiden said. “I just have to turn in my final research report, then I can drive back and pick it up."
"As long as you get it to me before ten on Thursday morning, it should be fine."
"I'll bring it to you Wednesday night as soon as I get back. I don't want to take any chances."
"Probably a good idea,” Harriet said. “If tonight is any indication."
"This is probably a dumb question, but is there some reason we didn't just throw it in the washer?” he asked.
"It's not a dumb question, just don't ever do it. You never throw someone else's quilt in the washer. If they haven't pre-washed the fabric, it can pucker and bleed. And you pretty well never wash an art piece. They use techniques that aren't meant to stand up to water or agitation."
Aiden sighed. “I figured that would be too simple."
"You should tell your mom what happened,” Harriet said.
"I know I should, but she seems really preoccupied and tired. I was hoping we could take care of this without her ever needing to know."
"It's your call,” she said. “I'd tell her, if it was me, even if everything is fine."
"I'll tell her after it wins the blue ribbon. Then she'll think it's funny. And she'll be a lot less likely to kill me.” He grinned. He'd probably kept Avanell on her toes when he was growing up.
Harriet tied a single knot in her thread, buried it in the batting and clipped the thread end.
"There you go,” she said. She stood up and folded the quilt. “I'll call the cleaners in the morning, but you remind them, too, that it's hand-dyed cotton. And let them wash the pillow slip it was in, too. That way, you'll have something clean to put it in when you pick it up."
"Thank you so much,” he repeated. “And I'm sorry I came barging in here in the middle of the night."
"Not a problem.” She opened the door for him and watched as he carried the quilt to his car, gently setting it on the backseat. He was the one who looked tired, she thought.
Chapter Nine
Harriet's phone was ringing as she came downstairs after her shower Wednesday morning. She dashed across the entrance, through the dining and living rooms and grabbed the phone just as the caller hung up. She didn't recognize the number the caller ID was showing her, but that wasn't unusual. She dialed.
"Oh, Harriet,” Avanell said. “I'm glad you called back. I have a favor to ask."
"Sure, anything.” Maybe Aiden had come clean.
"I need you to go to a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser with Harold."
"I don't date,” Harriet said flatly. She could feel her face turning red.
"I'm not asking you to go on a date, honey. The company bought tickets to this thing a month ago. I was going to go, but we're shorthanded, and the end of the month shipping is piling up. We paid a hundred dollars a ticket, and I just hate to see it go to waste. Besides, Harold is a teddy bear. He's our finance guy. I can guarantee he'll be a perfect gentleman. And Delilah's Catering is providing the food, so you know it will be good."
Harriet didn't have experience with Delilah's Catering, but she knew her aunt used them whenever she was putting on an event. After days of lettuce and carrots, the thought of well-prepared food made her mouth water. For a hundred dollars a plate, they might get steak or prime rib, or even chicken with skin. She decided it wouldn't matter if Harold was a troll if she got hors d'oeuvres. She wondered what kind of rolls they would have.