Hatteras Girl (Heart of Carolina Book #3) (32 page)
New Year’s Eve, we decide, is a good day to move. A perfect day to put the past behind us. Minnie says she’s as happy as she’s been in months, and is anxious to start the new year in another location. So we load up Buck’s Jeep, Minnie’s car, and my truck. Before we transport the last load, Minnie, Zane, and I say good-bye to the duplex. Zane and Minnie will live in the apartment over the garage, furnished with items from the duplex, and I’ll make my home in the smaller downstairs bedroom of the main house. I’ve already spent one night there when Ropey and Beatrice Lou became the first paying guests under our ownership.
After we get everything unloaded, we plan to enjoy New Year’s Eve dancing in the parlor of the Bailey House. Zane wants to eat cottage cheese sprinkled with edible confetti. He saw the confetti on a commercial during an
Andy Griffith
rerun.
Mrs. Appleton watches us from her kitchen window, her face partially hidden by a frilly lace curtain. There was a day when I was tempted to wave at her, making her aware that she’s never as inconspicuous as she thinks—but not today. There are larger things on my mind as I count the steps up to the duplex for the final time. Nostalgia covers my skin like a perfumed ointment. “This is it,” I say when I reach the interior and start opening drawers and closets, making sure that nothing has been left behind. “You were a good home,” I tell the bare walls, counters, and floors. Satisfied with my walk-through, I close and lock the front door.
Bo sticks his head out of his doorway. “Hey,” he calls. “I’ll be coming by the Bailey place real soon. Might even stay a night or two.”
“That would be great.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll leave my music at home.” He winks, wishes me luck.
“Thanks, Bo.”
Buck closes the hatch to his Jeep after pushing a large cardboard box of Zane’s toys inside. He looks around the driveway. “Did you get everything?”
Minnie and Zane are already inside her car. Minnie rolls down her window. “Here we go!” she says with a broad smile. Zane is clapping his hands in his car seat. He has learned a new song in kindergarten: “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”
Buck watches as I walk toward my truck that is crammed with boxes and bags. When I get to the door, he says, “Don’t forget this box.”
At first I think that he’s talking to Minnie. Then I realize he’s speaking to me.
“What box?” I scan the driveway.
On the pavement by my Ford sits a small silver box tied with a black ribbon.
“What’s this?”
Minnie and Buck smile at each other.
“It’s for you,” says Buck.
Tentatively, I stoop down and pick up the box. I cast a quick glance at Buck and then eagerly untie the ribbon. Inside is a black jewelry box that pops open to reveal a sparkling diamond ring. My face flushes with warmth, even though the day is chilly. “Buck!” I look into his smiling face. “Are you serious?”
And there in the driveway, Buck gets down on one knee. “Hatteras Girl,” he says, looking so handsome and sweet, “even though I know jewelry isn’t quite your thing, I sure hope you will agree to wear this ring and marry me.”
I bend down to kiss him. “I need a good carpenter in my life.” Buck does bring out the silliness in me, but my next words are serious. “I would be happy to marry you.”
“And wear the ring?”
Zane’s head is sticking out the car window as he bellows, “Jackie, you’re supposed to say ‘Yes!’ ”
My Hatteras relatives had a goal of seeing a ring on my finger by the end of this year. With only a few hours to spare, I slip Buck’s ring onto my finger.
Doubt drifts out to sea. The realization that dreams do come true makes me smile.
I grab Buck’s hand and bring him to his feet. Leaning in to kiss him, I smile and say, “Yes, I’ll marry you. This is going to be wonderfully fun.”
The Bailey House Lemon Cookies
1 cup of butter, softened
1½ cups of sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of freshly grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2½ cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
1½ teaspoons of cream of tartar
GLAZE:
2½ cups of powdered sugar
¼ cup of lemon juice
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs. Mix lightly. Add the lemon juice and peel. In another bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the batter and beat at low speed with a mixer, scraping the bowl often. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from pan and let cool.
Mix glaze ingredients and frost cookies.
Makes 5 dozen cookies.
L. J.’s Cornbread with Bacon
1¼ cups of all-purpose flour
¾ cup of white cornmeal
¼ cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
1 cup of sour cream
1 can of creamed corn
1 cup of crumbled bacon, fried
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. To the dry ingredients, add the eggs, sour cream, and creamed corn. Lightly blend and then stir in bacon.
Bake in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Don’t overcook.
Sheerly’s Tomato Pie
5 plump and juicy tomatoes—homegrown, if possible
Salt and pepper to taste
1 rolled piecrust, either store-bought or homemade
3 teaspoons of fresh or dried basil
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 large Vidalia onion, sliced
6 slices of Swiss or Gruyere cheese, or a combination
1 cup of real mayonnaise (Hellmann’s is best)
¼ teaspoon of Tabasco
1½ cups of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Peel the tomatoes and slice them. Place them in a bowl and cover with salt. Let them sit for 45 minutes. Rinse off excess salt. Form piecrust in a pie plate. Place a layer of drained tomatoes on the crust. Sprinkle with pepper, salt, 2 teaspoons of basil, and sugar. Add a layer of sliced onion. Add a layer of Swiss or Gruyere cheese. Repeat the layers. For the last layer, mix mayonnaise, Tabasco, and cheddar cheese, and spread over the top. Then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, pepper, and the rest of the basil. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top is browned and bubbly. Cool for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
My gratitude to:
The Serious Scribes—Katharine, Martha, Jen, Catherine, and Kim.
Fellow missionary kid and Canadian Academy schoolmate Ron Theisson, for his kayaking guidance.
Colleen Baber, for telling me stories about her son Andrew so I could create a restaurant in his memory: Breakfast at Andrew’s.
Marcel Hull, for the hospitality and service she offers to all who enter her international home.
Vince, my brother, for his realty help.
Tana O’Keeffe, my Outer Banks friend who lets me call her “Hatteras.”
Charlene and the incredible team at Bethany House for continuing to believe in me.
My agent, Kristin Lindstrom.
My remarkable husband, Carl; his expertise in construction and ability to deal with other people’s repairs-gone-wrong is truly impressive.
Alice J. Wisler
was born and raised in Japan as a missionary kid. After graduating high school, she got her BS in Social Work from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia. She’s enjoyed staying at a number of bed and breakfasts in the South, in Japan, and in England, and would secretly like to run one if it just wasn’t so much work. The Outer Banks is one of her favorite vacation destinations. Currently, she lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, Carl, and three children, Rachel, Benjamin, and Elizabeth. In memory of her son Daniel, she gives online grief-writing courses, designs remembrance cards, and speaks across the country on Writing the Heartache. To find out more, visit her Web site at
www.alicewisler.com
.
1. Have you ever had a dream to do something others considered impossible? What steps did you take to make your dreams come true?
2. Jackie has to deal with her friend Minnie’s grief over the deaths of significant people in her life. Have you lost anyone close to you? How do you deal with grief in your own life? How do you comfort others who are grieving?
3. Have you ever stayed at a bed and breakfast? If so, where? What would be some of the pros and cons of running a bed and breakfast?
4. For most of the story, Buck is silent about how he feels about Davis. Do you understand his silence? Have you ever kept a secret about someone to spare another person’s feelings?
5. Aunt Sheerly and the other relatives plan a surprise birthday party for Jackie. Have you ever been instrumental in planning a surprise? Was it hard to keep it a secret?
6. Jackie must wait upon the Lord for her dreams to come true. Have you ever been fearful that the Lord will not answer your prayers? Has God ever answered your prayers in a different way than you expected?
7. Have you ever had a boss like Selena? How did you handle him or her?
8. What are Davis’s strengths? Weaknesses? Do you think he and Vanessa will end up together?
9. Jackie and her relatives eat lunch together after church every Sunday. What traditions do you have in your family?
10. Jackie collects fishermen’s hats. Do you collect anything? How did the collection start?
For additional book club resources, please visit
www.bethanyhouse.com/anopenbook.
