Mixing Up A Memory: A Sprinkle of Faith Novel

MIXING UP A MEMORY

A Sprinkle of Faith

Book One

By Jena O’Connor

Copyright 2013 by Jena O’Connor

Edited by Maggie Shayne

Smashwords Edition

E-book and Cover Art Formatted by Jessica Lewis, Authors’ Life Saver

http://authorslifesaver.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to your online retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

Dedication

To my husband Michael, who was and is the answer to my every prayer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Epilogue

About the Author

Chapter One

ELIZABETH HAGGERTY COULD not take another moment of her sister Katie’s pre-wedding jitters. There had been fits of laughter, fits of hysteria, and even a fit or two of both simultaneously in the days leading up to the first real Haggerty family wedding in decades. And after Katie’s first wedding, a hasty civil ceremony far from home that had ended badly, Lizzie could hardly blame her sister for taking this second wedding so seriously. The normally brazen personality of the bride had been all but lost. Katie looked almost angelic in her white satin gown as she waited anxiously for the tones of the wedding march, but beneath the dark brown curls piled high atop her head and crowned with a glittering tiara, her petite five foot, two inch stature had become the home of a vicious bridezilla. She had been barking orders at her four sisters since the week after Doctor Sheldon Fitzpatrick had proposed. After all, this wedding had to be perfect.

Katie’s penchant for bossing her sisters around was nothing new, but today she had become almost manic, melting into tears one minute and the next screeching at the wait-staff. Word had it that she had even thrown a shoe at the best man.

Four of the five Haggerty sisters, and today Katie’s bridesmaids, had fled to the safety of the restroom situated at the farthest corner of the family restaurant. The sisters were all dressed in perfectly matching light green gowns. They had spent the last three hours at the local hair salon, surrounded by a flock of very serious stylists intent on pinning every curl on every head in exactly the same manner. As a final touch, a pale pink ribbon had been woven through the curls in precisely the same way. All four of those pretty yet scowling faces, were more eager for the wedding to take place than the bride, or so they thought.

The oldest, Lizzie, looked as if she might collapse from the utter exhaustion of the past months. Her always light complexion had taken on an unhealthy pallor, her cheeks missing the hint of pink that usually brightened her face. It had taken the hair stylist hours to tame her long, thick reddish blond hair into the pile of perfect ringlets that now sat atop her pounding head. Her middle sister Mary-Anne, who stood just across from her in the tiny space, seemed to be calmly taking it all in. Her chestnut curls were beginning to droop just a little and one of the curls had fallen loose, now dangling next to her face. Aside from the fact that she was three or four inches taller than Lizzie, they looked more alike than any of the others. Both Mary-Anne and Lizzie took after the Haggerty side of the family, tall and thin and delicate in almost every way. Katie and the younger girls, while still beautiful, looked more like their mother’s side of the family, petite, blue eyes instead of green, but full of the Haggerty temper their father was famous for. Lizzie would never have called the little girls spoiled, yet it had been the job of the older sisters to take care of them for as long as they could remember. Sadie and Bridget were now 20 and 22, adults who were more than capable of taking care of themselves, but somehow nobody in the family chose to see them that way.

If she says that my lip gloss is too shiny even one more time, I think I’m going to scream, muttered Sadie, her blonde curls bouncing around her face. She’s lucky I agreed to paint my face in the first place! Although Sadie looked like a Barbie doll, she was more of a Tom-boy than any of the others. Today, she looked like she’d stepped off of a runway somewhere, even though the truth was that she had jumped out of a mud covered pick-up truck just a few hours ago. She’d been forced to put on make-up, forced to wear a dress and high heels instead of ripped up jeans and a pair of dirty work boots. She was her father’s daughter in every way and wasting a warm summer day in fancy clothes when there were chores to be done on the farm was already torture enough.

"At least she didn’t tell you that your hair looked a little big! Bridget, the youngest of the Haggerty clan, rolled her eyes heavenward, leaning against the ornate coral tile that covered every wall of the restroom. Do you realize that every product in that entire salon was tested on animals?" Bridget had become a vegetarian the moment she was old enough to figure out where the meat on her plate really came from and from that moment on, she’d taken up one cause after the next, determined to make the world into whatever she thought it should be and dragging her sisters along with her.

All right girls. Lizzie interrupted the volley of complaints with her usual lack of tact. She was fighting the urge to start pulling bobby-pins out of her hair and maybe toss the lovely bouquet of pink roses into the nearest toilet. Just shut-up and listen! I have suffered through months of two a.m. phone calls, four-hour shopping trips and knock-down drag-out fights over the color of napkin rings. We have four more hours until this thing is over. So let’s plaster some smiles on our faces, hold our damn flowers the right way, and get ourselves down that aisle.

Not to mention the fact that Katie deserves this! Mary-Ann chimed in. She’s been through so much. Mary-Anne was looking at Lizzie as she said the words and Lizzie immediately felt like a spoiled child. She took a deep breath before looking at Mary-Ann.

You’re right, Mary, Lizzie admitted. Let’s all try to be there for Katie. This is probably the only time in her whole life she’s asked us for anything. Lizzie’s guilt was only amplified as she recalled the long months that Katie had been away after her first marriage. None of them had known that she was pregnant, that she was alone and afraid, and that she was being hurt by a man she trusted. If they had….

Lizzie forced the dark thoughts away. When she looked up at her sisters, she saw that the eyes of each girl had darkened slightly. That there was a tear slipping down Mary-Ann’s cheek. That Sadie’s face was red with anger. That Bridget’s hands were fisted at her sides. They looked like they were preparing for battle instead of a wedding.

She’s okay now. And she’s happy. Lizzie needed the reminder as much as her sisters. So, let’s be happy for her. Lizzie forced a smile and then motioned her sisters toward the door.

The youngest Haggerty girls nodded, forced smiles onto their own faces and then headed for the door.

The moment they were out of earshot, Mary-Ann turned to Lizzie.

Are you gonna make it, Lizzie? Not only was Mary-Anne the calm sister, she had a knack for reading people that came in handy in her job as a reporter for the local paper. She patted Elizabeth on the shoulder in an effort to subdue her often tumultuous older sibling. Though Mary-Anne was younger than Lizzie by three years, it was she who often acted as Elizabeth’s voice of reason.

I’m fine, Elizabeth responded, trying to hide the quaver in her voice. It’s just that between the wedding and the auction tomorrow, I just can’t seem to calm my nerves. Lizzie smoothed the front of her dress nervously and waited for Mary-Anne to make her feel better.

It will be okay, Lizzie. Whatever happens tomorrow, the family knows how hard you’ve tried. You’ve sold everything you own, rented out the house you love, even cleaned out your bank accounts. Mary-Anne would have gone on, but Lizzie was already shaking her head.

It might not be enough, Lizzie interrupted. She felt her hands shaking, beads of sweat forming at her temples and that sick feeling making her stomach churn. Even if I manage to pay for the restaurant tomorrow at the auction, I might never be able to get it up and running again.

It’s running now, Mary-Anne pointed out.

That is a miracle, muttered Lizzie. I have no idea how Grandma Betty talked the Department of Taxation into letting us use it twenty-four hours before the auction. After all, they seized the property almost a year ago.

I have no idea how Katie and Shel got Grandma to help them in the first place. She doesn’t think a wedding is legal if it doesn’t take place in a church. But Katie convinced her and she convinced the tax men.

But how? Lizzie asked, shaking her head.

Grandma believes in miracles and so should you. It will all work out. So let’s focus on the bride for today and saving Grandma’s restaurant tomorrow. Mary-Anne’s plan was so simple that Lizzie couldn’t help but nod.

But I swear, if Katie barks at me one more time, I might lose it. I know she deserves this, but she has been a maniac for days! Lizzie tried to force her attention back to the task at hand—getting through the long hours ahead.

May I make a suggestion? A sly grin spread across Mary-Anne’s face and a twinkle came to her sparkling green eyes before she finished her thought. You should probably try NOT telling the bride her veil looks a little stupid fifteen minutes before the wedding.

For the record, it was crooked and I was only trying to help….and why couldn’t you have given me that bit of advice before I said it? Elizabeth giggled a little and shook her head in exasperation, the tension leaving her.

Mary-Anne pulled the bathroom door open. Have you seen the best man? I think you’re going to be very surprised.

I’ve been so busy tying little pink ribbons on wedding favors that I’ve barely even had a chance to breathe. She felt a pang of regret slashing though her insides as her sister’s words hit home. And another surprise is exactly the opposite of what I need right now. She thought about the last surprise that had come her way because of a man. It had been more than a surprise when the man she thought she would marry turned out to be an alcoholic and a crook. She’d given up her dreams to be with him and by the time she’d finally figured out who he really was, he’d stolen every hope she’d ever had for her life, not to mention her car and her dog.

Mary-Anne shook her head hard, as if reading her sister’s mind. Try not to think about Ryan. It’s been almost five years. You need to let this go and move on. Mary-Anne grabbed Lizzie by the arm and pulled her out the door. Take a look at your dance partner when you get a chance and tell me he’s not exactly what you need…and don’t worry about tomorrow. Everything is going to be fine! She winked at Lizzie and waggled her eyebrows before hurrying off to take her spot in the line of bridesmaids. Lizzie plastered what she thought was a cheerful smile on her face and headed toward the bride.

***

SECONDS LATER, LIZZIE joined her fellow bridesmaids in the restaurant’s dining room just in time to watch her namesake, Elizabeth Haggerty, fasten a beautiful golden cross around Katie’s slender neck. Lizzie’s grandmother had just turned 82, but she carried herself like a woman half her age. Not a single streak of grey had dared to disturb her dark brown curls, which she wore the way she had since Lizzie was old enough to tug at them, short enough not to get in the way during a hard day’s work, but long enough to show her ever-girlish personality.

Sitting on Katie’s lap was her four-year-old daughter, Bella. Lizzie couldn’t decide if it was the lacy white dress that Bella wore, an exact replica of her mother’s, or the devilish twinkle in her little eyes that reminded her so much of her sister at that very age. Bella’s smile lit up her entire face as she swung a small flower basket from side to side, spilling pink rose petals on the floor beneath her feet. Lizzie shook her head in amazement as she watched both her sister and her young niece. The two of them had not only survived the ordeal of the past two years. They had pushed through it and managed to find happiness again.

Lizzie’s sisters stood a few feet away, watching Katie and Bella and Grandma Betty and smiling real smiles for the first time all day. Lizzie knew that her little sisters were picturing their own wedding days. They were still naïve enough to believe in all of that Prince Charming nonsense. Somehow, even Katie had managed to find a way to believe in love again. But not Lizzie, she knew better. A pang of resentment stabbed through Lizzie’s heart as she thought about the last twelve years of her life. Once she’d been naïve enough to believe in all of that too. But now, she knew the truth, even if you think you’ve found that fairy-tale happiness, in the end it never works.

Ryan Blackwell had been nothing close to a prince.

And Lizzie’s mother had died before she and John Haggerty could get to their happy ending.

That was the reason her father had lost his faith. And maybe that was the real reason Lizzie couldn’t believe in love or marriage or happily-ever-after anymore. It had been too easy for her to walk away from Ryan, too easy for her to turn off her heart and decide that being alone was so much easier than losing someone you love. Her parents had been married for only ten years when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and when she died, she’d left him alone to care for five brokenhearted little girls.

Lizzie shook her head, trying to push the sad thoughts away. She took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her face before crossing the room to join her family. She stood next to Mary-Anne in the semi-circle of bridesmaids that surrounded Grandma Betty and Katie. She watched quietly as her Grandmother fastened a golden cross around Katie’s neck, took the bride’s hand in her own and began to speak.

This is the cross that my mother wore on the day she married my father. And on the day I married your grandfather, God bless him, my mama fastened it around my neck. It is the same cross that I gave to your mother when she married my son. She stopped for a moment and looked over at Lizzie and her sisters, a slight sadness in her green eyes. I had hoped to watch as your mother passed this on to each of you.

Lizzie couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in her own eyes as her grandmother spoke. Betty Haggerty looked up and for a moment, Lizzie thought she was staring directly into heaven. If she was here, I know she’d say exactly the words I said to her all those years ago. Today you are going to make a promise to your husband and he is going to make a promise to you. I made that same promise on my wedding day. And if you keep that promise, you will be blessed with love and happiness today and every day in the arms of a man you can trust with your heart and soul.

Lizzie brushed away the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

The preacher’s getting antsy, their father announced from the doorway leading out to the patio. Neither Lizzie nor Mary-Anne had noticed their father’s presence until the moment he called to them, but both girls could tell that he had heard every word of his mother’s speech. John Haggerty was as big as a grizzly bear and many said he was twice as strong, but there was a slight catch in his voice and his eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

John Haggerty was the other reason this wedding was not taking place in the Methodist church around the corner from the restaurant. John hadn’t set foot in that church since the day they’d buried his wife and he swore he never would. John had never been the perfect Christian. He had a temper that was known throughout the county, but his big heart and his willingness to help his neighbors made people willing to ignore all of the things that made him a little rough around the edges.

Okay, daddy, Lizzie managed. She wiped her own tears away.

Only Grandma Betty seemed unaffected. Thank the Lord for Pastor Fred, Grandma Betty said, shaking her head at her son as if the Pastor had saved them all from certain doom. She wagged her finger at John Haggerty as she hurried across the room to meet him. Standing on tip-toe, she kissed the giant man’s cheek before turning back to her granddaughters. She looked from one set of teary eyes to the next, stopping to stare intently at the bride before going on. God has a plan for all of us, my girls. Katie, He kept you safe when you needed protecting. He lead you and your baby home again. He lead you to Sheldon. And I can’t wait to see what he has in store for the rest of my girls!

***

MINUTES LATER, A violin quintet began to play a soothing melody and it was time for the bridesmaids to begin their walk. Just outside the French doors, a line of tuxedo clad groomsmen waited to walk each Haggerty sister down the flower-strewn aisle. Mary-Ann hurried forward, kissed Katie’s cheek and then scooped Bella from her mother’s lap, depositing the squirming child on her hip.

Good luck, Sis. See ya soon! Mary-Ann winked before heading toward the door. Sadie and Bridget were next. They kissed Katie quickly and whispered their own words of encouragement and then followed Mary-Ann.

The moment the crowd was gone, Katie reached out and grabbed Lizzie’s hand, her own trembling as she squeezed hard. "I’m not sure I’m ready for