“One hundred eighty-eight dollars,” Janet and Howard said simultaneously.
Dinah grinned. “Well, now isn’t it interesting, then, that I have here a two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar check given to me by my uncle Mike. A collection from the friends and family of Patty Hopkins. And ain’t it amazin’,” she applied her trademark twang, “that Uncle Mike asked me to look for a charitable contribution to make in my dear mama’s name.”
“Dinah, that’s so sweet,” Sandy said. “But maybe you want to plant a tree or something. We’re more than fine with what we made,” she leveled a glare at Howard, “aren’t we?”
Cameron watched Dinah’s eyes narrow. That woman was up to something.
“Oh, but I am planting something. Something lasting. You might even say it’s a watershed moment.” Dinah walked over to Howard. “Your honor, I am prepared to sign this check over to the Cookiegram fund right here in front of all these witnesses, if you’ll just grant me the tiniest favor.”
Howard’s reply was a look of suspicious amusement. “And what’s that?”
“Sonata Lane.” She waved the check in front of him, grinning. Cameron felt his heart gallop.
“You mean…” Howard started.
“I do in fact mean Middleburg’s first-ever street name change.”
“Well, it’s not really my decision now, is it? There are procedures to be followed. The preservation task force might need to…”
“Oh no,” chimed in Emily, currently arm-in-arm with her husband-to-be. “I must say I’ve come around to Dinah’s way of thinking.”
Cameron started having trouble breathing calmly.
“Audrey,” Dinah said, her voice smooth and silky, “how many do we need for a quorum of the zoning board?”
“Five. I just happened to look it up this afternoon.” Audrey’s grin rivaled Dinah’s.
Aunt Sandy jumped on the bandwagon. “Raise your hand if you’re on the zoning board.” Four hands went up. “And you make five, Howard. Isn’t that handy?”
“Astonishing,” said Howard, just barely starting to grin.
“I move,” said a man Cameron had met in the hardware store only yesterday, “that we call an impromptu meeting of the Middleburg planning and zoning commission for the sole purpose of considering the name change of the Route 26 extension, commonly known as Lullaby Lane.”
“Second,” said Vern Murphy, smiling broadly.
Howard looked around the room, caught Cameron’s eye with a shrug that made everyone laugh and said, “All those in favor?”
“Aye!”
The room burst into applause. “Well, Cameron Rollings, you got your Kentucky license and you got your precious name change. So pretty soon son, I expect to see you out there sellin’ every house you build on…” he took a deep breath and rolled out the words, “Sonata Lane.”
Cameron caught Dinah’s hand and pulled her to him. He took the check she held out, handed it to Howard without taking his eyes off his amazing woman and kissed her. “All but one.”
Dear Reader,
I’m definitely more about snacking than baking, but even I know how much God loves surprise ingredients in our lives. Events that feel like endings are often beginnings, and God delights in taking our lives in new directions with unexpected companions. Dinah and Cameron discover that God knows just how to combine two people who haven’t yet discovered how much they need each other. Together, they learn the value of community and the trustworthiness of God’s path—even when you can’t see where your steps are leading. It’s my prayer that their story offers you encouragement in your own life and increases your own trust in God’s plan. And if I’ve inspired you to send some cookies to someone you love, then by all means, get baking! As always, I love to hear from you at alliepleiter.com or P.O. Box 7026, Villa Park, IL 60181. (Please don’t send cookies…I’m doing enough sit-ups as it is!)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What would you have done about Frank’s crimes in Cameron’s shoes? Do you think the high stakes involved would alter your decision?
Do you think what Sandy Burnside did was ethical or questionable?
Why do family estrangements like Dinah’s happen? What can be done about it?
Was Dinah’s only choice to move back to New Jersey? Is there another way you might handle the situation in her place?
If you were Patty Hopkins’s friend, what would you have suggested she do regarding her relationship with Dinah?
Baking serves as a comfort to Dinah. What serves as a comfort to you? Do you get enough chances to do it? How can you change that if you don’t?
Was Howard right or wrong to push Cameron into his role managing the cookie baking?
Have you ever paid a high price for doing the right thing? How has that experienced changed you?
Dinah talks a lot about community. What’s your definition of community? Do you have a community around you?
Would you have sued if given the chance Cameron had?
Is Middleburg right or wrong to resist change the way it does? What does it gain by resisting? What does it lose?
Is there someone in your life you’ve lost contact with for regrettable reasons? What can you do about restoring that relationship? What’s God’s role in that situation?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-3627-5
BLUEGRASS BLESSINGS
Copyright © 2009 by Alyse Stanko Pleiter
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Bluegrass Blessings Page 18
