They were probably still in bed as she was, but sound asleep, wiped out from a late night of talking and laughing and sewing and indulging in wine from the resort’s own vineyards. A record ninety quilters had signed up for their annual benefit retreat, the most important of the guild’s many significant charitable activities, which raised money for several homeless shelters and soup kitchens in impoverished Atlanta neighborhoods. Quilters would travel hundreds of miles and pay not-insignificant fees for an inspirational week of workshops, lectures, and trunk shows offered by the guild’s renowned members, proud to know that the proceeds would support worthy causes. Pauline would bet her Bernina that not one of the Cherokee Rose Quilters had given her a second thought since setting foot on the resort’s beautiful grounds. In such glorious surroundings among their most creative friends, they were surely too busy—and having too much fun—to waste a moment missing her. She wished she could say she didn’t miss them.
