Epilogue

Susannah’s Sumptuous Chocolates star coach pulled up in front of Kate and Paul’s home on a Saturday the first week in June. Kate ran to the door even before her friend knocked. Paul was just three steps behind her.

The women hugged, then Kate invited her in. “We’re delighted you could stop by.”

Susannah gave Paul a hug, then smiled at them both. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. It was just pure luck—” She stopped to correct herself. “No, it was a God thing that put you directly in my path to our next gig. You were on the way, but I would have driven a hundred miles out of the way for this visit.”

“Come in and sit down,” Paul said, leading the way to the living room. “Would you care for coffee?”

“I’d love some. Kenyan French roast?”

“Italian,” Paul said with a chuckle. “By the way, even though it’s getting close to summer, we’re still enjoying Chocolaté Dos Mundos.”

Susannah grinned. “It’s addictive.”

She sat on one end of the sofa, and Kate sat on the other. Paul left them to talk while he put on the coffee.

“How are things going with the book sales?”

“Couldn’t be better. And my cookware business has turned around as well. My time here in Copper Mill changed a lot of things. I’ll never forget how you helped me through one of the most troubling times in my life. I don’t know how I can ever thank you, Kate.”

Kate smiled. “That’s what friends are for.”

“And you reintroduced me to another Friend. Half the day, I go around humming ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow’ just because this little sparrow”—she tapped her heart—“needs to be reminded that someone is holding her close, even when she doesn’t realize it.”

Susannah reached into her satchel and pulled out a book. It was Chocolates to Die For. She placed both hands on top of it and, for a moment, just looked down as if thinking about what she was going to say next. Or praying. Maybe both.

When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. She handed the book to Kate. “This is for you.”

Kate took the book in her hands. “Thank you. I’ll cherish it.”

“I mean it’s really for you.”

Kate tilted her head, puzzled.

“Open it, silly,” Susannah said, smiling through her tears.

She reached across the sofa and opened the book to the dedication page, then handed the book back to Kate.

Kate’s eyes filled as she read:

To Margaret Blume—
You taught me the joys of cooking,
the fun of family life,
the meaning of love and acceptance, without strings
attached.
I will never forget you.
And to Kate—
In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
“I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward . . .
The song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend.”
You helped me find my song, dear Kate,
then and now.