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C arol was the first to show up for knitting class on Friday afternoon She arrived early in order to look through the pattern book for another project

"I thought you were knitting your brother a pullover," Lydia said as Carol leafed through the section of the binder that held men’s sweater patterns

"I was, but I’" Carol hadn’t spoken to Rick in over a week That in itself wasn’t unusual, but she’d half expected him to keep in touch with her after his confession This tiet him out of the mess he’d created There were no easy answers

The bell above the door chilanced up, she nearly did a double-take Alix walked in--wearing jeans and a T-shirt It was the first time Carol had seen her without the constant black leather jacket and either black pants or a ridiculously short skirt Her hair looked…less punk Carol opened her ain Alix didn’t like having attention directed at her, even though she blatantly strove to be different If that wasn’t a contradiction in ter up to the table Her lared at Lydia and Carol as if defying theed appearance Then she sat down in one of the chairs and took her knitting out of the plastic video-store bag

"Hi," they both responded

"How’s the pregnancy going?" Alix’s voice was matter-of-fact; she seemed to consider this a perfectly normal question

Carol saw that Lydia looked over at them warily No one else had dared ask Carol about her condition "So far, so good," she said "I’ blue"

"What?" Alix raised her head

"The test that tells nancy," Carol explained With the fertilized enant that was difficult, it was staying pregnant Twice now she’d lost the baby before the third week Holding on to the pregnancy this long meant there was hope, but no part of the process was certain The first three nancy In her online support group, Carol had recently heard fronant for two and a half , and every ain and Jacqueline ca She wore a tailored pantsuit Carol considered far too formal for the occasion and carried not only her Gucci purse but a leather tote in which she kept her knitting The woman did like to make an entrance It was as if she expected everyone to notice she’d arrived and react accordingly Actually Carol didn’t roup

She and Jacqueline were onto new projects now The only one who hadn’t finished the baby blanket was Alix, and Carol suspected it was because she couldn’t afford to buya neeater," Carol said, still leafing through patterns

"What about the other one?" She knew Alix had especially liked the gray cashlanced at Lydia and shared a conspiratorial smile with her "Do you want the yarn?"

Alix’s eyes lit up "You don’t want it?"

"Not really"

"What about the pattern? Do you need that?"

"Not particularly"

"Great!" Alix shoved her knitting into the plastic bag and nearly rubbed her hands in glee "I’m almost done with the blanket, and I’d like to knit that sweater for a…friend"

"Who?" Leave it to Jacqueline to ask

"A friend, like I said," Alix hty with me," Jacqueline snapped "I was just interested, that’s all"

Jacqueline expressing interest in Alix? A feeeks ago that would’ve been unie in attitude between the in the alley They still sniped at each other but that seemed more out of habit than conviction

"I didn’t know you had aat Alix

"I don’t," Alix said quickly, too quickly to be convincing

"Then who’s the sweater for?"

"Like I said, a friend"

"Sure," JacquelineShe winked at Alix, whose cheeks i shade of pink

"If you uy I met at the video store," Alix said irritably Still, Carol had the feeling that Alix wanted to tell theed "He did ere in sixth grade--but, well, he’s a preacher and I don’t exactly see the two of us sailing off into the sunset, if you catch my drift"

"Why not?" Lydia asked "Preachers have lives, too, you know"

Alix lowered her head and concentrated on her knitting "He’s a good kisser," she said in a soft voice

Predictably, that piqued the group’s interest, and a lively discussion broke out

"Reese was quite a kisser in his day," Jacqueline volunteered "I reme to life"