The Christmas Quilts

by Olivia Gaines

  “Weird because you thought I was his friend or weird because you aren’t feeling me?” Cody asked.

  Bisa’s cheeks warmed. It was a loaded question. “I’m not going to answer that question.”

  Cody grinned as he loaded the machine into the back of the SUV. She didn’t need to answer it. He would answer for her.

  “Today is just a fun day out, Bisa. I see an attractive woman with a lot going for herself. I would be a fool not to throw my hat in the ring to let you know I am very interested,” he said.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she replied.

  “I want to see Wonder Woman. Say yes you are free to see it with me,” he said. “I promise not to try and hold your hand during the movie, but you have to buy the popcorn, I’ll get the tickets.”

  Bisa stood beside the vehicle looking at him as if he’d just lost his manners. “I’m sorry, are you asking me on a date?”

  “No, I am asking you to go see a movie. Yes or no?” Cody said flatly.

  “Yes, I guess,” she said looking confused.

  “Cool! A movie it is,” he said, opening the car door for her. “Let’s ride Quilting B.”

  A great number of things had changed since the last time Bisa went to the movies. Assigned seats, reclining chairs and cost of a tub of popcorn was a shock to her. She opted instead for two kid’s packs with drinks at a third of the cost.

  “Frugal, are we?’

  “I have to be,” she said. “A good chunk of my savings went into that shop. I have to do well in Paducah in three weeks in order to have a great first quarter, or I will be in the red all year.”

  “I’m certain, my lovely lady, you will do well at whatever you set your mind to. If you need anything from me, you have only to ask. A favor for a favor so to speak,” he told her.

  Bisa turned in her seat as the movie’s opening music began, eyeing Cody’s strong profile. She believed him. In her heart she knew the moment she called on him at any hour, for any need, he would be there for her.

  “I’m feeling you, Cody Richardson,” she said.

  “Good to know, because I sure as hell am feeling you, Bisa.”

  Chapter Seven – Patterns

  Cody sat at his desk on Monday morning feeling like a goober for not making a move. The sparks between he and Bisa were tangible. The draw was undeniable. She too confessed she was feeling some kind of way about him and he couldn’t lie that he wanted to hold her in his arms. Initially, he assumed he wanted to comfort her but then realized it was more.

  So much more.

  I should have kissed her.

  I wanted to kiss her.

  I should have done it.

  But he couldn’t. He worked with Antoine, but something about his work partner’s relationship with Bisa didn’t feel right. More importantly, Cody had spent the better part of the weekend with her with no signs of Antoine.

  No Antoine on Friday.

  Unless they were together Saturday night.

  No Antoine on Sunday, unless it was last night.

  All of it felt off. Today he would get clarification on their relationship simply to clear his conscious and to stop him from doing anything stupid, like falling in love with some other’s man’s woman.

  “Hey Cody. How’s my dude?” Antoine asked him.

  “I’m doing well, Antoine. How did things go Friday with Felicity?” Cody asked, jumping over the pleasantries to get right to the heart of what he needed to know.

  “Friday night was cool. Since it was work related, I made some headway with her in getting my requisitions through faster. She gave me some pointers,” Antoine added. It was the smirk on his face that made Cody want to punch him in the nose.

  “I know that look, Antoine, you are about to bust, ready to spill the beans,” Cody said, urging him to say something which would make him look like an ass.

  “Saturday night was like wow! I mean like wow, man. That is some woman,” Antoine smiled. “Hell, Sunday morning, I think I was stuck to her sheets.”

  “Dude, I thought you had a girl, you know, the quilting lady,” Cody said.

  “Who Bisa? Naw, it’s not like that with us. She is my girl, you know what I mean,” Antoine said.

  “No. I don’t know what you mean.”

  “You are my dude. She is my girl,” he said, adding hand gestures as if that clarified everything.

  “Antoine, I have no clue what you are talking about,” Cody said with all honesty.

  “Man, what I am saying is, we kick it every now and then. We have no set schedule or routine. When she wants to see me, she calls or sends a text. Other than that I may pop in on occasion, drop off some flowers or candy to give the appearance that she is not single; that kind of thing,” Antoine said. “Hey, did you go by and meet her?”

  “Yeah. I took dinner on Friday to get in her good graces, so yes, she consented to helping me with my project,” Cody said.

  “Wayaminnit,” Antoine said. “Are you asking about my relationship with her because you trying to get down with the swirl?”

  “Now, I have no idea what that means, for real, Antoine,” Cody said, shaking his head.

  “It means are you trying to add some brown sugar to your milky white coffee.”

  Cody’s mouth stretched down, “Ah, you are asking if I am interested in dating the quilting lady?”

  “Stop deflecting my questions with your questions, Cody. You interested in my girl?”

  “Antoine, I am more curious why you are not interested in her,” Cody added with a smile.

  Antoine leaned against the breakroom counter, his hands in his pockets. Long, lean legs crossed at his feet as to he took a good look at Cody Richardson. Truthfully, he didn’t see the white boy as a threat to what he had with Bisa, especially knowing his Afrocentric girl wouldn’t go for the likes of him anyway.

  “She is too complicated for my world right now. I enjoy the simpler things in life. We can’t even go out to dinner without her giving me a lecture on good foods, bad bacteria, good bacteria–I’m eating, I don’t want to talk about bacteria. A nice steak, a good baked potato loaded with cholesterol agents like butter and sour cream with bacon, and a side of asparagus. It’s my perfect dinner, but I can’t enjoy it when she is sitting across from me with a bowl of twigs and two berries,” Antoine said.

  Cody chuckled because he’d felt the same way when eating the shrimp on Friday. “Antoine, that’s it? Her eating habits.”

  “No, that’s not all, and I am starting to become suspicious of your motives in this line of questioning, Detective,” he said facetiously.

  “No, no, no. I was just wondering, that’s all. She seems like a really nice lady, but almost every weekend you are with someone different. I mean, she must not have Instagram,” Cody said with a smile.

  “Instagram? Hell, the last movie she saw was Blade Runner and I’m not talking about the remake either. All she wants to do is sit around and make stuff. I can’t get her out of the house unless it is for some quilt show or the like. Really, to be honest, it would be cool to just go the movies with her, but it’s like pulling teeth,” Antoine said.

  “Well, maybe that stuff is too worldly for her, you know, since she doesn’t have like a corporate background or anything,” Cody said, waiting for him to lie.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Antione said.

  “Do you know what kind of work she did before she opened the quilt shop?” Cody asked him.

  “She made quilts for people who worked at some law firm. At least that’s what she was doing when I met her. Now she has her own shop, making them professionally,” Antoine said with a smile. “Let me get back to work, I’ve been in this breakroom too long.”

  “Antoine?” Cody called at him.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you ever feel like...I dunno, you might be missing out on a good life with her?”

  Antoine’s hand went to his low cut beard, running his fingers across the fine hairs. This wasn’t the first time someone had aske
d that same question about him and Bisa. You make a striking couple. You look so good together. But they didn’t feel good together.

  “Cody, we don’t fit. A good relationship has to fit and we don’t. She is a great girl and the type of woman you take to Sunday dinner with the parents, but she and I aren’t there. I would have to almost change everything I am in order to find a harmony with her. That’s not a relationship,” Antoine said.

  “I understand. I dated someone like that once, but she tried to change herself to fit what I wanted. The conversations became as weird as the vibe between us, so I get it,” Cody said.

  Antoine knew what Cody wanted to know. He volunteered the information, for not only himself but for Bisa. If his co-worker was picking up on a something between them and giving him this courtesy notice, he would repay the favor.

  “Cody, she’s my girl. Like I said, she calls me when she needs me, I go over, we kick it and that’s about it,” he said taking a pause. “We haven’t kicked it in a while.”

  “Thanks for the introduction to Bisa, Antoine. I have twenty four quilts of my Nana’s to get done, so I am basically going to ‘live in’ that shop over the next year,” Cody said. “I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be stepping on your toes or anything. I mean, I am grateful for what she is helping me get done, so if I bring her flowers or something, I don’t want to come out and find my tires flat.”

  “Naw, we’re good,” Antoine said.

  “Good to know,” Cody said, watching him walk away. Well, that went smoother than I thought it would.

  He’d also learned a few things in the conversation with Antoine. One, the man wasn’t as big of a hound as Cody had thought. We don’t fit.

  Of course you don’t fit. You know nothing about her. In less than three days he’d learned more about her than Antoine knew after two years. He began a smile which lasted throughout his entire day.

  Replacing Antoine would be easy.

  The old dog didn’t have many tricks and Cody felt pretty good about his odds at winning over a pretty, talented, and smart woman like Bisa. It would be a challenge for him, but by all accounts, she responded to his flirtations and she did say she was feeling him.

  “Cody, you have something to work with,” he said, picking up his phone to set a few wheels in motion.

  THE QUILTING CLASS he’d signed up to take ran on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:30 for a month. This week, Bisa would teach them to sew basic quilt blocks. Next week, they would learn how to iron the quilt and select batting. The third week was quilting and the final week was binding. In the end, they would each have a crib- sized quilt made almost from scratch from start to finish.

  “I have precut all the materials in your bags. Your fee includes one of three patterns: a crib blanket for a boy, a girl, and a gender neutral. If you decide after making this quilt that you would like a more advanced class, there is another which starts next month with quilt piecing, but for right now, this class is perfect to give you the basics to make your very first quilt,” Bisa said. “Open your bags, and let’s get started.”

  Cody loved her teaching style. She demonstrated first on her machine and then walked about the room ensuring that everyone was on track. He also found it amazing how stitching together the little squares relaxed him, and before long, all of his quilt blocks were sewn together in twos.

  “Great work, Cody. Go ahead and cut the loose strings,” she told him.

  The quilt blocks were large which made making the first quilt so simple. Unfortunately, a few of the people in the class were simple minded and sewing 9 blocks together to make a quilt top befuddled them to the point he found himself irritated at the repetitive questions hurled at Bisa. By 7:15, he wanted them all to leave, especially the nutty red-head sitting next to him who liked to overshare on her personal life

  “Man, you sure are cute. Why are you here in this class? I took a sewing class once and it had a guy in it. He was fine as cherry wine, but I found out after we had done the deed that he preferred men. I guess that’s why our first time together it was in the butt,” she told him.

  He showed no expression on his face when he turned his head to the right to look at her full on to ask, “So there was more than one time with him?”

  “Yeah, come to think of it, the second time was in the butt, too,” she said, crinkling her forehead.

  Cody’s eyes lifted to find Bisa, who stood at the front of the room, watching him. His eyes widened as he cut his eyes to the side at the red-head, then back up at her. Bisa pressed her lips together to stave off the laughter.

  Another young woman, who managed to sew the quilt blocks to her blouse three times, was also distracted by Cody’s presence in the class. “If my Ronnie knew a man was in the class, he would come and sit to watch over me,” she said. “He’s real jealous like that.”

  He didn’t respond to her words. The last thing he needed was for her to go back to her Ronnie repeating anything he’d spoken to her.

  “Okay class, that’s it. Let’s wrap up and I will see you back here on Wednesday,” she said to the group of twelve.

  He did the math. If the Monday-Wednesday class of 12 paid $150 each for the month as well as the Tuesday-Thursday class, Bisa was easily racking up $3600 a month for two evening courses. He wondered how many classes she taught during the day.

  Three of the ladies required help getting their machines to the car, which he gladly did, loading his own in the vehicle as well. Only he and Bisa remained in the shop.

  “I am tired. Tonight my dinner is going to be a peanut butter sandwich on gluten free bread,” she said, touching her stomach.

  “That sounds doubly disgusting since gluten free bread tastes like cardboard and I hate peanut butter,” he said.

  “Cody, I am open to suggestions since my right eye is starting to close,” she said as a small car pulled up with a cone on top which read Uber Eats.

  “How about some grilled chicken on a bed of mixed field greens with a side of sweet potato fries,” he said.

  “You ordered us dinner?” she asked incredulously.

  “I did. Bisa, you set the table while I settle up,” he said.

  He ordered dinner. A light enough meal to eat at 8 pm, but filling enough to keep her from snacking for the remainder of the night. The containers were wonderfully full of fresh sliced veggies and perfectly seared chicken breasts.

  “This looks so fantastic, I could kiss you,” Bisa said.

  “Okay– go ahead,” Cody said, lowering the octaves of his voice.

  “Funny, really funny,” she said.

  “I’m serious,” he said, gripping the tail of her shirt, pulling her towards him. His blue eyes searched her face, waiting for a cue to move in.

  “Cody, I’m seeing Antoine,” she said, looking over his shoulders into the side mirror, which gave her a perfect view of the main entrance.

  “Kicking it every now and then is not seeing someone,” he said.

  “No, at the door. I see Antoine standing at the door,” she said.

  Chapter Eight – 1/4 Inch Seam Allowance

  True to Bisa’s word, Cody stepped around the partition which shielded her workspace from the retail floor to see Antoine standing at the door. Holding a pizza. Looking smug. Cody wanted to bum rush the door, knock the pizza out of his hand, and send him on his way.

  “Antoine, this is a surprise,” Bisa said, letting him in.

  His eyes were on Cody, the desk, and the newly arrived dinner. The plates, two cups and the jug of poop making tea she liked to drink was also on the desk. A nice little cozy setting for two is where he dropped the pizza in the middle of the intimate set up.

  “I figured since today was such a long day for you that I would bring you some dinner and maybe afterwards, we could kick it,” Antoine said, smiling at Cody. “Good to see you man.”

  “I just saw you a few hours ago at work,” Cody said flatly.

  Bisa could feel the tension rising between the two men. She st
epped between them, opening the pizza box. “This smells awesome, but I may not be able to eat anything other than the toppings,” she stated softly.

  “Now, you can eat all of this Sweetie. Passorelli’s now makes a gluten free crust,” Antoine added.

  “Pizza and salad is a perfect meal, here Cody grab one of those chairs and I will get a plate for Antoine,” she told them.

  “No worries, Bisa. I will take my salad and head towards home,” Cody said. “You two enjoy your evening.”

  “Yeah, you want to get on home to check on your Nana,” Antoine said smugly.

  Cody shrugged it off. “She’s okay. My sister is on duty tonight with Gideon, her new son. I only worry when my brothers Butch and Cassidy come over with their kids, Wyatt and Kit. Those little terrors can tear up a house,” he said.

  The move was so smooth and subtle that even Antoine had to give Cody props. His two sentences pulled all of Bisa’s attention away from her kicking it buddy to the blue-eyed sheep in wolf’s, hairy clothing.

  “Are you serious, Cody? Your brothers are named Butch and Cassidy? Their kids are Kit and Wyatt. Was your father a fan of the old west?”

  “Yes and my sister’s name is Jane,” Cody said. “But enough about me, You two enjoy your evening.”

  With his salad in hand, he headed for the door with a mischievous grin on his face. Tonight, Antoine would have to keep his balls on his own playing field or kick them somewhere else. It was a low blow, and right now, Cody didn’t have much in his arsenal to fight with, but he would make use of the weapons he possessed.

  Bisa stood alone with Antoine, wishing he had called first. He always called or she would text him to come over. This was out of his norm and she knew why. The romancing Romeo was jealous.

  “I don’t remember calling you for a stop in tonight,” Bisa confessed.

  “You didn’t. I just wanted to check in since I hadn’t heard from you,” Antoine told her.

  “You sure that is the only reason?”

  He picked up a slice of the pizza, bit into it, and wanted to spit it out. The food rolling off his tongue into a napkin as his nose crinkled from the film he felt is left on his taste buds. The pizza’s sauce did little to enhance the cardboard crust it was baked upon leaving the slice unpalatable, nasty with no real taste.