Mary Jane Hathaway

Lucy gripped her chilled glass of orange and raspberry juice. When Rebecca talked about Austen, she__ mostly mentioned Mr. Darcy or Mr. Knightley. She hadn__ really thought of the doe-eyed, pale-skinned heroines. On the screen, Anne Elliot walked down a long hallway, glancing just once at covered paintings, her mouth a grim line. Lucy thought Jane Austen would start the story with the romance, or the loss of it, but instead the tale seemed to begin with Anne__ home, and having to make difficult decisions. Maybe this writer from over two hundred years ago knew how everything important met at the intersection of family, home, love, and loss. This was something Lucy understood with every fiber of her being.

Lucy rubbed her back, a feeling of panic tightening her chest. She was the last person to give love advice. She hadn__ done anything but pine for Jem since he__ gone, and done nothing but pine for him since he__ returned. She hadn__ taken her love for him and put it anywhere at all. Alda looked up, eyes red. __ need to take that love and spread it around. What a waste to just keep it tucked inside.

Ah, a romantic._ Danny leaned back, threading his fingers behind his head. __ used to be one, until my wife died. And then I was just pathetic.

Her face crumpled and he felt her pain as if it were his own. He wanted to take it back, but just like that memory, it was always going to be there. She worked to get control over her features, then said, ____ sorry I didn__ defend you. I__ sorry I didn__ tell them you were my guest._ Jem hadn__ thought he cared anymore, not really, but her words were tugging loose the hard, painful knot in his chest. __t__ okay._ She shook her head. __t__ not. It wasn__._ He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn__ know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn__ that boy anymore and that she wasn__ that girl.

Her face crumpled and he felt her pain as if it was his own. He wanted to take it back, but just like that memory, it was always going to be there. She worked to get control over her features, then said, ____ sorry I didn__ defend you. I__ sorry I didn__ tell them you were my guest._ Jem hadn__ thought he cared anymore, not really, but her words were tugging loose the hard, painful knot in his chest. __t__ okay._ She shook her head. __t__ not. It wasn__._ He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. He didn__ know what else to say and all he wanted was to touch her skin, let her know that he wasn__ that boy anymore and that she wasn__ that girl.

He's come a long way, but he's still never accepted that he's forgiven.

. __on__ be a stranger. And pray about that petition you filed._ __ama,_ Paul groaned. That was the Christian way of saying __ know you__e wrong but you won__ take my word for it, so God will have to explain it to you.

I know we sort of said goodbye, but I don__ have anyone else to tell this to and I__ going to burst with it. You know EBB__ verse: God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed For in our face, A gauntlet with a gift in it. _

Oh, right. She doesn__ know your secret identity._ Andy unzipped his sweatshirt and tossed it on a chair. __o, Meg Ryan just sent Tom Hanks a book but_ __o, Meg Ryan just sent NY152 a book, which was then overnighted to Tom Hanks, who lives above Meg Ryan and knows she__ Shopgirl, while she has no idea he__ NY152._ ____ a little disturbed you know that movie so well._ __t was actually a remake of a 1937 play called Parfumerie by Miklós László._ Paul blew out a breath. __nd it__ really not as fun as they made it sound._ __ut hey, at least you can say you__e got mail,_ Andy said, chuckling.

When I kissed Brooks, it was like I__ been stun-gunned. But I was still conscious.__ebbie Mae__ eyebrows had gone way up. __wake but nobody home?___ell, maybe awake but somebody home with really, really bad judgment.

No, I went to the bar to ask for a mojito and that guy Johnny said he didn__ make mojitos. Then he offered to make me a mint julep, in one of those silver cups and everything._ __id you know say the true cause of the Civil War was some Northerner adding nutmeg to a mint julep?_ Lucy asked.

It__ just a party. You eat some food and drink a beer and pretend you don__ want to be crawdad fishing,_ Angie said. __o, it__ an echo chamber of sycophants and I can__ listen to some bimbo recite her newest purchases while pretending I don__ want to throw myself from the roof.

Lucy saw the delighted expressions of the guests and knew they looked like something out an Austen movie. Well, at least Jem did. She giggled a little and cleared her throat. __omething funny?_ he murmured out of the corner of his mouth. __ust thinking how you__e just like Captain Wentworth and I__ just like Tina Turner.

I think you should ignore Sara Teasdale (she__ a bit of a moper, to be honest.). Take Christina Rossetti__ advice and be fire.

Linnie. And this Winnie._ They wore identical smiles, their bright black eyes sparked with curiosity. __re you the doctor?_ __o, I__ just volunteering._ __ knowed that, too._ Winnie gave her an exaggerated shake of the head. __irls is never the doctor. They__ the nurses._ __h no, what about Dr. Clare? Huh? The lady doctor who took care of Grammy in the hospital when she broke her hip bone?_ Linnie asked. __eah, but she was a white lady. They can be doctors._ Winnie looked at Lucy. __ight? There are white lady doctors. I seen __m._ Lucy felt her eyes go wide. Were there children who still believed your gender or color dictated your career? __here are white lady doctors, black lady doctors, white man doctors, black man doctors._ They stared at her. She thought for a moment. __nd there are white man nurses and black man nurses, too._ __ow you__e just bein_ silly,_ Linnie said and let out a laugh.

It's the truth." Her voice was barely more than breath."I believe you." He was gently kissing his way along her jaw. "You came all this way to bring me a photo.""Yes." She said. "Well, I can..this morning..here bring it."He raised his head, "What?"She glared at him, "I can't talk when you're doing that."He grinned, dimples appearing. "Sorry. Say it again.

The sound of the rain faded away and she kissed him, letting herself be as honest as she'd wanted to be, letting her kiss speak for everything she was afraid to say with words.

So, does that make me your girlfriend?___o you want to be?_____e never liked that word, actually. It sounds so juvenile. __e shot her a worried look. __s there another term you__ prefer?_____e always liked __ompanion of my heart_. Or __y better half_. Or maybe even __he sun in my universe_.