April, I apologize for everything. I tried to love you, but it just wasn’t in me. I could blame it on my bipolar disorder, but that would be a lie. I didn’t want a third child, and I sure didn’t want to raise another one when you came along. Your mother was such a disappointment, and then you came along right behind her. You deserved better than you got. I sincerely hope that I didn’t completely ruin your life. I won’t try to justify the way I treated you, because that’s not possible. You would have been much better off if I had given you out for adoption after Rachel died, but I felt so guilty about the way I treated Rachel that I felt like I owed it to her to keep you in the family.

Nessa looked up to see tears streaming down April’s face. “If she had given me up for adoption, I would have never known y’all or this moment. I forgive you, Nanny Lucy, and I hope you have found peace in eternity. Lord knows you sure didn’t have much here on this earth. I just wish you’d have talked more about my mother so I could have known her through what you could tell me. And I wish Mama and I hadn’t been such a huge disappointment to you.”

Flynn sucked in a lungful of air and let it out in a whoosh. “That’s a hell of a lot to forgive, April.”

“You don’t forgive someone just for them,” April told him. “You forgive to take away the hard spots in your own heart. You forgive for your own peace of mind.” She remembered what Maudie had said about the first little kitten that Callie adopted and about how forgiving animals were.

“Okay, I’ve only got one page left,” Nessa said.

Last, this is to Nessa. I’ve seen that you struggle with what is true service to God and what is your father’s version of what it should be. I was so proud of him for going into the ministry, so proud that he wasn’t like his father. But I’ve come to realize that he just hides his controlling nature behind a pulpit. Don’t let him taint your idea of religion. I’m probably confusing you, but what I want you to know is that I’m proud of you for standing up to him.

Now that I’ve tried to make amends for my misdeeds, I pray that none of you will make the same mistakes I did. I wish you all a happy, fruitful life.

Nessa expected to see it signed “Love, Nanny Lucy,” but it ended right there.

“And that’s all.” She could hear disappointment in her own voice and looked up to see the same thing in Flynn and April’s expressions.