Along the Cane River: Books 1-5 in the Inspirational Cane River Romance Series

by Mary Jane Hathaway

  She kissed him back, smiling at the miracle of forgiveness and the second chances that come without fanfare or confetti. She wasn’t sure if she’d moved, or if the barriers had been torn down, but she was so very, very grateful. Year of mercy, indeed. She thought of how sometimes life takes a leap forward and the movement is so smooth that you don’t know it’s happened until you wake up and find everything around you different. Grace was a mysterious thing and it had been waiting there for her all those years.

  Chapter Twenty (Epilogue)

  “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

  ― Mother Teresa

  Blue adjusted the tie of his tux and felt a trickle of sweat on his temple. Poor St. Augustine’s was too small for this many bodies in close quarters, and the slight breeze from the front doors didn’t do anything to help alleviate the heat.

  Glancing out at the crowd, he could see familiar faces of the Cane River community. Ladies in bright hats, kids in their Sunday best, men in bow ties. As difficult as the last few months had been, he’d also felt the love and support of so many people. His father didn’t own everyone, not even close. There were many, many people his father couldn’t control through intimidation or the promise of special treatment. Blue hoped they could reconcile someday but it seemed far off and unlikely. Still, he prayed that as he took control of his own life, his father would have a change of heart.

  The strains of the wedding march sounded and Blue looked across at Rose. She stood in the middle of a line of bridesmaids, her curly hair smoothed back with only a few soft tendrils framing her face. She was beaming at him and he couldn’t look away.

  “There it is,” murmured Austin from one side.

  “The look,” Gideon said from the other.

  Blue was ready to whisper a denial that he looked anything like Fr. Tom’s vacuous cave man impression but he realized they were talking about Andy, who stood next to Fr. Tom. Andy’s expression was one of stunned happiness and Blue almost laughed out loud. So, maybe there was a little truth to the teasing.

  Roxie processed down the aisle, a wide smile on her face, her gaze fixed on Andy. Her gown was a simple white silk and her mamere was holding onto her arm, tears streaming down her face.

  ***

  Rose watched Roxie approach the front of the church and realized she wasn’t the least bit jealous. For the first time in years, she wasn’t consumed with thought of her own lost wedding and the groom that had walked away from her. She thought she’d had once chance at love, and then Blue had come along. Maybe life wasn’t a series of doors, opening and shutting, after all. Maybe you didn’t get one chance to get it right, then you had to choose another path. Life was something like a slow tide that drew in, past the sandbar and onto the shore. There was no resisting the pull or the direction. It was one movement forward, until that time when it would draw back again into the boundless deep.

  She glanced at Blue and saw him watching her, his face bright with happiness. He’d been right, that night at Alice and Paul’s house, when he said that it wasn’t too late unless you were dead. She couldn’t go back to the life she’d had in Boston, but she was at peace with where the tide had pulled her. There was so much left to experience and so much love left in her, still. Alice and Paul’s year of grace project had given her the gift of hope.

  She didn’t know whether tomorrow would be her ‘sunset and evening star’ and the pull back toward the One who had created her, or whether she got another forty years to love Blue. Looking into his eyes, surrounded by their friends in a place of tradition and faith, Rose was grateful for this little moment, this eddy of pure, perfect happiness.

  THE END

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for reading the fifth book in my Cane River Romance series. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! The flashbacks were an experiment that I enjoyed, and I hope it added to the story in a way that made the characters more real to you. Sometimes we carry hurts from childhood that color our relationships as adults, and I wanted to show how careless words can leave lasting issues. Blue and Rose both needed to learn that they were ‘made new’ people in Christ and not bound to their past hurts.

  Blue has been special to me ever since he appeared in book two as a friend and supporter to Henry. Although he wanted more, and Henry was already falling in love with Gideon, Blue was the kind of friend that everyone needs: compassionate, strong, and wise. Readers have been asking for his story ever since.

  I hope that you enjoyed this peek into the inner workings of Blue’s life. On the outside, he had everything together. On the inside, things were not so neat and tidy. He had to grow and change to find his happiness, and that included standing up to his father. As a parent, I want my children to be honor me like the Commandment says, but as a believer, I want them to obey God first above all. Blue’s father was asking him to lie and act unjustly. Blue had to learn to follow God first, before any man, no matter how much he yearned for his father’s love and approval.

  I’d always wanted to give Blue a heroine who wasn’t as brave as he was, but I was nervous about Rose’s crime. How responsible are we for the actions of others? How much can we take on when we see someone doing what can be harmful or hurtful? Rose was raised to believe she was only worthy if she was pretty, wanted, and powerful. That led to her making some very bad decisions that hurt many people. Rose had to relearn how to see her own value, and also to see how close she was to finding peace.

  I don’t usually write Christian theology into the story in such a direct way, but I met someone who hadn’t heard the “why” of the crucifixion. I realized that what was so simple to a believer, seems just random and strange to others. Rose’s faith journey started with understanding the sacrifice of the cross. She couldn’t make that final step toward accepting forgiveness until she put all the pieces together. Such a small part of the puzzle, yet it’s everything, really.

  If you enjoyed this story, be sure to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. I love visiting with readers on my author page of Mary Jane Hathaway, or on my blog at The Things That Last!

  Crossing the Bar

  by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

  Sunset and evening star,

  And one clear call for me!

  And may there be no moaning of the bar,

  When I put out to sea,

  But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

  Too full for sound and foam,

  When that which drew from out the boundless deep

  Turns again home.

  Twilight and evening bell,

  And after that the dark!

  And may there be no sadness of farewell,

  When I embark;

  For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

  The flood may bear me far,

  I hope to see my Pilot face to face

  When I have crost the bar.

  BIOGRAPHY

  Mary Jane Hathaway is an award-nominated writer of Christian fiction and a home schooling mom of six young children who rarely wear shoes. She holds degrees in Linguistics and Religious Studies from the University of Oregon and lives with her habanero-eating husband, Crusberto, who is her polar opposite in all things except faith. They've learned to speak in short-hand code and look forward to the day they can actually finish a sentence. In the meantime, she thanks God for the laughter and abundance of hugs that fill her day as she plots her next book. She also writes under the pen name of Virginia Carmichael.

  OTHER TITLES by Mary Jane Hathaway

  Austen Takes the South Series

  Pride, Prejudice and Cheese Grits

  Emma, Mr. Knightley and Chili-Slaw Dogs

  Persuasion, Captain Wentworth and Cracklin’ Cornbread

  Leaving Liberty

  Cane River Romance Series

  The Pepper in the Gumbo Book One

  These Sheltering Walls Book Two

  Only Through Love Book Three

  A St
ar to Steer By Book Four

  The Boundless Deep Book Five

  Until Winter Comes Again Book Six

  Arcadia Valley Romance Series

  Romance Grows in Arcadia Valley (Boxed Collection of Six Inspirational Novellas)

  Summer’s Glory (Arcadia Book One)

  OTHER TITLES by Virginia Carmichael

  Colors of Faith Series (historical Christian romance)

  All The Blue of Heaven

  Purple Like the West

  Denver Homeless Mission Series

  Season of Joy

  Season of Hope

  A Home for her Family

  Novels, illustrators, poetry, and poets which play a role in this story:

  The friends and employees of By the Book insert poetry and literature into their conversations as casually as we mention facebook or Pinterest. Rose and Blue love reading suspense and mysteries, but they also enjoy poetry. Authors mentioned are Dean Koontz, Allen Eskins, Marcus Sakey, Mary Shelley, Patricia Highsmith,

  The poets mentioned are Sara Teasdale, Tennyson, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Sara Teasdale, Edgar Allen Poe. I return to them again and again throughout the year, marking the seasons with treasured lines.

  Aurora, Elizabeth and Emily Jane’s shirts reference North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Jane Eyre by Emily Brontë, The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, It’s Been A Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

  Louisiana Creole glossary

  According to the last census, a quarter of a million people speak French in the home in Louisiana. Most of these speakers use Cajun French, Louisiana Creole, or Creole French. These dialects are similar, but distinct. The Creole people of the Natchitoches region speak Louisiana Creole and that is the dialect that appears in the story. There isn’t an official writing system but I found the online dictionary at LouisianaCreoleDictionary.com very handy. The Louisiana Language Fan Page on facebook was also helpful. This page has an active community that answers questions and creates memes for sharing. You can find it at https://www.facebook.com/Kourivini/. As always, all mistakes are my own!

  Sha = dear, sweetie

  Merci (spelled a variety of ways) = thank you

  Misye = monsieur, sir

  Bonmatin= good morning

  Manzelle = mademoiselle, miss

  Bonswe = good evening

  Donne moi un p'tit bec = give me a kiss

  asi-vu= sit down (plural)

  asi-twa= sit down (singular)

  Mais = well

  Mamere= grandma

  Belle calas, tout chaud= traditionally the cook will call this out when there are fresh sweet rice fritters, ‘beautiful fritters, very hot’

  Sont belles = they’re beautiful

  Li t’komprenn= she understands you

  Li ay belle osi= she’s pretty, too

  Wé, mon parl kouri-vini.= Yes, I speak Louisiana Creole.

  Ifo pa démanjé shak démanjézon. =You don’t have to scratch every itch.”

  Je croix qu’oui= I think so

  Recipes

  Calas Rice Fritters

  The fried sweet rice fritters that Blue enjoys from Sunshine Bakery are often called Calas Rice Fritters. They were traditionally sold in the streets and the call of “Belle calas, tout chaud,” announced the delicious delivery of sweet rice fritters. These treats have taken a back seat to the beignet but they’re making a comeback.

  1/2 cup warm water

  1 Tbsp. sugar

  1 pkg active dry yeast (about 2 ¼ tsp)

  3/4 cup cooked white rice

  2 large eggs, beaten slightly

  3/4 cup flour

  1 dash of salt

  1/4 tsp pure vanilla

  1/8 tsp nutmeg

  oil for frying, enough that the calas are covered and can be turned easily

  Some love calas with cane syrup but you can use a dusting of powdered sugar

  Preparation starts the day before! Combine the water and sugar in a small bowl, add the yeast and let sit, about ten minutes. Add the rice and stir. Cover and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. Some recipes don’t use yeast and don’t let it sit overnight, but then the distinctive flavor is gone.

  In the morning, stir the rice mixture together and mash it a little with the side of the spoon. Some like it creamier, some like individual grains of rice. Add the eggs, flour, salt, vanilla, and nutmeg and mix thoroughly. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Don’t skip this step because it gives the calas a light, fluffy texture.

  Drop the batter by the spoonful into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Call out, “Belle calas, tout chaud,” to let everybody know they’re ready (if they’re not hovering in the kitchen, like my family does) and serve with powdered sugar or cane syrup. Enjoy!

  Ruby’s Pineapple Cheese Salad

  Poor Bix didn’t love this dish but I know plenty of people who do!

  1 package gelatin

  1 cup cold water

  1 can crushed pineapple

  1 cup sugar

  1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

  pinch of salt

  little lemon juice

  1 pint whipping cream

  Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water. Combine the sugar and pineapple in a pot. Cook for ten minutes until sugar is dissolved. Add the cheese and a pinch of salt, then the gelatin and splash of lemon juice. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 20 minutes. It should begin to solidify. Fold the whipped cream into the mix and place in a fancy mold that’s been sprayed lightly with cooking oil for easy removal. Chill in the fridge for several hours and remove from the mold, turning it out onto a plate. Garnish as desired and slice!