And especially not from herself.
Surrounded by shelves, bins, and baskets of yarn, a lovely gray-haired woman sat in the middle of the room on one of the very comfortable-looking chairs, knitting what looked like a cable sweater in a seafoam green yarn.
“Welcome to Lakeside Stitch and Knit. I’m Olive. Can I help you find anything?”
For a moment, Rosa couldn’t find her voice. She took a deep breath and smiled at the woman. “Everything looks so beautiful. I just wanted to look around, if that’s okay.”
“More than okay.” Rosa was struck by how beautiful the woman was when she smiled. “The embroidery on your sweatshirt is exquisite. Did you do it?”
“I did, but it’s just a hob—” Rosa caught herself a split second before she downplayed her talent the way she’d just told herself she wouldn’t. “Thank you. I love to stitch. I usually work on canvas, but this was all I had.”
“May I take a closer look?” Warmth, and something that felt an awful lot like happiness, filled Rosa’s chest as the woman got up and moved closer. “You created all this with only two colors?” Olive was clearly impressed as she called out to a middle-aged woman who had just emerged from the back. “Denise, come take a look at this stunning embroidery done by—”
“Rosa.” She refused to let her voice shake. “My name is Rosa.”
“It truly is a pleasure to meet you, Rosa.”
If the other woman recognized her, she didn’t give any sign of it as she came forward with a smile and an outstretched hand. “It’s lovely to meet you, Rosa. I’m Denise.” Her eyes widened as she looked down at the embroidery on the hem of the sweatshirt. “What beautiful artistry.”
There was that word again—artist. When Drake had said it to her, Rosa hadn’t let herself believe he could actually mean it. Now, however, she wouldn’t let disbelief win again.
“Thank you.” Graciously accepting the compliment felt a little easier the second time. “Your store is wonderful.”
“My mother and I love it. We’re glad to hear that you do too.”
Rosa’s heart tugged at the perfect picture Denise and Olive seemed to make as mother and daughter co-owning such a beautiful store. Had they ever fought? Ever felt so fractured that they wondered if they’d be able to repair their relationship? Or had things always been perfect between them?
“I work with my mom too,” she found herself saying. “At least, I used to.”
She was saying too much, but thankfully, another customer walked in to save her from herself, from sitting in one of the comfortable chairs with Olive and spilling her guts about absolutely everything while she stitched.
“Christie,” Olive called, “come see this gorgeous embroidery our new friend Rosa has done on her top.”
When a pretty woman with long, golden-brown hair and startlingly green eyes turned toward Rosa, she couldn’t hide her shock. “Oh! Hi!” She quickly turned her attention to Rosa’s sweatshirt. “Wow, this is incredible. I’d love to learn how to do something like that.” She looked up at Rosa. “I’m sure it’s way too hard for me, though, considering I’m still fairly new to knitting.”
“I can’t knit at all,” Rosa told her, trying with all she had not to worry that Christie had obviously recognized her. “Once you learn how to make and space the stitches, it’s really just practice more than anything.”
“What about coming up with the design? How do you do that?”
“I just try to take the vision I have in my head and bring it to life with the thread.”
“You make it sound so easy, but I’m sure if I tried it I’d be all thumbs.”
“Honestly, I could get you started in five minutes. Once you felt confident in the rhythm, the feel, of the stitches, you’d be well on your way.”
It wasn’t until she said the words aloud that she realized just how true they were—not only for embroidery, but for everything in her life as well. Getting started with something new was always the scariest part. The rest was just confidence and practice. Just like Drake had said during that first meal they’d shared together on the card table, when he’d asked, Are you sure it has to be hard?
Olive leaned out to look through the front windows to where Oscar was relaxing in a patch of sun on the sidewalk. “Is that Drake Sullivan’s big dog with you?”
Rosa felt herself flushing. “We were taking a walk through the woods and couldn’t resist coming into your store.”