“No, thank you. For believing in Misty. For your belief in this town and its people. For opening this man’s heart again. You’ve given me back my family. It’s like a hundred pounds have lifted from my heart. It’s beating again. For you.”
She placed her hand on his heart. “I’m so glad.”
“Vanessa, I will always be there for you. I want to makeyou breakfast with fresh eggs from Henny, Penny, Jenny, Oprah Henfrey, Sophia Lor-Hen, and Eggatha Christie. Take you on carriage rides in the snow, and the rain, and on sunny days too.”
“And always kiss me good night?”
“And good morning too.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“You’re amazing. A combination of strength and beauty and kindness. You were the missing piece to this all along. I don’t want you to leave.”
Her heart fluttered, and her mouth went dry. Scooter ran between them, pawing and clawing at Vanessa’s pant leg for attention. “And this guy.” She picked him up and held him close. “I think we need to change his name to Porter. What do you think? A new face for the company?”
“It couldn’t hurt.”
“Ahhh.” She could barely contain her surprise. “So, there is such a thing as good change.”
“Apparently so.”
EPILOGUE
In the tiny church up on the hill, only family gathered together on the eighth of August.
With the temperatures hovering in the high nineties, unusually hot for this part of North Carolina, the old air conditioner couldn’t cool the dressing room Vanessa and Anna stood in, much less the whole chapel.
Vanessa had opened a hymnal and was fanning Anna with it. “You good?” Vanessa asked.
“Yes, but I’m wishing now we’d gone to the marriage commissioner.” Anna placed her clammy hand on Vanessa’s arm. “My hands are sweating. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I didn’t think I was nervous. Buck’s a good man.”
“The best. Absolutely. I’m sure your hands are sweating because it’s like a hundred degrees in here. Thank goodness you chose to go with the simple sundress rather than that dressy skirt and jacket.”
“You were so right about that.” Anna turned to her. “Is this crazy? It’s crazy, isn’t it?”
“No, Anna. You and Buck love each other. Everything is right about this.”
“But I’m so old. I never thought I’d ever marry after—”
“That was the past. You need to live and believe in the here and now. Besides you had no way of knowing Buck was going to come into your life. What is it you always told me?” She tapped her finger on her lips as if she were trying to remember, but she knew the speech by heart. “Things happen for a reason. Sometimes you just have to open your heart, and let things happen the way they are supposed to rather than trying to manage every detail.”
Anna laughed. “I did say that. About a hundred times.”
“Enough that I can repeat it verbatim.”
Anna blushed. “I meant it. For you, at least.”
“It goes for everyone.”
“Thank you. You’re right. Buck and I really love our time together. This is right. I have you to thank for it.”
“No you don’t.”
“None of this would have ever happened had we not come here last Christmas.”
“If I remember correctly you were the one enforcing the get-together. And as I recall I had hopes we’d spend it in Paris. But that’s not what happened. Neither one of us had any control over this. And here we are.” Vanessa hugged her. “If you’d told me that the two of us would be living in a tiny town like this and finding our best lives, I’d have never believed it.”
“We’re so lucky.”
