Connie assured Harriet she would take care of Sarah and that Harriet should just worry about bringing a winning dog design. Harriet laughed and said she would see her in an hour and a half.
Fred was doing his usual morning dance around her ankles, so she dished up his breakfast. She'd spent her morning shower time thinking about DeAnn's situation. Phyllis and Joseph had pretty much said the same thing-any child who was taken from a familiar living situation and thrust into a strange one, no matter how much nicer the new one was, would feel the stress of the change. Logically, she understood the explanation, but something didn't feel right. Why, in that case, was Kissa so calm. Hadn't she traveled halfway around the world, too? Could it just be the difference in their personalities? Maybe Kissa came from a family. Maybe Neelie had been her mother.
She had a hard time believing that last thought.
She kept coming back around to the quilt Iloai clung to. There had to be something they could learn from it. She picked the phone up again and dialed Mavis.
"Do you think I could spend some time with the quilt Iloai brought with her?” she asked when she'd connected with her friend. “Maybe I could stitch it to a piece of flannel, to stabilize it."
"I think that's a great idea. I took a rag doll over this morning,” Mavis said. “I had a couple left over from a batch I made last spring for the church bazaar. That baby grabbed onto the doll like a life preserver. She dropped the blanket. You could check with DeAnn, but I'll bet she'll think it's a good plan."
Harriet thanked her and rang off, then called DeAnn, who confirmed Iloai was sufficiently distracted by the doll she probably wouldn't miss her blanket until bedtime. She agreed that anything Harriet could do to keep it from falling apart would be welcome.
"Robin stopped by this morning and was just telling me you're all going to meet at Connie's at ten. If you want, I can send it along with her. Just promise me you can have it back before eight o'clock."
"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll work on it as soon as the meeting is over."
Harriet fixed a piece of toast and a cup of tea and took both into her studio. She cut out two more sets of diamonds then played with her block layout until she'd tried every variation twice. She still wasn't happy with it, so she pinned the pieces onto a piece of paper instead of sewing them.
"What am I going to do, Fred?” she asked as she came back into the kitchen. “It's not time to go, but there's not enough time to do anything else."
Fred jumped onto the counter in front of her and pressed his face into her hand.
"Do you have to drool when you do that?” she asked and wiped her hand on her jeans. “If that's your best idea, I'm leaving."
She put another small spoonful of food into his dish, gathered her purse and quilting bag and left. It was her turn to drive, so she headed for her aunt's.
Beth had moved into a cottage on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was smaller than the Victorian home Harriet now occupied, but it did have three bedrooms and a garden space that was much more manageable. Harriet took a shortcut over Miller Hill and arrived at Aunt Beth's a few minutes later.
"You're early,” Beth said as she opened the door before Harriet could knock. When Harriet didn't move immediately, her aunt grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. “Don't just stand there, make yourself useful. Fetch my quilting bag from my sewing room, will you?"
She retreated to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
Harriet went to the upstairs bedroom turned into a sewing room. Colorful quilt blocks were stuck to the design wall. Beth had tried several different color combinations, and Harriet assumed the winner was in the bag, so to speak. The requested canvas tote hung by its handle from the back of a wooden chair. She grabbed it and went back downstairs. Aunt Beth was standing by the front door with her purple rain jacket draped over her arm.
"What's the hurry?” Harriet asked.
"Since you're so early, I thought we could stop by Little Lamb and chat with Phyllis. I tried to call her, but her phone was busy. When I tried later, her machine answered, so I left her a message."
"Okay. Do you think she'll be able to tell us anything new?"
"Oh, I don't know,” Aunt Beth said with a sigh. “I feel like we have to try something to help DeAnn. Phyl has a lot of experience with adoption, so if there's anything to be done, she can tell us."
Harriet waited for her aunt to buckle her seatbelt then headed her car back up over Miller Hill and on to downtown Foggy Point.
Phyllis was sitting at the reception desk in the front room of the Little Lamb Adoption Agency office, shuffling papers without looking at them. A tendril of her cotton-candy hair hung limply across her forehead. She looked up when the door's warning bell chimed as Harriet and Beth entered, her eyes wide.
"Hi, Phyl,” Beth said. “Is everything all right?"
"No, everything is not all right,” Phyllis snapped.
Harriet and Beth stood in shocked silence.
"I'm sorry,” Phyllis said with a sigh. She hoisted her bulk to a standing position. “It's just Joseph."
"What about Joseph?” Harriet asked.
"He didn't show up for work today. He's not answering his house phone or cell phone.” She again shuffled the papers she still clutched in her hands.
"Maybe he just overslept,” Aunt Beth offered.
"He's never overslept before, especially when he was supposed to be taking a baby to Angel Harbor this morning. I had a courier pick up a baby at the airport in Seattle. Joseph was supposed to meet him at seven and take the baby on to the adoptive family. The courier arrived, and no Joseph."
Aunt Beth looked around the office. “So, where's the baby?"
"Jennifer had to hustle in and take over for him,” Phyllis said, referring to the other social worker she employed. “Fortunately, none of her clients is at a critical stage today. I was just trying to find the paperwork for the meeting she was supposed to do this morning so I can fill in for her.” She collapsed into Jennifer's chair. “This is just not like Joseph."
"Is there anything we can do to help?” Beth asked.
"No. Why are you here? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound rude, but were we meeting?"
"Oh, no, we wanted to ask you something,” Harriet said. “We can wait until a better time."
"If you were going to ask me what to do about DeAnn's new daughter, I'll tell you what I told Connie and Mavis when they each called me-tincture of time. That's all she can do. Love the child and wait for her to settle in. I know it seems like an eternity now, but I guarantee that a month from now it will seem like that girl has always been a part of their family.
"I do hope you know that if we were seeing any problem with a placement, we would be intervening. Joseph has been monitoring the situation, and he told me he hasn't observed anything out of the ordinary. Of course, that was before he disappeared.” Phyllis covered her face with her hands.
"I'm sorry we bothered you,” Harriet said, and ushered her aunt toward the door. “I hope you find Joseph.” She waited until they were back in her car before she spoke. “Was that weird or what?"
"She did seem a little stressed,” Beth agreed, stating the obvious.
"A little stressed? She seemed more than a little stressed. I don't know her like you do, but she seemed pretty upset to me."
"Normally, she's pretty steady. I think she's really worried about Joseph. It does seem weird he would no-show like that."
"Aiden and I saw him last night, and he was acting pretty strange.” Harriet recounted her encounter with Joseph. “It was weird the way he said ‘what difference does it make, anyway’ when I asked about the child being from Uganda."
"That young man has always been a little odd,” Aunt Beth said. “I'm not sure what a social worker is supposed to be like, but he's a little high-strung, if you ask me."