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Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Everyone loves the ladies of Covington!
  3. Also by Joan Medlicott
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright
  6. Dedication
  7. Acknowledgments
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  53. Discussion Questions

A Covington Christmas

Two Days after the Wedding

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Title Page

Copyright

image
Pocket Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2009 by Joan Medlicott

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Medlicott, Joan A. (Joan Avna)
   Promises of change / Joan Medlicott.—1st Pocket Books trade paperback ed.
    p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-8000-3
ISBN-10: 1-4165-8000-X

1. Older women—Fiction. 2. Retired women—Fiction. 3. Widows—Fiction. 4. Female friendship—Fiction. 5. North Carolina—Fiction. 6. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
   PS3563.E246P76 2009
   813’.54—dc22         2008029348

Dedication

To my daughter, Paula, in appreciation
for her kindness and patience

Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to Attorney Marsha Shortell, formerly victims’ advocate for the Asheville Police Department, for the significant information she provided on recognizing and avoiding scams and scammers.

My heartfelt appreciation to John Cowart, LCSW, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Center at the Asheville Veterans’ Hospital in Asheville, NC. He opened my eyes to a very important and heart-wrenching issue that will affect an entire generation of veterans and their families.

1

The Homecoming

Amelia Declose settled into her rocking chair on the front porch of the farmhouse she shared with Hannah Parrish and Grace Singleton. Gathering her shawl about her, she knotted the ends across her chest. It was early morning. A glorious sunrise wove its magic across the mountains, slashing the sky with flaming orange. The celery green of new leaves on shrubs and trees and the chirp of a baby bird in a nest artfully camouflaged in a shrub near the porch filled her heart with pure joy. There are days when one feels glad to be alive, and today is one of those days.

Amelia’s mind drifted back years ago to when she, Hannah, and Grace had met in a dreary boardinghouse in Pennsylvania where the owner, the dour Olive Pruitt, restricted the use of the kitchen and refused to allow a wonderful cook like Grace to bake a cake or make a pot of soup.

They had taken a risk, trusted one another, pooled their emotional and financial resources, and moved to a rundown farmhouse in rural North Carolina that Amelia had unexpectedly inherited, and in so doing had revitalized their lives. Here, Amelia had discovered a talent for photography. Hannah’s skills and love for gardening had resurfaced, and Grace’s kindness and wisdom found their outlet in volunteer work with children and in creating a community of friends and family.