store. My grandmother Eleanor Cassidy owned Someday and would normally not have cared if I took a few days to be with Jesse, but she was having a post-Christmas sale, and it was all hands on deck. It took me several hours to convince her that I wouldnât be needed on Saturday and even more time to prep all the sale fabric bolts, patterns, and notions so that Eleanor wouldnât have to do it.
But it would all be worth it, I reminded myself. Jesse and I were going to spend two blissful days in one of my favorite cities in the world, celebrating our first New Yearâs Eve as a couple.
âPolice station, three-thirty,â Jesse said as he headed back to work. âAnd bring some snacks for the train if you remember it.â
âI will. Iâm counting the minutes.â
âIt would be more helpful if you counted the cash in the drawer.â My grandmother walked up from behind me. Her voice was stern, but there was a smile in her eyes. âIt will pass the time until you go on your trip.â
She was right. Counting the drawer, waiting on the customers who were piling in to take advantage of the sale, restocking the fabric bolts, and cleaning the shop did pass the time. It was three-twenty-three when I looked up and realized I was about to be late.
âAre you going?â Eleanor looked at the clock and yawned. At seventy-four she had more energy than most people, including me, but todayâs sale was enough to exhaust anybody. Her golden retriever, Barney, clung to her side. Being petted and adored by customers had worn him out, I guessed, since he seemed as anxious to get home as Eleanor.
âIâm going.â
âAnother successful day,â she said.
âAnd year,â I added. Someday Quilts might have been a small shop in a small town in Upstate New York, but it was everything to Eleanor and me. And thanks to good word of mouth about our expanded inventory and a few glowing magazines articles, it was becoming a destination shop for quilters from as far away as Boston.
The growing business was a reason to be thankful for the year we were ending, and one of many things to be excited about for the year ahead. One of which was my grandmotherâs upcoming wedding in just a few weeks.
At the moment, though, she was going solo. Oliver, my grandmotherâs fiancé, was visiting his daughter in Canada, so Eleanor would have only Barney with her for company while I was gone. âIâll call you at midnight,â I said.
âDonât you dare. When I close up the shop, Iâm going to put my feet up and listen to some nice, soothing music. And if I manage somehow to stay awake until midnight, maybe Iâll have a hot cup of tea to celebrate. But more likely than not Iâll be asleep by ten. You and Jesse will be having a bit more excitement, I imagine, with all that crowd in the city.â
âWeâre not doing Times Square, but we do have dinner reservations, and after that I think weâll just walk around. It will be fun just being there. Iâm going to show Jesse some of my old stomping grounds, and heâs going to show me the places he hung out during his days on the New York City police force.â I could hear the giddiness in my voice. âBut weâll be back Sunday afternoon. I can come into the shop from the train.â
âNonsense. Promise me nothing but fun for the next forty-eight hours.â
âThatâs not a hard promise to make.â
I gave her a long hug, grabbed my overnight bag, and ran across the street to Jitters, the coffee shop owned by my friend and fellow quilter Carrie Brown. There was no time to stop at a grocery store, so the snacks Iâd promised Jesse were going to have to be whatever Carrie had left in her pastry case in the late afternoon. Rich was waiting on customers, still looking a little shaken by his encounter with Joe. I noticed a small cut by his eye. Maybe Jesse was wrong about