Whole Latte Life (49 page)

Epilogue

F
all came early this year. Thick sweaters are pulled out of storage, storm windows dropped in place, even the furnace kicks on at night. Sara Beth looks past the lace curtains and wonders where the summer went. What has taken a lifetime to accomplish seems compressed into the past eight breathless weeks, the days slipping by like sand through her fingers.

Circa 1765’s Grand Opening went off without a hitch on the first of October. They served hot apple cider, cinnamon pastries and fresh apple pie. Nature painted the maple trees red and yellow, a hint of woodsmoke floated past, and the sunshine was October gold. Fall tourists flocked to the shop, coming inside on the chilly weekend like relatives overstaying a holiday visit. Which is all she ever really wanted.

Except now she’s missing Rachel. From a tabletop of framed photographs, she picks up one of her and Rach on the day of Rachel’s Bachelorette Party, laughing, heads tipped together, eyes sparkling with mischief as they finally got their paintings.

“Are you nervous?” Sara Beth had asked that September afternoon.

Rachel winced, but watched still, riveted. “A little bit.”

“Not about this! About your wedding!”

“Oh, no. Everything about it is so right. I can’t wait.”

“Good. You two are perfect together.” Sara Beth watched the needle shape a nautical star on Rachel’s wrist. They sat in the studio, a big silver lamp shining brightly on Rachel’s laid-out arm, the artist bent intently at her wrist. “But I wasn’t sure if you’d be game for this.”

“I always wanted a tattoo, you know. Just a tiny one. But then I worried about if it would hurt. And I wondered what people would think. And there’s the health risk. So I’d just plain chicken out. And now, I’m
really
doing it.” She turned her head away a little, but kept her eyes on the needle piercing her skin. “I never dreamt this was the painting you meant.”

“You okay?” the tattooist asked, lifting the needle. “Deep breath.”

“Feels like a sunburn,” Rachel said.

“That’s normal. Actually, that’s pretty good. Some people feel it worse,” he reassured her.

“I want the same star done on me,” Sara Beth said. “Like our own constellation.”

“Sometimes I wish it would never end, these good times, you know?” Rachel asked.

Sara Beth watched the artist overlap the color lines. What he told them is this: The ink actually goes into the second layer of skin, the dermis, below the epidermis. This skin layer is sensitive, containing many nerve endings. But it doesn’t shed layers like the epidermis does, so the tattoo ink will stay permanently in place, with little fading, for life.

And what she knows is this: Everything is permanent, particularly the sensitive things, the ones we feel. The scrapbook memories. Her friendship with Rachel. The star on her wrist, the star in the sky, heavy with endless wishes.

So she has that now. Every day ends with her leaving a brass lamp turned on. She’s always on that boat with Rachel, leaning on the rail, crossing Long Island Sound. Tom is ever on his knee in the bright sunlight, slipping a diamond ring on her finger. She walks daily out of that Manhattan restaurant. Her heart will always drop with Owen’s pregnancy. Claude’s fingers forever weave daisies and wildflowers together outside the horse stable at Chateau du Masnegre. Her mother, oh her dear sweet mother, tucks a key into tissue paper and thinks of her eternally.

She’s here in this moment because of all of it, every experience, every smile, every thought. Her wrist is washed and prepped. Every whisper, every tear, every love. The ink cups are filled. Every look. Every touch. Each one comes together to form an image as permanent as her star.

Acknowledgments

I
’m raising my coffee cup in a toast to Senior Publishing Consultant Stephanie Robinson and Team Fusion at CreateSpace for bringing my book’s vision to life. I’ve loved having this team behind me.

To all my fellow bloggers who’ve chatted with me at
Whole Latte Life’s
blog. I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of friends to brew great conversation with. Coffee cheers to living your choice lives.

Sometimes a place is so special, it becomes a part of who we are. Thank you to Point O’ Woods, a little beach nestled in a crook of the Connecticut coast. With its sandy boardwalk, whispering lagoon grasses and sweet salt air, it has wound its way into my heart, and onto the page as well.

To my husband Tony, and my daughters Jena and Mary, life’s a whole latte fun having you in it. Love you.

Questions With Coffee:

A Reader’s Guide

 

1. How does the setting of New York City support Sara Beth’s disappearance?
   
 

2. Throughout the story, Sara Beth keeps secrets (carriage house, loss of wedding ring). Why does she keep these secrets? Why can’t she tell the truth?
   
 

3. When Michael arrives at Rachel’s door unexpectedly on the first day of summer, Rachel calls him “spontaneous.” What role should spontaneity play in our lives?
   
 

4. Do you have a friendship like Sara Beth and Rachel’s? Has a friend ever taken you for granted? How did you get past that situation?
   
 

5. Was it wrong for Tom to read Sara Beth’s journal?
   
 

6. In what ways is the novel’s title symbolic?
   
 

7. Is Sara Beth selfish?
   
 

8. How will Rachel’s life change with Michael?
   
 

9. The novel explores the question of
   What if
   …What if Sara Beth never walked out of that Manhattan restaurant? What if she chose Claude all those years ago? What if Rachel never filed the Missing Person Report? What if Sara Beth’s mother didn’t die? Share your own
   What ifs
   . What decisions do you still question?
   
 

10. Sara Beth tells Rachel that “Wishes are a mystery to me. It’s like putting your hope out there, opening a part of your heart to the constellations.” Why do the stars hold such hope for us? Have any of your wishes ever come true?
    

About The Author

J
oanne DeMaio is a Connecticut author blending family, coffee and friendship on the page. Her music essays have appeared in literary journals, celebrating her passion for song, in print. She is also the founder of the inspirational blog Whole Latte Life, and is currently at work on her next novel. Visit Joanne as she brews coffee and conversation at…