Epilogue One Year Later
D enny and Alec’s wedding is everything she’d hoped for and more. Thanks to Lydia’s Amish connection, Denny and Alec arrive at the chapel in a horse-drawn buggy.
Lydia returned to Lancaster County with humility to her Amish community where she was welcomed back by her parents and everyone in their church district. Maybe not with hugs and kisses, but then her dat and her mam never even hugged each other in public. Then the next day her father and their Amish bishop visited the shoe store, paid for the stolen shoes out of Lydia’s earned wages, and insisted the owner write Paid in Full on the receipt.
Denny is wowed by how handsome Alec is wearing his kilt. Gordon, also clad in a kilt, flew over the Atlantic Ocean to walk Denny down the aisle. He and James have become genuine friends since Gordon fell in love with a local Scottish lass. Once standing before the pastor, Denny notices Lydia sitting in the first pew row with her new husband, Jonathan, and Molly, now thriving in nursing school. Across the aisle, Maureen sits with James, who jiggles his and Maureen’s infant, a boy they named Robert after Denny and Maureen’s deceased father. Behind is a roomful of friends and family members, both Amish and English. Standing room only.
Amanda is the flower girl. She carries Rosie as she solemnly walks forward. Thankfully Rosie is sleeping. She’s a rambunctious cairn terrier pup who has brought Denny much joy.
“Who needs rose petals when we have the real thing?” Denny asked Maureen a couple of weeks ago.
“Whatever you decide,” Maureen said. “It’s your wedding. Yours and Alec’s, that is.” Maureen graciously oversaw the flowers and catered food for the sit-down reception dinner for two hundred at the nearby country club.
The two sisters hugged each other.
“I love you, Maureen,” Denny said, her heart free of resentment and full of forgiveness.
“I love you too,” Maureen echoed. “Forever.”
Today a bagpipe outside the chapel plays an uplifting melody that stirs Denny’s soul. She and Alec will visit the Isle of Skye on their honeymoon. She can’t wait to explore the whole island with Alec as her tour guide.
Denny’s little bookshop is thriving now that its owner is invigorated and free from pain, thanks to Molly’s cooking and sage advice, the devotion of a loving husband who works by her side, and her saucy cairn terrier, Rosie.