A part of her was sad that those years could never be recaptured, but they had right now. And they had a good fifty or sixty more years they could spend together, so she was thankful for that.

"So we're going to use fresh peaches?"

Mia stared at her like she was speaking another language. "You realize Georgia is the peach state, right?"

Kate laughed. "Fine. It just seems like canned peaches would be faster."

"That's sacrilege! Momma is probably turning over in her grave right now."

"Aunt Mia, what were you like as a kid?"

Mia smiled. "Awkward, quiet, often bullied."

"That's hard to believe now. You're so outgoing."

"I learned to toughen up over the years, I guess. Being so short, I had to develop a thicker skin."

"I have the opposite problem. I was so tall that everybody was scared of me. I was almost this height by the time I was in the sixth grade. I towered over every boy, and I never had a boyfriend until high school."

"Really? I always wanted to be tall, leggy, like a model."

Kate chuckled. "Being tall doesn't necessarily mean you can be a model. Everybody wanted me to play on the basketball team, but I'm just about as coordinated as a drunk rhinoceros, so that didn't work out too well."

Mia enjoyed these conversations. They were about everything and nothing. Having that time together as a family, getting to know each other, was priceless. She truly believed her mother was smiling down from heaven as she watched them.

After making peach cobbler, they decided to work on dumplings. Chicken and dumplings were one of the best, most requested recipes at the B&B. Mia felt like Kate should know how to make them, just in case she changed her mind and decided to stay on permanently.

She hadn't broached the subject with her lately, not wanting to push too hard. She was thankful enough that she was staying until the end of July to help her with the wedding.

They only had a couple of weeks to get the buildings done, and they still hadn't had a contractor come out. It was starting to worry Mia. In such a small town, it was hard to find somebody reliable who could do the kind of work they needed. The structures needed to look nice, not like something Billy Bob from the gas station had thrown together with two by fours.

"So, we really have to get all these buildings for the wedding underway. Any ideas on how to find someone who can do such intricate work? Maybe we need to expand our search to Atlanta.“ Mia asked.

"Well, actually, I have somebody coming out tomorrow to give us a quote. He's very talented. I met him at the gym, and I was able to actually go out and see some of his work."

Mia stopped and stared at her. "Are you telling me you met a guy?"