Free A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman

next to me.
    “Why do I think it’s trouble?” I replied.

CHAPTER 7
    I WAITED UNTIL EVERYONE WAS EATING AND then dashed back to my room for a shower. While helping serve breakfast, I’d come up with a solution that would pacify Miss Lavender Pants and her crew. The hot shower felt good until I stepped out into the cold room. So cold that steam rose off my hot body. Great! Just what I needed! Fog inside, too. I threw on fresh clothes and got back to the dining hall just as everyone was having their second cup of coffee.
    I stood between the tables to make my announcement. “Even though most of the retreaters aren’t here, we’re going to have some workshop sessions after lunch.” At the word lunch Commander Blaine popped out of his seat.
    “Don’t worry about lunch,” he said. “I’m setting up a do-it-yourself sandwich bar.” I waited until he sat down to continue.
    “Dinah Lyons will be putting on a writing workshop, followed by a crochet class with Izabelle Landers. Since there are so few retreaters, I’m hoping all of you will support Dinah and Izabelle and come to both sessions.”
    I was relieved when I got a round of affirmative nods. However, Bennett said not to count on his wife participating. As the meal broke up, Miss Lavender Pants went over to Commander Blaine to shower him with praise about breakfast and his plan for lunch. I had to laugh at Dinah. She kept trying to ignore Commander, but when Miss Lavender Pants explained that Edward, the lawyer, was her brother and made the point that she was unattached, the spark in Dinah’s eyes gave her away. She was interested, even if she wouldn’t admit it.
    I headed over to the administration building to check on the fog news. The redheaded desk clerk had his head down on the counter. When I woke him, he said nothing had changed.
    Commander Blaine came in behind me, carrying a large box. He put it down on the long table set up for our campers’ registration.
    “Mind if I put these underneath?” he asked, pulling the boxes of folders to the edge of the table.
    “It looks like no one is going to be coming until this fog lifts, so why not?” I said, wondering what he was doing. He had my boxes out of the way in a flash and flipped the lid off the box he’d brought. It took me a moment to figure out what was in it, and then I recognized rows of gift-size shopping bags. “What are those for?” I asked as he began to put them in rows on the table.
    He took the rhinestone clipboard off the table where I’d put it and flipped to the schedule. “It’s the first activity I have planned. After the afternoon workshops, there’s a s’mores break.”
    “Right,” I said, remembering his s’more discussion earlier. “But are you sure you want to do that with so few people here?”
    “Yes. I think it’s even more important to do something special.” He took out a pile of long wire forks and stuck them in a metal container, then picked up one of the treat bags to show me its contents. There was a packet of marshmallows, four graham crackers, and four pieces of chocolate. “This is your basic everyday variety, but I have also made up gourmet versions.” He showed me the stickers on the fronts of the bags. He was a little over the top, insisting on listing the different fillings. Did I really need to know there was a choice of dark chocolate, white chocolate, plain milk chocolate, milk chocolate with peanut butter, chocolate with almonds, and chocolate with coconut?
    “I thought I would put the things out now, so I could go to the workshops like you asked.” Commander Blaine didn’t say it, but by the way his eyes brightened, I imagined he was thinking about Dinah’s workshop in particular. I helped him set up the rest of the bags. There were far more bags than people, but he wanted to make sure everyone could have their choice. By the time we finished, it was noon. Commander rushed ahead to make the final arrangements for lunch while I looked for