Page 31 of Bluebell Promises

“Oh, wonderful.” Nelly tilted her head to smile at them. She looked terribly thin and worn out, but her eyes lit up, maybe from the joy of seeing Pudding again.

“Thank you,” she breathed. “I was terribly worried. I got myself all worked up, and now, look what I did to myself.” She sighed and stroked Pudding’s head.

Wren was touched. “He’s such a sweetie,” she said. “I fell in love with him immediately.”

“He’s a lover!” Nelly laughed. “He’s been my very best friend for years, haven’t you, Pudding?”

Wren’s smile was beginning to hurt her face. She hadn’t fully prepared herself to say goodbye to Pierre forever, but she wondered if this was it. She had to get used to this again, to losing people and animals and things. She’d have to return to her old life soon. With the baby.

It was then that Nelly looked at Wren—really looked at her. Her face echoed shock. “Why, I know you,” she said. “You’re Margaret Harper!”

At the sound of her mother’s name, Wren’s head buzzed with shock. “No,” she whispered.

Nelly furrowed her brow. “Yes, you are,” she said. “Or no. No. Of course not.” She closed her eyes, as though time had just caught up to her. “But you look just like her.”

Wren breathed easier, but only slightly. “She was my mother.”

“Of course,” Nelly said. “I’m sorry. Silly me.”

Wren was scared of what the woman might say about her mother. But she had to know.

“You knew my mother?” Wren asked.

“Of course. Everyone knew her,” Nelly said. “But I like to think I knew her very well. You see, back then, I had a tremendous garden. It went all the way through the backyard.” She gestured toward the window, through which they could see only grass where that garden had once been. “I grew everything there was to grow. All kinds of vegetables, whatever fruit I could. And flowers. Endless arrays of flowers. Your mother was quite in love with that garden. She liked to bring her daughters over to learn how to tend to it.” Nelly frowned. “I always had the sense that she was very sad, that she needed to get out of the house just as much as the girls did. Which one are you?”

“The last one,” Wren said. “Wren.”

“You were the baby,” Nelly said quietly.

“The unplanned pregnancy,” Wren affirmed.

Nelly was quiet for a moment. “I don’t know if it’s better to know you weren’t planned,” she said. “But it’s true that your mother didn’t take to mothering the way many mothers do. The fact that she had four daughters and a borderline narcissistic husband… God rest your father’s soul.” She shook her head. “It was a lot to take on for anyone, and certainly too much for your mother, what with her gentle personality. But after you were born, she used to bring you over.”

Nelly brought her arms out in front of her. They were as slender and weak as willow branches. She pretended to hold a baby, then cooed, “You were so small and so beautiful. I couldn’t stop holding you. I loved giving your mother a break. Oh, I was devastated when she died. I suppose you don’t remember her?”

Wren shook her head. Sorrow swam in her chest and made it difficult to breathe.

At this, Pudding-slash-Pierre hopped off Nelly’s bed and jumped onto Wren’s lap. He twirled around twice, then sat, panting, looking over at Nelly.

“It looks to me like he loves you,” Nelly said. “That’s no surprise. Everyone loved your mother, too.”

Wren ached with jealousy that this woman had known her mother so well that she had actual memories with her. “I know my mother wanted to leave Bluebell Cove. She wanted to go somewhere else and build a different life,” she said.

Nelly nodded. “Sometimes I challenged her on that. I’d ask her, ‘Margaret, what kind of better life do you really think is waiting out there for you?’ She could never really answer me. I think she had a restless soul, and there is no answer for a restless soul.”

Nelly’s eyelids began to flutter. It was clear that they were at the end of their conversation, and Nelly needed to rest.

“It was wonderful to meet you,” Wren said, helping Pudding down to the ground and standing up herself. “And it was wonderful to meet Pudding. I hope I can come by and see you soon, before I go.”

Nelly smiled. “Thank you again, sweetie,” she said. “Your mother would be so proud of you. You’re a beautiful spirit, just like she was.”

Scott led Wren and Ben back to the foyer, leaving Pudding with her beloved owner. Scott shook their hands and thanked them for their help.

“I don’t know how we’re going to take care of that dog,” he said, shaking his head. “But she loves him more than she loves anything, so I guess we’ll figure something out.” Scott’s eyes found Wren’s. “You know, she sounded more lucid, talking about your mother, than I’ve heard in quite some time. It was like she was dropped into the past. It took me back through time.”

“I loved it,” Wren whispered. “It was a beautiful surprise.”

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