Free Crazy as a Quilt (A Harriet Turman/Loose Threads Mystery Book 8) by Arlene Sachitano

then they were going to go off to university together. I know my mom thought they would eventually get married. We all did.
    “I think Mom thought there was still hope when Marine came back from LA and stayed with her, but Aiden had just left for his research trip to Africa for three years. But you know all that.” She picked the book up. “Why was he here, anyway?”
    “Lainie called him to take her to my house.”
    “I’ll have to talk to her. I told her you were coming to get her.”
    Harriet was ready for this conversation to be over before Michelle dropped any more revelations about Aiden that he’d not chosen to share with her.
    “Speaking of Lainie and her lesson, we better get going. My houseguest is waiting for us.”
    “Lainie,” Michelle screeched. “Come on, you’re making Harriet wait after she’s been so nice, coming and getting you.”
    As if on cue, Lainie returned, her bag clutched to her chest.
    “I’ll feed her dinner,” Harriet told Michelle as she followed Lainie out to the car before Michelle could reply.
    Lainie shivered.
    “I don’t like Marine. Madame du Cloutier says we’re not supposed to talk about people unless it’s something nice, but she’s really weird.”
    Harriet backed up and then turned down the driveway.
    “Weird how?”
    “Well, she gets sweaty when it’s cold in the house. And she smells a lot of the time. She wears a lot of perfume to cover it up, but that makes it worse. She talks to herself.”
    “What does she say?”
    Lainie puffed her chest out and deepened her voice.
    “You can do this, Marine, it’s just dinner. You just have to make it through dinner.” Lainie’s voice returned to normal, and she relaxed her shoulders. “Stuff like that. It seems like she’s always giving herself a pep talk. She doesn’t really seem to like quilting, either.”
    “Well, now, that’s downright sacrilegious.”
    Lainie’s brows pulled toward each other and furrows formed between them.
    “Is it really?”
    “Honey, no. That’s just a figure of speech.” What sort of education were these poor children getting with their French tutor and nanny? Harriet wondered. Her own education was largely European, but she’d still learned English, including slang and idioms.
    Lainie’s cheeks turned pink.
    “Sweetie, it’s okay. Every language has figures of speech that don’t make sense. Let’s get back to Marine. Is there anything else that makes you uneasy? She hasn’t said anything inappropriate to you or your brother, has she?”
    Lainie shook her head. “She ignores us, just like everyone else in that house, except our nanny and tutor. Our nanny says we are to be seen but not heard.”
    “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
    The girl chewed on her lower lip.
    Harriet thought for a moment. Her desire for information was at war with her desire to protect Aiden’s niece.
    “Tell you what. You listen to what Marine says—to herself or to others. If she says anything you think is weird, or even just a little off, you can tell me at our next lesson. If it’s something big, you can call me on my cell phone. I’ll give you the number when we get to my house. I think you’re very smart, and I’d like to hear what you have to say.”
    Lainie smiled.
    A few minutes later, they pulled into Harriet’s driveway.
    “Can I take Scooter out when we get there?” Lainie asked.
    “I think he’d like that.”

    Sharon lay her four-patch block beside Lainie’s on Harriet’s cutting table. Carla had picked Lainie up after Harriet had fed everyone a simple stir-fry with rice. She shook her head.
    “Hers looks so much better than mine.”
    “Don’t be so hard on yourself. This isn’t her first lesson, and I’ve been giving her homework. She’s had practice cutting precisely and sewing a straight line.” Harriet picked up Sharon’s lopsided block. The two women looked at each other and laughed.
    “It’ll get easier with practice,” Harriet told her when they