Epilogue
Liliana Fawn Clarke-Winsted was born at four o’clock Friday afternoon.
Maddie and Rex named her Liliana, because they both liked the name, and Fawn—in honor of Maddie’s great-grandmother, Spotted Fawn—so their daughter would carry a piece of her Wampanoag heritage with her forever. Mostly, they’d probably call her Lily.
Grandma wasted no time scampering down the hill and hanging a sign on the bookshop door: GRAND OPENING POSTPONED DUE TO BIRTH IN THE FAMILY.
Weighing five pounds, Lily was healthy for a baby who was seven weeks premature, and she was beautiful.
Grandma said she had her Hannah’s perfectly shaped nose and mouth.
Stephen said she had Maddie’s pretty eyes.
Taylor said she had Rex’s mischievous smile and looked a little bit like him, too, except that Lily had beautiful, coppery-burnished skin, and, more important, she had hair.
At one point, when Maddie was alone with Taylor, Taylor thanked her for her forgiveness.
She also admitted that her life had been scarred from bearing the guilt that her father killed a woman—a secret she’d never told anyone, not her brother, not her mother.
She was not even sure that her father remembered that she knew—the night he told her, Taylor was only ten, and he was quite drunk as he often was in those days; she found him in the backyard, behind the shed, bawling his eyes out like he was a kid.
That’s when he blubbered out the hideous story, and young Taylor withdrew into a hush, hush world.
She also told Maddie that the day she’d gone to the cottage to see her, she’d planned to tell her that she’d sent the notes because she’d been afraid that, with Maddie becoming an island presence, the story would somehow come out, and people would wind up being hurt after all, and angry over all the lies they’d believed.
Once the word spread from up-island to down, questions arose as to whether Grandma, Taylor, and, of course, Bud should be arrested for their parts in the cover-up.
But with Grandma nearly ninety-one, and Taylor having been so young when Stan told her the truth, Chief Lawrence suggested that, after forty years, there had been enough suffering and that few islanders, if any, would be inclined to want to see Grandma or Taylor incarcerated.
Especially when Taylor admitted she’d become an EMT so she could help islanders in trouble—a small way that she hoped would help make up for what her father had done.
As for Bud, his son revealed that his father was dying.
“Stage four melanoma,” Dave said, and handed over the medical records that indicated he had only a few months to live.
Bud said he told Maddie because he wanted a clear conscience before he died, and it seemed like the time to do it.
Chief Lawrence, however, still needed to follow protocol and arrest him.
It went without saying that Bud would most likely be released on bail, and probably be dead before his trial.
As for Maddie, she’d known for years that life didn’t always go the way you wanted. It was, however, hard to accept that Liliana’s arrival time prevented Maddie from going to Rafe’s graduation. But, baby or not, Grandma and Joe made the trip off-island, to America.
Unknown to Maddie, Rex had arranged for Maddie to stay at the hospital through Sunday—where the internet was always dependable, unlike up-island.
As graduation began, Owen—of all people—FaceTimed Maddie so she did not miss a moment of the Amherst College ceremonies.
Maybe, she thought as she watched Rafe accept his summa cum laude diploma—his Wampanoag ancestor’s wampum arrowhead proudly around his neck—maybe Owen isn’t all bad, after all.
Then she warned herself to stop being a Pollyanna, that she had a little girl to raise now in a very different world from the one that even Rafe had been born into.
Later that evening, when Maddie and Rex were alone in the maternity room except for Liliana, who was sleeping peacefully in Maddie’s arms, Rex handed her an envelope.
“A little thanks for giving me our family,” he said.
Inside the envelope was the card she’d seen in his sock drawer: On the front were the stick figures of the boy and the girl, their hearts connected. Inside he had written: I love you so damn much.
Maddie was speechless.
“I was going to give you the card at Christmas with your bracelet, but I was afraid you’d think I was moving too fast.”
They laughed.
“And there’s more,” he added as he handed her his phone.
She glanced at it and saw a photo of a room filled with lovely baby furniture. Then she realized the room was her bedroom at the cottage.
“If you hate any of it,” Rex said, “I’ll send it back.
I ordered it all online Friday night; Kevin and Dave went to Hyannis yesterday and picked it up.
Oh, yeah, and the dresser has clothes in it for Lily, and there’s a stash of diapers and other stuff in the bathroom, because I didn’t know where else to tell them to put everything.
Taylor helped me figure out what you and Lily would need. ”
“Stop talking,” Maddie said. “And kiss me.”
And so he did.
Then he said, “One more thing …”
She playfully rolled her eyes.
“Remember the ‘investor’ I mentioned who was interested in helping out with the bookshop?”
Maddie had no idea what he next had up his sleeve.
“It’s time for full disclosure: The investor was me. So now you know I’ve always got your back, if you turn away from me or not.”
So, Maddie thought, Annie Sutton was definitely not on the horizon.
“And can you stand another thing?” he asked.
She laughed again. “Try me.”
He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a small box. “I hope I didn’t misread you, but the other night, when you said you were ready …” He opened the box, and Maddie simply whispered, “Yes.”
In her mother’s arms, baby Liliana made tiny little noises that sounded as if she agreed.
Later that night, Maddie suggested that Rex move into Grandma’s cottage with them at least for the summer.
Lucy was back and could manage the Inn; maybe Francine could run the Lord James until Labor Day.
Rex would then have plenty of time to finish recuperating, and, even better, to spend the summer with his new family.
Rex agreed—then he broached an idea for Rafe and Stephen to use his cabin for the season, so they’d all have room to breathe. Come September, they’d figure how to make things work moving forward. Meanwhile, they’d be happy just being happy.
The little family finally left the hospital Monday morning.
When they got to the cottage, Grandma and Joe greeted them, having already arrived safely from Amherst along with Rafe and Stephen, who followed them in case Joe missed the exit off the Mass.
Pike. To welcome Liliana, the three men and Grandma had hung pink(!) balloons around the door-frames at the cottage and the bookshop.
“We decided everyone should know that my sister is here,” Rafe announced.
By then, Maddie figured pretty much every islander knew.
Best of all, when Maddie, Rex, and their beautiful daughter went inside, Grandma presented them with a large parcel wrapped in pink tissue paper.
“For my great-granddaughter,” she said, and Maddie was pleased that Grandma had her genealogy right.
Inside the pink paper was a breathtakingly stunning handwoven basket of thick hickory strips—a basket that was big enough to cradle Lily for many months.
The thick lining was soft, and the intricate, hand-tooled dots formed outlines of butterflies to which Grandma had added tiny drops of pink and blue and green nontoxic paint.
Maddie cried, her tears of joy feeling nonstop these days.
Stephen and Rafe settled into Rex’s cabin; on Tuesday, Stephen opened the bookshop, and Rex and Rafe went over to the Cape and bought a new SUV for Maddie, one with a boatload of safety measures.
Neighbor Lisa offered to help Stephen in the shop on weekends during the summer so Maddie could have a proper maternity leave; Maddie decided that Lisa’s jumpers and bandannas would appeal to the laidback summer crowd and provide a nice contrast to Stephen’s white shirts, dress pants, and leather slip-ons.
In addition, as a native islander, Lisa would be great at conversing with customers and sharing all kinds of Vineyard stories that they’d surely like.
In mid-July, Liliana Fawn was baptized at the beach at sunset, the same beach where her Wampanoag ancestors had fished and swum and gone clamming for more than ten thousand years. Maddie’s heart was warmed by the knowledge that her mother had been one of them.
Their growing group of close friends and family had gathered: Stephen and Rafe, of course, and Grandma and Joe; Francine and Jonas; Lisa and her husband, Mickey, and their two young kids; Dave Erikson, his wife, and their four kids.
(Dave’s father, Bud, had not been invited.) Brandon and Jeremy were there, too, and Evelyn, whom Stephen had picked up and brought (making Maddie wonder if there might be more to their story).
Many tribal friends also attended, including Winnie Lathrop, who had fired the small clay pot that still rested on the mantel in the cottage.
Taylor and Kevin were there, honored to be Lily’s godparents. They held her now, this precious gift from the Creator, this perfect little girl with her lovely scent of new life and the untold possibilities that lay ahead.
As the ritual progressed, Maddie stood watching, holding hands with Rex, knowing that, no matter what, she had found the place where she belonged, with her sweet, healthy baby, and the man she loved so much.
When the baptism was finished, Taylor and Kevin moved to the side with Lily, and the pastor asked if Grandma Nancy and Stephen Clarke would please step forward.
No one but Maddie and Rex—and the pastor—knew what was coming next.
After a moment, Maddie moved to Grandma’s right side; Rex moved to Stephen’s left.
As the couple stood side-by-side, Rex took Maddie’s hand again.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the pastor began, “as an added bonus, we are also gathered here today in the presence of God and friends and loved ones, to celebrate the marriage of Madelyn Hannah Clarke and Reginald Stanley Winsted …”
At that point, Maddie felt her father’s eyes on her; she turned and saw his tears form. Next to her, Grandma sniffled. In the background, Lily gurgled.
Then Rex squeezed Maddie’s hand, and they looked into each other’s eyes and smiled, their joy needing no more words because their hearts were full.