afternoon…”
Verena beamed at her sister. “You could deliver it tonight! And the man would be
so
moved by how you captured his precious bird’s likeness in metal, he’d accept our offer without a second thought! You’re a genius!”
Coloring slightly, Dee whispered, “I don’t know…It feels wrong, to take advantage of the man’s grief.”
“Nonsense!” Verena shouted. “You’re simply finishing the piece sooner rather than later, and your client is going to love it and cry over it and be healed by it. That wouldn’t change no matter when it was delivered. You’re giving your client what he needs now and helping your niece at the same time. Two good deeds in a single day! You’ve always been the most giving of the four of us, Dee.”
Ella Mae looked intently at her aunt. “You don’t have to do this, Aunt Delia.”
Her mother lifted her plastic fork from a pile of slaw and waved it like a wand over Dee’s head. “Go ahead and work your magic, Sis. There’s a reason my daughter came back to Havenwood. I have a feeling the pie shop is an important part of her destiny.”
The words sounded so formal and serious that Ella Maenearly burst out laughing, but her aunts were nodding in solemn agreement.
Suddenly, a wind sprang up from nowhere, ruffling the napkins and caressing the damp tendrils of Ella Mae’s hair. It was redolent with aromas. Roses, crushed sage, baking bread, damp wood, chrysanthemums.
The scents were all familiar, tickling a memory hidden deep within Ella Mae’s mind. Just as she attempted to grab hold of it, the strange breeze disappeared, leaving her aching to remember what she had once known.
“Everything all right, Ella Mae?” Sissy asked. “You look like you flitted off for a minute there.”
“Oh, no, I’m done leaving,” Ella Mae answered in a faraway voice. “There are parts of me that are just coming to life. It’s like I’ve been asleep for a long time but am finally waking up.”
A swallowtail butterfly landed on the edge of her bike basket and flapped his magnificent gold and black wings double-time, as though he had something urgent to impart. Then, a stray current whisked him up, up, at a frenzied pace. Ella Mae watched, until he became a small spot in the sky, racing toward the blue blur of the mountains above.
She followed the flight of the beautiful creature toward a place in the distant forest that seemed to be calling to her. Ella Mae watched, trying to make sense of the tugging sensation she felt inside, until the sun burned tears into her eyes and she was forced to look away.
Chapter 5
Ella Mae was back in her mother’s kitchen, washing the tomatoes she’d bought from the roadside stand on the way home from lunch. The ancient farmer had been at the same location since Ella Mae was a child and she’d been delighted to see him clad in his customary denim overalls and straw hat, nose buried in a paperback as his customers perused crate after wooden crate of ripe and colorful fruits and vegetables.
Putting the tomatoes on a dish towel to dry, Ella Mae ventured into her mother’s kitchen garden for fresh basil, amazed that the herbs were so verdant and robust beneath the unforgiving Georgia sun. Squatting by a row of bushy rosemary plants, she inhaled deeply.
An image of the pie shop rose in her mind, pastel and rose-covered as a fairy-tale cottage. Holding the vision in place, Ella Mae gently separated basil leaves from the largest plant, rubbing one of them until her touch coaxed forth its strong scent. It burst into the air, an invisible beanstalk of fragrance surging skyward.
Ella Mae hummed and re-entered the kitchen, where she removed the seeds from the tomatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. After chopping the fresh basil, she placed a portion of the herb along with the tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt and pepper into a dish lined with one of her Parmesan cheese piecrusts. Using Reba’s favorite ceramic bowl, Ella Mae blended mayo,
Verena beamed at her sister. “You could deliver it tonight! And the man would be
so
moved by how you captured his precious bird’s likeness in metal, he’d accept our offer without a second thought! You’re a genius!”
Coloring slightly, Dee whispered, “I don’t know…It feels wrong, to take advantage of the man’s grief.”
“Nonsense!” Verena shouted. “You’re simply finishing the piece sooner rather than later, and your client is going to love it and cry over it and be healed by it. That wouldn’t change no matter when it was delivered. You’re giving your client what he needs now and helping your niece at the same time. Two good deeds in a single day! You’ve always been the most giving of the four of us, Dee.”
Ella Mae looked intently at her aunt. “You don’t have to do this, Aunt Delia.”
Her mother lifted her plastic fork from a pile of slaw and waved it like a wand over Dee’s head. “Go ahead and work your magic, Sis. There’s a reason my daughter came back to Havenwood. I have a feeling the pie shop is an important part of her destiny.”
The words sounded so formal and serious that Ella Maenearly burst out laughing, but her aunts were nodding in solemn agreement.
Suddenly, a wind sprang up from nowhere, ruffling the napkins and caressing the damp tendrils of Ella Mae’s hair. It was redolent with aromas. Roses, crushed sage, baking bread, damp wood, chrysanthemums.
The scents were all familiar, tickling a memory hidden deep within Ella Mae’s mind. Just as she attempted to grab hold of it, the strange breeze disappeared, leaving her aching to remember what she had once known.
“Everything all right, Ella Mae?” Sissy asked. “You look like you flitted off for a minute there.”
“Oh, no, I’m done leaving,” Ella Mae answered in a faraway voice. “There are parts of me that are just coming to life. It’s like I’ve been asleep for a long time but am finally waking up.”
A swallowtail butterfly landed on the edge of her bike basket and flapped his magnificent gold and black wings double-time, as though he had something urgent to impart. Then, a stray current whisked him up, up, at a frenzied pace. Ella Mae watched, until he became a small spot in the sky, racing toward the blue blur of the mountains above.
She followed the flight of the beautiful creature toward a place in the distant forest that seemed to be calling to her. Ella Mae watched, trying to make sense of the tugging sensation she felt inside, until the sun burned tears into her eyes and she was forced to look away.
Chapter 5
Ella Mae was back in her mother’s kitchen, washing the tomatoes she’d bought from the roadside stand on the way home from lunch. The ancient farmer had been at the same location since Ella Mae was a child and she’d been delighted to see him clad in his customary denim overalls and straw hat, nose buried in a paperback as his customers perused crate after wooden crate of ripe and colorful fruits and vegetables.
Putting the tomatoes on a dish towel to dry, Ella Mae ventured into her mother’s kitchen garden for fresh basil, amazed that the herbs were so verdant and robust beneath the unforgiving Georgia sun. Squatting by a row of bushy rosemary plants, she inhaled deeply.
An image of the pie shop rose in her mind, pastel and rose-covered as a fairy-tale cottage. Holding the vision in place, Ella Mae gently separated basil leaves from the largest plant, rubbing one of them until her touch coaxed forth its strong scent. It burst into the air, an invisible beanstalk of fragrance surging skyward.
Ella Mae hummed and re-entered the kitchen, where she removed the seeds from the tomatoes and cut them into bite-sized pieces. After chopping the fresh basil, she placed a portion of the herb along with the tomatoes and a sprinkle of salt and pepper into a dish lined with one of her Parmesan cheese piecrusts. Using Reba’s favorite ceramic bowl, Ella Mae blended mayo,
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