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"I had the best time today!" Maddie greeted them at the door with a tray of brownies that smelled so good Taylor's mouth instantly began to water. She'd never been a huge one for sweets, but she couldn't resist taking a brownie as she said profuse thanks to Justin's sister for stepping in to run her B&B while they were out. Still warm from the oven, the brownie melted on her tongue.
"You're a magician in the kitchen," Taylor said to Maddie. Moaned it, actually. "I've been making cookies--"
"Great cookies," Justin chimed in.
"--but my baked goods are nothing compared to this." An idea came to her. "I know how busy you are already, but if there was any chance that you would consider baking for me every now and again, that would be amazing."
"I'd love to!" Maddie looked even happier now. "How much would you need? How often? And would you just want brownies or cookies and scones and cakes? I could make madeleines and macarons, if you want more of a French flavor."
"I want all of it," Taylor said, loving Maddie's enthusiasm. "How about once a week to start? Then more if I manage to get my idea for an afternoon tea off the ground in a few months." She was still on too much of a high from their grape-stomping adventure to let in dark thoughts about what her health might be like in a few months--and what impact that might have on her business. "And I'll bet once some of the locals taste your treats, the stores around here will want some too."
"Why did you ever leave her and go to Germany?" Maddie asked Justin, with an elbow to his gut.
"Because I was an idiot," he said.
"We both were." Taylor put her hand into Justin's in case his sister didn't already know that they were together now.
Of course, word traveled fast in the Morrison family, and Maddie's eyes were twinkling as she said, "Drew told me the good news. You two are perfect together. I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks, I'm really happy too." Taylor knew she was beaming, especially when Justin gave her a kiss in front of his sister. "If you two don't mind holding the fort for a few more minutes, I'll go wash off and get changed."
She was pretty sure the grape stains on her skin weren't going to scrub off completely any time soon, but that was okay. She liked looking down and remembering how fun it had been to stomp grapes with Justin today. For a little while at least, she'd felt free and normal, like there was nothing wrong with her whatsoever.
*
"Drew told me about Taylor's diagnosis," Maddie said once Taylor had gone out to her cottage. "I looked up some stuff online, but you know I've never had much of a science brain, so I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it. In plain English, how bad is it?"
Justin appreciated Maddie waiting to ask her questions until Taylor had left. It wasn't that he intended to keep this conversation from her--it was more that he didn't want anything to bring her down. It had been so good to see her laugh and relax and let go of her worries for a couple of hours. He still hoped that she would come with him to meet the local donor tomorrow and hear what the woman had to say, but until then, he planned to do whatever he could to keep Taylor's mind off it.
In clear and simple terms, he explained Taylor's diagnosis. Unfortunately, the more he told Maddie, the more his sister's face fell. "But she'll be okay, won't she? If you give her your kidney?"
"First, I have to be a match."
"You will be." Maddie looked just as determined as he felt.
"When I am," he said with a small smile, "kidney transplants can work really well."
"All the time?"
"Most of the time."
"And when a transplant doesn't work well?"
He shook his head, unable to let himself go there. He was a scientist, but that didn't mean he believed in trusting only lab results. He'd read enough studies over the years to understand that science alone couldn't account for one hundred percent of healing. Hope, faith, and love were also extremely important.
"I love her, Maddie. I'll do anything for her. I won't let anything happen to her."
His sister didn't ask any more questions, just put her arms around him and held on tight. It wasn't the first time they'd held each other this way--they'd needed each other just as much six years before, when their mother had gotten sick, then passed away.
"Make sure she knows we're all here for her, okay?"
For a few moments, he didn't think he could trust his voice. "Thanks again for stepping in today. You've already helped more than you know. Not just so that we could do the blood tests and meet with the doctors, but because she needed an afternoon in the sunshine most of all."
Maddie gripped his hands and squeezed them, before getting up. "I should probably go before Taylor comes back. Otherwise, I'll start crying and ruin the fun grape-stomping vibe you guys had going on." She went into the kitchen for her bag, then came out and gave Justin another hug. "Tell her to call me anytime. For any reason. And let her know that I love her. We all do."
After walking his sister out to her car, Justin went upstairs to change his grape-stained clothes before Taylor's guests came back from sightseeing and wine tasting to partake of afternoon tea and brow
nies.
By the time Taylor returned from her cottage and brought in the tea, the parlor was full of happy, slightly sunburned tourists--adults and children alike stuffing themselves full of Maddie's brownies. Taylor put her arm around him.
"You're a natural with my guests. Especially," she said as she looked down at his fresh pair of jeans, already smudged with chocolate from where he'd been playing Lego with the kids in the corner, "with the littlest ones."
Another vision hit him, clear and vibrant, of Taylor pregnant and glowing with a child of their own. The first of many--he wanted their kids to grow up in the kind of loud, boisterous family that he'd so loved being a part of.
But he knew better than to say anything about his vision. Not because he was afraid she wouldn't feel the same way, but because he didn't want his dreams for their future to send her spiraling into worries about whether they could ever come to pass.
He knew they would.
Faith, hope, love--he would hold on to those, and to her, no matter what.
*
The Belmonts invited Taylor and Justin to dinner for their last evening in town, and they had a great meal at a Thai restaurant just up the valley in Calistoga. He loved having her all to himself, but he also loved watching her captivate everyone around her the way she'd always captivated him.
After they returned and said good night to her guests, they walked back through the moonlight to her cottage, arm in arm.
"I know it's really hard to pull up roots and put them somewhere new," she said, "but I really hope Katie and Brent and their kids end up deciding to move here."
"I'd be pretty surprised if they don't." Though he'd been with Taylor in St. Helena for only three nights, it already felt like coming home. He could have lived happily with her anywhere--in a desert or a jungle or smack-dab in the middle of suburbia--but there was something special about Napa Valley. Not only because of its picturesque vineyards and wineries, but also because after only a few days, he had seen firsthand how supportive and welcoming the community was. St. Helena was the perfect town to raise a family in, to watch kids' soccer games on weekend mornings, then play in the pool all afternoon. "This place is pretty hard to resist."
