by Peggy Webb
I’m holding a letter that’s going to change my life, but I don’t read it again. Not yet. I want to savor the familiar for a while, the sameness, me, standing on my front porch with my bare toes curled into the sun-warmed brick floor although the calendar says November first while people in other parts of the country are wearing shoes. I let the warmth creep up through the soles of my feet, then turn so the sun slants across my shoulders as I read the letter again. Just to make sure.
Your manuscript has been accepted for publication.
It’s from a small university press, and the sum listed is modest, barely enough for a good trip west to the Grand Canyon or north to the Poconos, but still . . . I am a bona fide writer. I say my own name aloud, Maggie Hudson, and somehow it sounds different now with rich rolling vowels and mysterious consonants, a name that makes bookstore clerks stand taller when they hear it, a name that’s easy for Oprah to pronounce.
I call Jean and Lillian with the good news, and Lillian plans a party to celebrate. Both my girls will be there, as well as my fellow school teachers, my new neighbors and all my friends from church.
Everybody except Matt down in Florida at an address I don’t even know.
I fold the letter in my pocket, then go into my bedroom and stretch out underneath the ceiling fan. Light from the French doors catches on the porcelain and brass pulls, and I lie on my bed staring up at them and feeling the weight of not being able to celebrate with him.
He’s the first person I would call if he were here. He’s the first person I would celebrate with.
I reach up and pull the chain, then watch the fan move in slow circles until I know the rightness of this, until I feel the truth in my bones.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
I am standing in my little country church holding my granddaughter in my arms, surrounded by candlelight and friends, and thinking that the Christmas season is a wonderful time for a christening. A time of celebration. A time of miracles.
I remember the miracle of her birth. Maggie Caroline, named for me and Daniel’s mother, but mostly for me. I was the one holding Beth’s hand when the baby was born. I was the one the baby looked up and saw. The very first person.
Daniel was there, too, of course, but I’m the one she smiled at. A bona fide smile. I leaned in close so she could focus, and she held onto my finger while I held onto wonder.
Jean and Lillian stand beside me, on the left, and on my right are Beth and Daniel. Lydia is somewhere in the Caribbean, her hair dyed blue again. To match the water, she told me on the phone. Tell the munchkin not to worry, she’d added. Aunt Lydia will show her how to have fun.
I don’t take Lydia’s pledge lightly. I might not be where I am right now if somebody had taught Dick how to laugh, how to have fun.
Behind me the congregation pledges to confirm and strengthen my granddaughter, to surround her with steadfast love. Solid vows, worthy promises.
Wait a minute, I want to say. There’s more. There’s so much more.
But I keep my peace. There will be time for all the things I want to tell her.
The preacher dips his hand into the baptismal fount then presses it dripping onto my granddaughter’s head. She screws up her face and lets out a loud protest, and I want to turn to the congregation and announce: Nobody will break that spirit. Nobody will ever make her feel unworthy.
After the ceremony is over, everybody crowds the aisles and Maggie Caroline holds court.
“She’s full of spunk,” Jean says.
“Full of fire and brimstone,” Lillian says, and she doesn’t care one bit that a few eyebrows have lifted. Neither do I.
“Like you, Maggie,” she adds.
I’m thinking of my own strength and the road I traveled to recover it, when I see Matt. He’s with a tanned and slim young woman who has a beautiful face. But it’s not her face I’m interested in, it’s her hips. I pay particular attention, take note of the widely spaced pelvic bones.
She can have his babies without any trouble, without the risk of complications that sometimes make doctors say it’s not wise to have children for the sake of your wife.
Matt is watching me, has been watching me the whole time, and when I look at him, I know he remembers.
Yes, something inside me nods, yes, and then I step outside into an evening lit by stars.
“Stand right there, Mother. I want to get some pictures.”
I smile when Beth turns in my direction, flashbulbs popping, but I’m not posing for the camera: I’m smiling for- the wonderful possibilities laid out before me. It seems appropriate that I’m holding my granddaughter on the steps of a little church called Hope. She’s a new generation, and as I press my cheek against hers I make my own vows: I will always tell you the truth, little one. Always.
Beth snaps more pictures, one of my friends with me while I hold Maggie Caroline, then one of just the three of us, Jean and Lillian and me. I plan to get a gold frame at Walmart and put that shot on my desk where I can see it every day.
Flanked by my friends I turn my face toward the city, but I don’t see the church yard and the trees beyond: I see my whole future spread out before me.
Next summer I’m going to travel, somewhere far away, somewhere I’ve never been. Perhaps Maine. I want to hear the call of a loon.
“Maggie?” Suddenly Matt is there, taking up all the air, filling up all the space. The beautiful young woman is with him. “I want you to meet my cousin Evie from Florida… Evie, this is the woman I told you about.”
I think I smile at her; I think I say, “It’s nice to meet you.” I feel Jean and Lillian edging closer, flanking me, gearing up for anything.
“I thought you were gone, Matt. I thought you were in Florida for two years.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear, Maggie.” He smiles at me, and though he hasn’t moved, it feels as if he has bent down and kissed me on the lips. “I don’t. I never have.”
There. There now. I can breathe again. I can smile at Matt and look straight into his eyes and see that my Saturday night Mr. Fixit, my whistling carpenter, my tender lover who spread me on a quilt then traced every one of my curves by the light of the stars was never gone. Not really. He was merely giving me time to become myself.
“Beth.” I turn to my daughter, who is eyeing Matt with curiosity. “I want you to meet someone very special to me. Matt Graham.”
Beth smiles, while Jean and Lillian say, “Hear, hear!” but it’s Matt who fills my vision, Matt whose smile is a promise I can’t wait for him to keep.
It’s not every day a woman gets a second chance. It’s not every day all the wishes your heart sent flying up to Sirius are returned to you in a rainbow of starlight.
One by one, my friends and family slip away until there are only the two of us. Matt opens his arms and I walk into them, absolutely certain.
All the constellations in the Milky Way are bending down, lighting the way to my one true home.
-The End-
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If you enjoyed Stars to Lead Me Home, you’ll enjoy the second book in Peggy Webb’s Love and Marriage series, My Love Will Find You, coming in 2016.
FREE! Peggy is giving away the first book in three of her romantic comedy series:
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Belinda
Donovan’s Angel (Donovans of the Delta)
Can’t Stop Loving You (Forever Friends)
The perfect book for the perfect cup of coffee! Elvis and the Buried Brides (Southern Cousins Mystery w/bonus short story and cookbook), Peggy’s latest cozy.
Watch for Magnolia Wild (Magnolia Wild Mystery & Romance, Book 1), a brand new series from Peggy Webb, set in New Orleans and coming in the fall of 2015. Early reviews call Magnolia Wild “the perfect combination of humor, cozy mystery and romance.”
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ww.peggywebb.com. Join Peggy on Facebook and Twitter. Win giveaways at her blog at www.elainehussey.com.
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About Peggy Webb
Peggy Webb is a USA Today best-selling author from Mississippi with more than 75 books to her credit. She writes romance, women’s fiction and the hilarious Southern Cousins cozy mystery series starring Elvis, the basset hound who thinks he’s the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll reincarnated. Her peers call her a “comic genius.” She also writes literary fiction and is a member of PEN under the name Elaine Hussey. Pat Conroy calls her literary work “astonishing.” This critically acclaimed author has won many awards, including a Romantic Times Pioneer Award for creating the sub-genre of romantic comedy. Several of her romances have been optioned for film.
Peggy is a member of Novelists, Inc., International Thriller Writers, and Romance Writers of America. Her award-winning books, Touched by Angels, A Prince for Jenny, the Donovans of the Delta series and her boxed sets have all been Kindle Top 10 bestsellers. Follow the author on her websites: www.peggywebb.com and www.elainehussey.com and on Facebook and Twitter.
Books by Peggy Webb
Classic Romance
Dark Fire
Touched by Angels (RT Reviewer’s Choice)
A Prince for Jenny, sequel to Touched by Angels
The Edge of Paradise
Duplicity (Rave review, RT Reviewer’s Choice)
Where Dolphins Go (RT Reviewer’s Choice, women’s fiction, optioned for film)
Night of the Dragon (time travel romance)
Christmas in Time (time travel, prequel to Only Yesterday)
Only Yesterday, (time travel, sequel to Christmas in Time)
Summer Jazz
Taming Maggie (#1 on romance bestseller list)
That Jones Girl (sequel to the Mississippi McGills series)
Indiscreet
The Donovans of the Delta Series:
Donovan’s Angel (Paul Donovan’s story)
Sleepless Nights (Tanner Donovan’s story)
Hallie’s Destiny (award winning book, Hallie Donovan’s story)
Any Thursday (Hannah Donovan’s story)
Higher Than Eagles (Jacob Donovan’s story)
The Mississippi McGills Series (spin-off from Donovans of the Delta)
Valley of Fire (Rick McGill’s story)
Until Morning Comes (Jo Beth McGill and Colter Gray Wolf’s story)
Saturday Mornings (Andrew McGill’s story)
Forever Friends series
Can’t Stop Loving You (Book 1, Helen’s story)
Only His Touch (Kat’s story, Book 2)
Bringing Up Baxter (B. J.’s story, Book 3)
Angels on Zebras (Maxie’s story, Book 4)
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Belinda
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Janet
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Molly
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Bea
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Clementine
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Joanna
The Dixie Virgin Chronicles: Catherine
Sunday Cove Series
Naughty and Nice
Birds of a Feather
Disturbing the Peace
….5 more to come
Romantic Suspense
Witch Dance
From A Distance
Boxed Sets
Donovans of the Delta
Forever Friends, Finally Brides
Finding Mr. Perfect
Finding Paradise
Time’s Embrace
Warrior’s Embrace
When I Found You
Southern Cousins Mysteries
Elvis and the Dearly Departed, 2008
Elvis and the Grateful Dead, 2009
Elvis and the Memphis Mambo Murders, 2010
Elvis and the Tropical Double Trouble, 2011
Elvis and the Blue Christmas Corpse, 2012
Jack Loves Callie Tender (series prequel and companion guide), 2013
Elvis and the Bridegroom Stiffs, 2014
Elvis and the Deadly Love Letters, a short story, 2014
Elvis and the Buried Brides, 2014, 2015
Women’s Fiction/Literary Fiction
Stars to Lead Me Home: Love and Marriage, June, 2015
Her Secret Hero, March, 2014
The Language of Silence (Gallery, Simon & Schuster), July 30, 2014
The Tender Mercy of Roses (Gallery, Simon & Schuster), written as Anna Michaels
The Sweetest Hallelujah (MIRA), written as Elaine Hussey, July 30, 2013
The Oleander Sisters (MIRA), written as Elaine Hussey, July 30, 2014
