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“Am I the last one?” Jinny asked, pulling up a chair next to Esther and setting her wine glass on the table.
Vilma shook her head. “No, we’re still waiting on Penny.” She cocked an eyebrow at Olivia. “Assuming she’s coming?” Penny was the one who’d taught Olivia to knit and introduced her to the group.
Olivia shrugged. “I assume so, but I haven’t heard from her today.”
“Here she comes,” Cynthia said, nodding toward the door.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Penny set a Tupperware container in the middle of the table. “The cookies had to cool before I could transport them.”
Penny was always late, but since she usually brought homemade baked goods, nobody minded. Technically, they weren’t supposed to bring food into Antidote, but the manager let it slide because their group had been coming here so long. It helped that Penny usually brought extra treats to share with the employees.
She peeled the lid off the Tupperware and frowned at the cookies. “I think some of them might still be a little smooshy.”
“I love smooshy cookies.” Esther leaned forward for a chocolate chip cookie. Penny always sprinkled them with sea salt, which made them extra delicious.
“Yeah, smooshy cookies are the best,” Jinny agreed, taking a cookie. “Mmmm, they’re still warm too. You’re the best, Penny.”
“Thank you!” Penny said, beaming. “Does anyone need anything while I’m up?”
Cynthia shook her head around a mouthful of cookie. “We’re all set.”
Penny pulled a smaller container of cookies out of her bag for the employees and got in line. A few minutes later, she came back with a fruit-flavored iced tea and a handful of napkins—which they were all desperately in need of by then—and sat down next to Cynthia.
“Oh! Is that one of your tiny sweaters?” Penny asked, pushing her bright red hair behind her ear as she leaned in for a closer look.
Cynthia nodded as she held it out. “This is sweater number two. I think I’m getting the technique down, finally.” She was an artist who mostly did illustration, but she’d had an idea to illustrate a children’s book with photos of miniature dioramas, so she was knitting tiny sweaters for the little clay animals to wear. Between the lace weight yarn she was working with and the size 00 needles she’d had to special order for the task, it was an awe-inspiring feat of dexterity.
“I don’t know how you can work so small,” Vilma said, shaking her head. “My poor old eyes hurt just thinking about it.”
Esther’s eyes weren’t even old, and she couldn’t understand how Cynthia did it either. But that wasn’t a new feeling. She couldn’t understand how Cynthia did a lot of the things she was good at: drawing, painting, sculpting, photography. Esther didn’t have an artistic bone in her body, and she was awed by anyone who did. She always felt a little inadequate around the other women at knitting. Everyone else in the group was way craftier than she was. Olivia sewed and did amazing things with makeup for her cosplay, Vilma made pottery and did embroidery in addition to knitting, Penny was an incredible baker who could also sew and crochet and do calligraphy, and Jinny had a terrific eye for fashion and decorating.
Knitting was the only crafty skill Esther had ever mastered, and she used self-striping sock yarn because she couldn’t match colors to save her life. Her wardrobe was as drab as her apartment, she could only sew well enough to replace a button, her cooking skills were rudimentary at best, and she hadn’t drawn or painted so much as a stick figure since elementary school.
Sometimes she felt like she’d missed out on some of the essentials growing up. It wasn’t just arts and crafts—she’d never done any sports outside of PE class or learned a musical instrument either. Most of her childhood had been spent watching TV or reading alone in her room. Her father had been too busy to pay much attention to her even before he’d left, and her mother had been…distracted. Esther’s older brother, Eric, had been the one who did most of the cooking, helped her with her homework, and taught her how to drive a car.
The Abbott household hadn’t exactly been an idyllic upbringing. Still, it could have been far worse. She felt like she’d turned out pretty okay, even if she was the least talented person in her knitting group.
Cynthia’s gaze slid over to Esther and she quirked an eyebrow. “More socks? Really?”
“Stop judging my socks. Socks are cool.” Esther decided it was time for a change of subject. “Jinny went on a date.”
Jinny looked up from the cabled hat she was working on as four sets of eyes turned toward her.
Cynthia’s brow crinkled. “With Stuart?”
Jinny shook her head. “Someone new.”
“I can’t believe you’re already dating someone else,” Penny said. “It’s been like five minutes since you and Stuart broke up. Teach me your mysterious ways, Obi-Wan.”
Jinny shrugged. “He just asked me out, out of the blue.”
Esther kept her eyes on the sock she was knitting. What Jinny didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her—as long as it kept her out of a toxic relationship.
“How was it?” Olivia asked.
“Do you like him?” Vilma asked.
“Is he hot?” Cynthia asked.
