A Sister's Blessing by Katie Winters

Author:Katie Winters
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Katie Winters

Chapter Twelve

Apple tarts, creme brûlée, oat muffins, and chocolate-filled croissants lined the kitchen counters at the Remington House. Alyssa sat in rapt attention at the table and watched Maggie finish the icing on a sublime-looking cake. Maggie’s concentration was very deep, and her tongue poked from between her lips. She’d been on a baking frenzy for hours.

“Ta-da!” Maggie stepped back from the cake and analyzed it from several different angles.

“It looks crazy, Mags.”

“Do you think?” Maggie winced with fear, although she clearly knew it was a masterpiece.

“Ta-da!” Lucy sat in her highchair and smiled excitedly at Maggie, who hurried over to the little girl and covered her with kisses.

“You like it, Lucy?” Maggie said. “Yours is the only feedback I ever need!”

Maggie took several photographs of the cake and other baked goods for her social media channel, then began to load everything up in containers, which she planned to take immediately to The Dog-Eared Corner. Lucy would go with her, after which they would go to the doctor, as Lucy had a small cough.

“I’ll make us smoothies before I go,” Maggie said, her voice melodic.

“Ugh.” Alyssa laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I hate to admit it, but I think all this healthy food has done wonders for my skin.”

Maggie nodded as she heaved spinach and strawberries into a blender. “You’re glowing already.”

After Maggie left that morning, Alyssa wandered around the empty Remington House like a ghost. She was rarely alone, and the sensation was strange. If she wasn’t careful, fears around the pregnancy were apt to jump up and bite her, to remind her of how difficult childbirth was and how long it would take for her body to look like hers again.

Still, the look in Maggie’s eyes ever since Alyssa had told her about the pregnancy had been invigorating. Every morning, Maggie looked as though she floated through her tasks for the coffee shop, and every evening, she spoke to Alyssa and Janine ecstatically. These were very happy days.

It was early March now. Strangely enough, after more than two weeks on the Vineyard, neither Maggie nor Alyssa had brought up the idea of returning to the city. Didn’t Maggie want to see Rex? Didn’t Rex want to see Maggie? Then again, Alyssa knew the baby’s health came first— no matter how many cells big he or she was at this point— and the island’s air was sublime for the health. Perhaps a part of Maggie blamed the city for her recent miscarriage. Perhaps fear was the reason for their stay, rather than Maggie’s feelings around Rex.

Maggie returned home not long afterward. In one arm, she carried a brown paper bag filled with fruits and vegetables, and in her opposite hand, she held Lucy’s carrier. Maggie chatted about the bookstore, which she’d taken to calling “the cutest place on earth.” She then sliced through an apple and told Alyssa something both extraordinary and insane all at once.

“I’ve been researching Heidi’s son.”

Alyssa’s mouth fell open. Maggie handed her a slice of apple and tilted her head.

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