“Is each cookie the same fortune?” Taylor asks.

“No. You each have twelve different fortunes. I made thirteen of each fortune I wrote.”

“That makes sense. It’s appropriate, you know,” Juliet says. “We share our lives and go in and out of the same fortunes.”

“Didn’t think of it like that,” Jeannie says. “it’s not so easy thinking them up.”

“‘May holiday lights illuminate your path.’ That’s perfect,” Sissy says. “I’m so looking forward to this season.” Her eyes meet mine. “And to our new grandson.” She stops and tastes her cookie. “Another person to love and bring joy.”

Jeannie sits back down, pushes the cushions away, turns to me and then to Allie with an easy grin on her face.

She did it. She faked it. She got through.

VANILLA

Ah, the seductive, rich scent of vanilla. The stories surrounding it are as romantic and sexual as its scent. First to cultivate vanilla were the Totonac, who lived in what is now Veracruz, Mexico. They believed that Princess Xanat, forbidden by her father from marrying a mortal, fled to the forest with her lover. The star-crossed lovers were captured and beheaded. Where their blood touched the ground, the vine grew.

The vine has thick, fleshy green stems and long leathery leaves. Small greenish flowers, a kind of orchid, open early in the day, but only for eight hours. The distinctively flavored compounds are found in the fruit; the pollination of the precious and picky flower produces only one. Vanilla flowers are hermaphroditic: they carry both male and female organs; however, to avoid self-pollination, a membrane separates those organs. For centuries, people tried to grow vanilla in locations other than Veracruz. Spanish explorers brought the plant to Africa and Asia, but it would not bear fruit. The French also failed. Alas, the monogamous vanilla orchid was wedded to a local species of bee for pollination. They tried to move the bees to other areas, but the bees only thrived in Veracruz and artificial pollination seemed unworkable. So Mexico maintained a monopoly on vanilla for three hundred years. It was the highest-priced spice next to saffron.

The vine grew and flowered, but without the bee no fruit developed until Edmond Albius, a twelve-year-old slave who lived on Ile Bourbon, discovered how to hand-pollinate the flower. With a beveled sliver of bamboo, he tenderly lifted the membrane separating the anther and the stigma. He gently transferred the pollen from male to female with his thumb. Sure enough, it bore fruit and his procedure allowed vanilla to be planted in other tropical places. Because of the short-lived flower, growers inspect their plantations daily for open flowers and immediately pollinate them, a labor-intensive task. Now Madagascar is the main producer. Artificial vanilla, along with bumper crops, have brought the price down.