Hera Takes Charge by Kate Healey

Author:Kate Healey [Kate Healey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Karen Healey
Published: 2024-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Jasmine had gone viral.

The video of her twirling in the quilt, singing, had been picked up by a couple of design influencers just as the temperature had dropped into the crisp, bright days and chilly nights of mid-fall. It was perfect weather for nesting on the sofa, tucked under something warm.

Then Carlos, the arts journalist Don had met at the gallery, had run a story both on the viral quilt story and on Ara herself. He'd used an interview that made Ara sound like a slightly baffled and very endearing genius, which Don was pretty sure she was. Excerpts from the interview had also gone viral.

Over the last four days the Grotto had been inundated with people wanting art quilts. Ara Kaney quilts, in particular. This was a problem, because Ara’s supply had been rapidly depleted. Doris had ruthlessly raised the price on the last few, and declared the Grotto the exclusive retailer. Ara was frantically finishing quilts that had tops but no backing, and had turned out a pile of half-completed projects abandoned before the patchwork was done. She was only one woman, but she was sewing as fast she could to make the most of this unexpected bounty.

Fortunately, if people couldn’t get or afford a genuine Ara Kaney, they’d happily browse the homewares section of the Grotto, looking for something similar. Doris had sent her minions into every homeware store in the city, looking for things that approximated Ara’s bold shapes and lack of obvious pattern, and was right on the verge of asking for anyone who’d ever done an improvised quilt workshop to get in touch with the Grotto. Don had been stuck in textiles all week, talking fabric choices and measurements and color schemes until his jaw hurt.

“Do you think I could order two of these the same?” a customer asked him. “I have twin boys.”

“They’re all unique pieces,” Don said. “Some have similar color schemes and forms, but there aren’t any two exactly the same.”

The blonde woman frowned.

“Like your boys, I bet,” Don added. “They might look similar, but you’re their mom. You know they’re not actually identical.”

The woman softened around the eyes. “That’s true. Although that won’t help when they both decide one of the quilts is the best and start fighting over it.”

Don laughed. “That sounds right.”

“You’re a twin?”

“Middle boy of three.”

“Ah,” she said, and gave him another look. “Well, maybe I should forget the boys for a minute and get something for myself. What do you think?”

Don was pretty sure they were no longer talking about quilts. “I think you deserve a treat,” he said.

“Yes, I do,” the woman said, and drifted off to look at coverlets, smiling at him over her shoulder.

Don had long ago acknowledged that he was into women who knew what they wanted and were a little bit distant. He wasn’t surprised when she returned and bought two (identical) pillowcases and a fluffy throw from him and put herself on the waiting list for the next Ara Kaney.

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