girl?”
“Both are doing well. I see the girl in town from time to time. She reminds me of myself at that age. And Elaine had another girl. She wanted to be here, but the baby has a bad cold.”
“Best she not be around me now. Better she just look ahead.” Sadie closed her eyes, feeling the weight of life on her shoulders. “I suppose it’s all worked out for the best.”
“Not the best,” Miss Olivia said. “But the best we could manage.”
EPILOGUE
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Charlottesville, Virginia
Libby went into ten hours of labor at thirty-six weeks into her pregnancy. As soon as she arrived at the hospital and the nurse examined her and declared the baby breech, the doctor was called and told to prep for surgery.
In all the birthing scenarios, she had never considered that her child would be upside down and backward. Okay, that was not true. She had come up with dozens of ways this pregnancy could have gone wrong, but for some reason Baby stuck inside me hadn’t been one of them.
Colton was at her side as the doctor pulled her baby from her womb and handed her off to the nurse.
Sadie McKenzie Reese, a.k.a. “The Spud,” weighed in at seven pounds, one ounce, and when she opened her mouth to cry, it was the loudest, most earth-shattering shrill Libby could have expected from such a small thing. It was also the sweetest.
Colton accepted the baby’s swaddled form and carried her over to Libby. She turned her face toward the child’s, wishing she could hold her. “Does she have all her fingers and toes?”
“She does.” The child looked so small in Colton’s arms. “And she blew the doors off the Apgar score.”
Tears welled in Libby’s eyes. “She’ll need to be tough to keep up with her older brothers.”
“Won’t be long before she’s running circles around those two.”
Libby and Colton had married at Woodmont the day after Christmas last year, in the greenhouse with their family surrounding them. There had been Jeff, Sam, Ginger, Cameron, and Margaret. On Libby’s side had stood Elaine, Ted, and, to her surprise, Lofton, who had arrived minutes before the ceremony. Sierra had been Libby’s maid of honor, and Mrs. Mancuso had given her away.
Colton had been asking her to marry him for months, but she had refused to bind him to her for fear she would lose the baby. She had been twenty-eight weeks pregnant the day she had said her “I do,” and though she had not told anyone, she had started to make the very smallest to-do list for the baby.
“Jeff and Sam were hoping for a brother,” she said. She studied the little girl’s pink face, pug nose, and rounded lips.
“They’ll get over it and figure out there are advantages to having a sister.”
She was excited for the boys—her boys—to see their new sister. She would never forget the babies she had carried and lost and would see to it that all the bottled-up love she had had for them would be lavished on Sadie, Jeff, and Sam.
“Elaine and Mom are outside,” Colton said. “Elaine was pacing the hallway when I went into the waiting room an hour ago. Mom was quiet, which is how she gets when she’s worried.”
Libby adjusted the baby’s blanket, tucking it close to her chin. “Send them in so they can meet their little Sadie.”
QUESTIONS FOR THE READERS
What is the time limit on grief? Is there one?
Did Dr. Edward Carter have the right to make the medical choices he did for his patients?
Do you agree or disagree with Miss Olivia sending Elaine away to have her baby?
Libby was disappointed and angry after she discovered her father was her biological father. In the end, she was able to forgive him. Do you think on some level she knew the truth?
What do you think about Malcolm Carter’s fate? Was Sadie justified in her actions toward him?
Do you see the greenhouse as a metaphor? If so, for what?
RECIPES
Buttermilk Pie
3 eggs
⅔ cup sugar
½ cup honey
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 prepared piecrust
Lay piecrust in a greased pan. Mix together the remaining ingredients and pour into the shell. Bake at 350°F for 35–40 minutes. Serve with fresh fruit or ice cream.
Chess Pie
½ cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 tablespoon cornmeal or bread crumbs
¼ cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 9-inch pie shell
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Mix in eggs one at a time. Next, blend in cornmeal or bread crumbs, evaporated milk, and vinegar. When the mixture is smooth, pour into prepared pie shell. Bake for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 300°F, and continue baking for another 40 minutes.
Honeysuckle Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup honeysuckle blossoms
2 cups water
Place all ingredients into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and as soon as the mixture bubbles, reduce heat, and simmer until water is reduced by half. Strain out the blossoms and let cool.
Lemon Cake
3 lemons
2⅔ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
Zest each of the lemons and reserve. Juice the lemons. Sift together the dry ingredients, including the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl mix the oil and sugar. Mix in 1 egg at a time. Add ⅓ of the sifted dry ingredients, and when incorporated, add 1 cup of buttermilk. Alternate until all is blended. Mix in lemon juice and rind. Spoon batter into two round cake pans and place in a preheated 350°F oven. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Glaze
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups powdered sugar
2–4 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Mix together melted butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of water. Continue to add water until the desired consistency is achieved. Drizzle over a warm turned-out cake.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © 2017 by Studio FBJ
A southerner by birth, Amazon Charts bestselling author Mary Ellen Taylor displays a love of her home state of Virginia that is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction. When Mary Ellen’s not writing, she spends time baking, hiking, and spoiling her miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella, and Tiki.