by Ellery Adams
The tremor in her voice drew her friends in closer, and by the time she reached the end of the poem, hers weren’t the only tear-streaked cheeks in the cemetery.
Andrews held Hester for a long moment before leading her over to where Jack and Estella stood. When Andrews offered them a ride, Jack suggested that they all head over to the Pink Lady for coffee and pie.
“The pie won’t be as good as yours, but the coffee’s not bad,” he told Hester.
“A homemade dessert that I didn’t have to make? That would be a real treat for me.” Threading her arm through his, she asked, “What’s on today’s menu?”
Jack counted off the options on his fingers. “Chocolate bourbon pecan, peanut butter supreme, apple cranberry crumb, cherry crisp, and pumpkin s’mores. Estella came up with that one.”
“Has this flavor maven been inside you all along?” Hester asked Estella.
“What can I say? Jack brings out things in me I never knew were there.” Estella grabbed Sheldon’s hand. “Come here, love. You need a warm slice of pie, a hot cup of coffee, and a seat close to the heater.”
“Gawd, yes.” Sheldon looked a question at Nora, but she waved him on, saying that she’d meet up with them in a bit.
June and Dominique walked away in the company of Sheriff McCabe and Deputy Fuentes. After putting the dogs back in his truck, Jed joined Nora.
“Hey,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “You okay?”
She leaned into him. “I’m sad, but I’m okay. Thank you, Jed. I know you’re in the middle of a training session with Henry Higgins and that you’re also on call, so thanks for being here.”
Just as Jed opened his mouth to respond, his pager beeped.
He pulled it from the holder clipped to his belt and surveyed the number. It wasn’t difficult to interpret his expression.
“You have to go,” she said.
“I have to go,” he agreed.
He kissed her on the mouth, and then, on the tip of her nose.
“That’s my official cold weather test,” he said. “They teach us that the first week of classes, and your nose is telling me that you shouldn’t stay out here much longer.”
“Why not? Don’t you have official ways of warming me up?”
He grinned. “Oh, I do. Lots and lots of ways. And I’ll be over after work to demonstrate all of them, so leave a light on for me.”
“I’ll leave them all on!” Nora called as Jed jogged away.
She stood alone in the quiet cemetery, and though she was cold, she didn’t want to go just yet. She was too captivated by the peacefulness of the place. Instead of leaving, she walked closer to the Juliana statue. She was reaching out to touch the marble woman when a snowflake landed on her coat sleeve.
Astonished, Nora glanced skyward. A snowflake landed on her cheek like a wet kiss. She laughed in delight.
She caught another one, and in the seconds before it melted into the fabric of her glove, she saw a dozen shimmering crystals. She saw daisy petals. She saw pure beauty.
“It’s snowing, Bren. A bit of magic from heaven. Just for you.”
The flakes, which were too sparse to be called a flurry, vanished as soon as they hit the ground.
Nora pulled out her phone and took a photo of Juliana’s face just as the wind blew a curlicue of snow in front of it. Later, she’d send the image to Bobbie and ask her if she had time to talk.
Knowing Bobbie, she’d call within the hour. Nora would start off their conversation by asking Bobbie about work. Then she’d fill her in on what was going on at the bookshop. Finally she’d describe the understated ceremony at the cemetery and update her friend on Wolf Beck.
After spending two days and nights refusing to speak, eat, or meet with an attorney, Beck was transferred to a secure hospital ward. By the end of the third day, he’d accepted the prosecutor’s plea deal. The sentencing hearing had yet to take place, but when Sheriff McCabe heard which judge would be presiding over the case, he’d sucked in his breath and said that Beck would spend the rest of his life behind bars. That had been enough for Nora. She didn’t want to think about Wolf Beck anymore. She wanted to move forward.
Now, as Nora glanced up at the mist-crowned mountains, she felt a sense of closure. The snow had stopped as abruptly as it had begun, leaving the air smelling of pine and cedar. Overhead, a V of geese cut through the clouds. Nora watched their flight, admiring their neat, unwavering lines. She didn’t wonder where they were headed. She knew that didn’t matter. What mattered was that they were together.
She too was part of a flock. Of a family. She’d temporarily left the formation to linger here, but she was ready to return. She was ready for pie and coffee. For small talk and light laughter.
“You didn’t fix her wing.”
The masculine voice had materialized from somewhere behind Nora. Startled, she swung around to see who would sneak up on her in a cemetery.
It was Morris Knapp.
“Forgive me.” He held out his hands in supplication. “I didn’t mean to creep up on you. I was trying not to disturb you—in case you were praying or speaking to Bren or Cecily.” He pointed to his left. “I’ve been sitting on that bench, waiting for the right moment to talk to you. You seemed lost in thought until just a few seconds ago. Then I got the feeling that you were going to leave, and I thought it would be okay to come over. I’m sorry if I read that all wrong.”
Nora saw no reason to doubt his sincerity. “No, you got it right. I was just about to head out, but I’ll tell you about her first.” Moving closer to Juliana, Nora put a hand on her shoulder, just above the missing wing. “I was there the day the wing broke off. At first, Celeste was upset. But she didn’t blame the movers. She never raised her voice. She found a use for the broken wing. I was impressed by her calm. Her graciousness. She told me that there are no mistakes in art. Only marvelous new creations.”
Morris smiled. “That sounds just like her.”
Nora stared at him. “You called her Cecily. You knew her.”
He nodded. The gaze traveling from Celeste’s gravestone to Bren’s was full of regret and sorrow. “Brenna was my daughter. I didn’t know that until recently. Cecily never told me that she was pregnant. She and I dated when we were much, much younger. And only for a few months. We liked each other, but we knew what we had was temporary. I was headed to the seminary and Cecily wanted to pursue a bohemian lifestyle.”
“You met in Alabama?”
Morris got down on his knees and began to pick stray bits of grass off the surface of Bren’s stone. “We volunteered at the same soup kitchen. She thought I was cute, and she liked my sense of humor. I thought she was pretty, and I liked her kind heart. We had one summer together. After that, we went our separate ways. Years later, I met Connie. We got married and started a family. And all the time I was changing diapers, watching soccer games, or building treehouses, I had another child.”
Nora looked at the numbers carved into Bren’s gravestone. Twenty years ago, Morris’s daughter had come into the world without his knowledge. Not only had Celeste wronged him by not telling him about their child, but she’d also denied Bren the chance to know her father.
“That must have been some phone call,” Nora said. “To hear from your ex-girlfriend after so many years would have been enough. But to learn that you had a daughter too? I can’t imagine.”
Morris worked the muscles in his jaw. “It was an email, actually. Cecily used a library computer to find me and to create an email account. I didn’t believe her at first. About Bren. I thought it was a trick of some kind. A way to get money. It sounds awful when I say it out loud, but I hadn’t heard a word from her in over twenty years.”
“I would have been suspicious too,” Nora assured him.
“Then she sent me pictures of Bren. Tons of them. Brenna was the spitting image of my mama. There was no denying that she shared my DNA. Cecily didn’t want money. She didn’t want to make waves. She just wanted Bren to live whe
re I lived. To get to know me over time. Cecily didn’t have any family, and if something happened to her, she wanted Bren to have at least one person looking out for her.”
Nora’s limbs were stiff with cold, but she couldn’t move until she heard the rest of Morris’s story. “Did she tell you about Wolf Beck? Did she say that he might hurt Bren? Or her? That he would do anything to get Juliana’s book?”
“No.” Morris sat back on his heels. “I had no idea that Cecily was in danger. I just figured that she’d outgrown the homesteading lifestyle. She refused to talk about Still Waters, and I assumed she felt a sense of shame for embracing creature comforts like running water and central heating. When I stopped by to see her at the store after she moved in, she told me that we could only be friends if I focused on the present and future, not the past.”
“That doesn’t seem very fair.”
Morris slowly got to his feet. “She made an exception when it came to Bren. She’d tell me whatever I wanted to know about our daughter, and since Bren was the one I truly cared about, the bargain was fine with me.”
“Did you get a chance to learn things about her?”
“A few.” Morris pointed at the daisy crowns. “I knew about those. I knew that when she got older, she liked the irises that grew by the riverbanks better. She loved to sew, put on fashion shows, catch fish, and draw. She started making jewelry when she was knee-high.” He dipped his hand in his coat pocket and showed Nora his prize. It was one of Bren’s crystal necklaces. “I love to hold this—to know that my daughter made it.”
Nora didn’t say anything. What comfort could she offer to this man—this father—who’d lost a child within days of seeing her face for the first time?
But Morris didn’t need Nora to speak. He needed her to listen. To hear his story. “I only met Bren for a second. I felt okay about that second because I thought we had plenty of time.” He shook his head. “She was polite. Said hello and kept on doing what she was doing. I tried not to stare. Tried not to freak her out. But she looked so much like my mama. It was hard for me to leave the shop. To go on about my business knowing that my girl was in the same town. I couldn’t think straight.”
“Did Connie know? About Bren?”
Morris looked like he might be sick to his stomach. “Yes. Connie made a scrapbook for my mama’s seventy-fifth birthday, which was half a year ago. She went through hundreds of pictures of my mama, including the one she used as the album cover. My mama was twenty-one when it was taken, and—Hold on, I can show you.”
Suddenly, his phone was in his hand and he was scrolling through hundreds of thumbnail images.
“Look at this, and tell me what you see.”
Nora saw a young woman with long, dark brown hair and pale skin. She had an aquiline nose, a stubborn set to her jaw, full lips, a heart-shaped face, and a mischievous expression in her eyes. “She and Bren could be sisters.”
Morris pocketed the phone. “That’s why, when I saw pictures of Bren, I knew she was mine. Connie saw Bren the day she and Cecily were moving in. She asked Cecily a bunch of questions. When she found out Cecily was from Alabama, well, that’s when she came up with a whole new agenda for her women’s group.” He groaned. “I was going to tell her everything. I just wanted a few days—a week at most—to let this new reality sink in before I told Connie and my kids. We were still relative newcomers to town. I was still figuring out my role at the church. And here was Bren. It was a lot. I just wanted a few days. But that was the wrong decision. When I got that first email from Cecily, I should have told Connie right then. I don’t know why I kept it from her.”
Because she would have moved heaven and earth to keep you from Bren.
Nora didn’t share this thought. Criticizing Connie wouldn’t ease Morris’s suffering, and Nora felt sorry for him. He was grieving too, though far less publicly than Nora and her friends.
“If I’d come clean to Connie, maybe my son wouldn’t have painted a devil on the gift shop sign or put that pumpkin on your steps. Maybe he wouldn’t have vandalized Cecily’s store. If there’s a bright side, this whole thing has made me see Vicky in a new light. She quietly stood up for what she believed in, and I’m very proud of her.”
Nora was glad to hear this. “She’s a great kid.”
Together, she and Morris started walking toward the exit.
“Another thing I realized was that I had no clue what a Young Adult Fantasy novel really was.” With a self-effacing smile, he added, “Vicky schooled me. After reading a bunch of quotes on the importance of imagination from Einstein, Nelson Mandela, and Walt Disney, she gave me a book called The Maze Runner and told me to read it.”
Several days ago, Nora had surprised Vicky, Sid, and Steph with a pizza and ice cream party. After the girls had eaten their fill, Nora had told them to choose any book from the shop. Whatever they chose was theirs, free of charge. Sid picked Tomi Adeyemi’s Awaken the Magic, Steph went for Adam Silvera’s Infinity Son, and after careful deliberation, Vicky selected The Maze Runner.
“Did you like it?” Nora asked Morris.
“I loved it,” he said. “When I gave Vicky money to buy me the next book in the series, she told me to get it myself.”
Nora laughed. “I’ll hold it at the register for you.”
“Thanks. I hope I’ll be in town long enough to get it. Pastor Yates spent the last month rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricanes, and he wasn’t too happy to come back and hear about Connie’s activities. He’s talking to her now, and all I can do is pray for a positive outcome.”
They’d reached the cemetery gates. Morris ran his fingertips over the surface of his gold wedding band as he looked at Nora. “Connie’s my wife, and I love her. Our family can grow closer—and we can learn from our mistakes—if we stick together. Ms. Pennington, I hope we get the chance to show you a better version of us.”
Nora responded by removing her glove and holding out her hand. Though Morris seemed momentarily surprised by the gesture, he quickly reached out and shook it.
“Your family will always be welcome in my shop,” Nora said. “Because I’m a firm believer in second chances.”
She turned away then, heading in the same direction the geese had flown. The birds had a single purpose—to reach a land lush with grass.
Nora didn’t have to travel that far to have her needs met. All she wanted was a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate pecan pie. She wanted to sit in a diner booth and thaw out as she sipped coffee, ate pie, and listened to her friends talk. She wanted the syrup-scented kitchen air to restore feeling to her feet, and for the laughter bouncing off the napkin dispensers to chase the cold from her bones.
That was more than enough for Nora Pennington. An hour in a small-town diner with her friends, who were also her family.
After an hour, it would be time to go home. One of Nora’s favorite authors had released a new book, and it was on her coffee table, waiting to be read. Just thinking about that book gave her the most delicious feeling of anticipation. That gorgeous cover. Those crisp, white pages. All of those letters printed in bold, black ink. All of those words, breathing life into the story.
The time spent with that book would refuel the fire in Nora’s soul, and when she opened the shop on Monday, she’d use other books and other stories, both new and old, to ignite fires in her customers’ souls.
This is how Nora Pennington planned to make the world a better place.
Book by beautiful book.
Ink and Shadows: A Secret, Book, and Scone Society Mystery Reader’s Guide
1. When Nora Pennington first meets Celeste Leopold, she’s bending over a fallen statue. What is Nora’s first impression of this newcomer to Miracle Springs?
2. Celeste’s statue is mentioned many times in the novel. In what ways is it significant?
3. CBD products have become extremely popular. Have you ever used any? What are your thoughts on these products?
4. Nora recommends several books to a ma
n whose wife is losing her sight. What book would you add to Nora’s list?
5. The Powerful Women window display creates conflict between Nora and the Women of Lasting Values Society members. Is there a reason Nora should have changed the display? Did she make the right call by leaving it in place?”
6. It’s clear from the start that Bren Leopold is a troubled young woman, and Nora and her friends jump to several conclusions about her. Were they wrong in their thinking? Did you make similar assumptions?
7. Festival season is a busy time in the state of North Carolina. What are the biggest festivals in your neck of the woods? Have you ever traveled to attend a special festival?
8. Secrets are a central theme in Ink and Shadows. Which secret caused the most damage? Which main character was affected by an old secret?
9. Sheldon Vega provides a welcome dose of comic relief. What other attributes does he have? What would it be like to share a house with him?
10. Jed and Nora go through a rough patch in Ink and Shadows. Do you think the experience will bring them closer as a couple or drive a wedge between them? What are your thoughts on the relationship between Nora and Sheriff Grant McCabe?
11. Hester believes that Lazarus Harper deserves sympathy. June disagrees. Would you side with Hester or June?
12. Wolfgang Beck seemed to have two sides to his personality. If a man devoted to art was one side, what was the other?
13. Several different foods, handmade items, and hands-on activities are mentioned in Ink and Shadows as a way of providing comfort. Which one would mean the most to you?
14. Every chapter starts with a quote. Which one was your favorite?
15. If you could add a book to the BOOKS I’M THANKFUL FOR window display, what would it be?
Bibliotherapy from
Ink and Shadows
Books Featuring Powerful Women
Circe by Madeline Miller
Medea by Euripides
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire