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The Sweetest Gift (The Gift) Page 16


  “Anything, my love.”

  Maggie leaned over and whispered in Justin’s ear.

  “I thought that I would like to have another baby with you. You could have the chance to be around from the beginning this time.”

  Justin kissed Maggie tenderly for a long time.

  “That would be in incredible gift, to have a second chance,” he said.

  “And since Zak is taking care of the kids while we’re on our honeymoon at our house, we could start on that tonight,” she said.

  Justin smiled and kissed Maggie again.

  Zak came out of the kitchen with a plate of cake and sat down on a chair next to the couch.

  “You two look awfully happy,” he said.

  “We are. We’ve just been making some plans for the future.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I think we’re going to get a new van,” Maggie said and looked at Justin and laughed.

  “Well, that would be good because then I could have my van back.”

  Zak thought for a moment. “Any chance you’re planning on getting a bigger van?”

  “Well, not too much bigger, Maggie,” Justin said. “Otherwise we’re going to have to get a school bus.”

  They smiled at each other and at Zak.

  “If you need to build an addition onto Justin’s house, I still have the phone number of the architect,” Zak teased.

  “I guess we’ll see how it goes,” Maggie said with a laugh and the three friends all smiled at each other.

  .

  THE END

  Attribution of Lyrics

  Chapter 3

  “I Still Miss Someone” – Lyrics by Johnny Cash

  “House of the Rising Sun” – Traditional

  “The Sweetest Gift” – Lyrics by J. B. Coates

  Chapter 5

  “Little Maggie” – Ralph Stanley

  Chapter 15

  “Piece of my Heart” – Lyrics by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Russell

  Chapter 16

  “No Forwarding Address” – Lyrics by Pamela Warren

  “Hesitation Blues” – Traditional

  Chapter 19

  “White Freightliner Blues” – Lyrics by Townes Van Zandt

  Acknowledgements

  Many thanks to Mary and Bruce Weber and the Weber Fine Acoustic Instruments company for providing the cover photo and the description of the “Weaver” mandolin referred to in the book.

  Thanks to Kris Krug for his assistance in formatting this book.

  Thanks to Gabriel Krug for his advice on cover design.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in a suburb fifteen miles west of the city. I started playing violin in the third grade and played in the orchestra through high school. After I graduated from college, I occasionally sang backup vocals in my husband's country rock band. In 1981, we traveled to Mississippi and New Orleans to play a gig, which served as the inspiration for my book, “The Gift”.

  I have been an amateur bluegrass mandolinist for over twenty years, studying with some of the best mandolinists in the United States. I attended mandolin camp for several years where I was fortunate to take workshops with Sam Bush, Roland White, Rich DelGrosso, Mike Compton, Jeff Foxall and Joe Walsh. I have also taken vocal workshops with Claire Lynch, Laurie Lewis and Stephen Mougin thanks to the Boston Bluegrass Union.

  Two years ago, I became Facebook friends with Dr. Tom Bibey, the author of "The Mandolin Case" and "Acquisition Syndrome". He inspired and encouraged me to write my own bluegrass novel. He asked me to include him as a character in my first book "The Gift", which I was happy to do.

  This book, "The Sweetest Gift" is the sequel to that book and is the second book in a planned trilogy.

  I have been married to my husband for thirty years and I have one son who is an artist and plays electric guitar.

  To find out more about my books, visit my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PamelaWarrenBooks .

  If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon. Thank you.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  THE END

  Attribution of Lyrics

  Acknowledgements

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR