The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club - 02 - The Tattered Quilt by Wanda E. Brunstetter Page B

Thanks for letting us know.”
    Terry cleared his throat a couple of times, unsure how to proceed. Should he just come right out and ask to be introduced to Emma’s quilting students? Hoping for assistance, he poked Jan’s back.
    Jan glared at him. “Hey, what’s up with that?”
    “Is something wrong, Jan?” Emma asked, looking at him over the top of her metal-framed glasses.
    “Uh, no. I’m good.” Terry smiled at Emma and said, “Looks like you’re teaching another quilting class.”
    Emma nodded. An awkward silence filled the room, so facing her students, who sat around the table, she motioned to Jan and said, “This is Jan Sweet. He was one of the students in my very first quilting class.”
    “That’s right, and I can tell you that Emma’s one fine teacher,” Jan responded. “If you do everything she says, you oughta have a nice wall hanging to take home at the end of six weeks.” Jan grinned and winked at Selma Nash. “I’m glad to see ya here today.”
    She offered him a half smile. “Yes, thanks to your generosity.”
    Terry nudged Jan again. “Ain’t ya gonna introduce me?” he asked, trying to keep his voice low.
    With a disgruntled-looking frown, Jan finally said, “This is my friend and coworker, Terry Cooley.”
    “It’s nice to meet you,” Terry said, glancing briefly at each of the students, then settling his gaze on the blond.
    All heads nodded, but no one offered their names. This wasn’t going quite the way Terry had hoped. He’d made it inside, now he sure couldn’t leave here without finding out if the blond woman was available or not.
    “So, ladies,” Terry said smoothly, “what do your husbands think of you taking this class?”
    “Actually,” Emma spoke up before any of the women could respond, “none of my students are married this time.”
    “I
was
married,” Selma said. “I’ve been widowed for several years.”
    Terry knew that already, since Jan had given him the lowdown on his irritating neighbor. But instead of responding, he gave the blond his best smile and hoped she might say something. He was disappointed when she didn’t.
    “Jan’s told me a lot about the quilting class he took,” Terry said, pulling his gaze from the blond and glancing back at Emma. “Sounds like he not only learned how to quilt, but had a lot of fun in the process.”
    “That’s true, I did,” Jan agreed.
    “Well, Emma, if you’ve got room for one more, think I’d like to sign up,” Terry announced.
    “We actually have room, don’t we, Emma?” Lamar spoke up, moving closer to the table.
    “Yes—yes, we do,” Emma said, looking a bit flustered as her cheeks turned pink.
    Lamar grinned. “It’d be nice for Blaine and me if there was another man in the class.”
    Terry glanced at the dark-haired guy sitting at the table with his shoulders slumped. He didn’t look too thrilled to be here. Maybe it was because he was the only male student.
    “You know,” Terry said, grinning widely. “Since you do have the room, I’d like to take the class. Can I start today?”
    “Of course,” Lamar said, pulling out a chair for Terry. “Take a seat and join the others.”
    Terry looked over at Jan. “Would you mind coming back for me when the class is done?”
    Jan gave a nod, looking at Terry as if he’d lost his mind. “Sure, why not?”
    Terry rubbed his hands briskly together. “Great! I can’t wait to get started!”
    “Okay, I’ll see ya later then.” Jan gave Terry’s back a solid thump, said good-bye to Emma and Lamar, and left the room, chuckling as he went out the door.
    Sure hope I didn’t make a mistake saying I’d do this
, Terry thought as he took a seat at the table and checked out all the quilts in the room. It looked like a lot of detailed work went into them, and he wasn’t sure he was up to the task of making one. Well, now that he knew the cute little blond was single, he couldn’t see any way to ask her out except by taking the quilting