Friendship Bread

351 Pages·2011·1.58 MB·English

by  Darien Gee

Friendship Bread is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of
the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
As of press time, the URLs displayed in this book link or refer to existing websites on the
Internet. Random House, Inc., is not responsible for, and should not be deemed to endorse or
recommend, any website other than its own or any content available on the Internet (including
without limitation at any website, blog page, information page) that is not created by Random
House. The author, similarly, cannot be responsible for third party material.
While all reasonable care has been taken during the preparation of this book, its recipes and the
preparation and baking instructions contained herein, neither the publisher nor the author can
accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use thereof or from the information
contained therein.
Copyright © 2011 by Gee & Co., LLC
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing
Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Gee, Darien.
Friendship bread : a novel / Darien Gee.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-34552536-9
1. Sisters—Fiction. 2. Female friendship—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3611.I5834F75 2011
813′.6—dc22 2010048268
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.1

Acknowledgments
The following people have helped make the town of Avalon and its
wonderful residents a reality:
Patricia Wood, a good friend and fellow author who was so
enthusiastic about Friendship Bread that she introduced me to her agent;
her husband and first mate, Gordon Wood, who read the novel and (very
neatly, in Adobe) annotated pages with useful comments; the Wirth
family (Greg, Tina, Amelia, Eli, Masie), who gave us our first bag of
Amish Friendship Bread starter and later read Leon’s passage to make
sure I didn’t mess up the heavens or at least how one would view them;
artist Mary Spears, whose friendship (and cooking) have been a true gift,
for which I am very thankful, and her hubby, Phil Slott, who always
knows the right thing to say. My dear friend Nancy Martin’s friendship is
the basis of my books and this one especially—we are blessed when
people whom we least expect become good friends. Her keen eye and
honest emotional response to my novels have helped me become a better
writer. Mary Embry keeps me grounded so I can do what I love, never
doubting for a second that I can do it.
Darien Gee/Mia King friends and fans stepped up to help with reading
an early draft of the novel, providing lots of helpful feedback: Anne
Alesauskas, Kari Andersen, Linda Bass, RoxAnn Batovsky, Robin
Blankenship, Susan Buetow, Linda Buron, Philip Carmichael, Kelli Jo
Calvert, Bertha Chang, Traci Clark, Maria Cogar, Kelli Curtin, Jacqueline
Graves, Elaine Huntzinger, Chris Hijirida, Marcia Hodge, Patricia
Hopkins, Layla Johnston, Gaby Lapus, Wilma Lee, John Martin, Shannon
Martin, Sharon McNally, Megan McNealy, Rose Milligan, Elaine
Monteleone, Becky Muehling, Holly Nakfoor, Melissa Nichols, Kari Noel,
Vanessa Primer, Vickie Sheridan, Val Stark, Jan Terry, Amanda
Villagomez, Kathryn Wilkie, Philip Yau.
Writing a novel, of course, is only half the battle. Publication is
another matter, the not-so-simple act of putting all the pieces together so
that readers may have another good book to savor and keep on their
shelves. Big hugs to Dorian Karchmar and her wonderful team at
William Morris Endeavor who have championed the book here, there,
and around the world: Rayhané Sanders, Laura Bonner, Raffaella De
Angelis, Michelle Feehan, Tracy Fisher, Rachel McGhee, Margaret Riley.
At Ballantine/Random House, my heartfelt thanks to publisher Libby
McGuire and my lovely editor, Linda Marrow. I know the sales and
marketing teams worked hard to share their enthusiasm for this book,
and I’m grateful for the many reads and editorial suggestions by Linda
and senior editor Dana Isaacson. Junessa Viloria makes sure we’re all
connected (since I am literally an ocean away) and the copy editorial
team including Penelope Haynes and Angela Pica have cast a careful eye
over the manuscript. Thank you all.
My appreciation to Lawrence Hsu, Monika Wiatr Kwon, Neil Morris,
and Matthew Pearce, who have helped in countless ways.
My never-ending gratitude to Mia King readers who told me to keep
writing so they could keep reading.
I’m lucky to be surrounded by a supportive family—the Hsus and the
Gees—and my own little clan: my husband, Darrin Gee, and our three
kids—Maya, Eric, and Luke. I love you all, and yes, this is what Mama
was spending all her time doing (“You’re writing again? Are you ever
going to be done?”). To answer that, I hope not. I love what I do, and it’s
my wish that we all find—and do—the things that make our hearts sing.
Friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Epigraph
Prologue: Leon Ydara, 81 Amateur Astronomer
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Clinton Becker, 36 Copy Machine Technician
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Dr. Norma Meehan, 37 Therapist
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Sergeant Robert Overby, 55 Avalon Police Department
Chapter 11
Clyde Thomas, 64 Pharmacist
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Bernice Privott, 58 Town Librarian
Chapter 14
Connie Colls, 21 Laundromat Attendant
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
A. A. Gilliland, 58 Bike Me! Shop Owner
Chapter 17
Gloria Hugel, 56 Fortune Teller
Chapter 18
Friend or Foe? Amish Friendship Bread Craze Takes Over Small Illinois
Town: Reported by Edith Gallagher
Chapter 19
Oma Frank, 68 Part-Time Receptionist, Dental Office
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
The Start of Something Beautiful in Avalon, Illinois: Reported by Edith
Gallagher
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Amish Friendship Bread Recipes and Tips
Reader’s Guide
About the Author
PROLOGUE
Leon Ydara, 81
Amateur Astronomer
Leon adjusts the 25mm Plossl eyepiece and swings his scope toward the
heavens. It’s a clear night, perfect for stargazing, with a moon so bright
it’s actually interfering with his night vision. He slips in the moon filter
at 9mm and takes another look. Mare Crisium is simply beautiful.
Next he turns the scope toward the horizon, toward the crescent-
shaped face of Venus. Then Mars in the southern sky. He can see the
Cassini division between the rings of Saturn. Pleiades, the Orion Nebula.
A satellite blinks across his field of view, typical at this time of year.
Leon stands back to change the eyepieces, taking his time to put
everything back in its proper box. That’s the problem with beginning
astronomers. They get so excited by what’s in the sky that they shove
spare filters into their pockets, not wanting to lose a minute of time at
the risk of missing something. But it can damage the lenses, and then
what have you got?
There’s a chill in the air. He buttons up his coat slowly, his fingers
stiff. Old age is hard on the joints. Standing over his homemade
Dobsonian telescope makes his back hurt, so when Leon gets tired he
simply sits down on the lawn chair and takes out his binoculars.
Most people don’t realize that you don’t need an expensive telescope
to see the night sky. A lot of backyard astronomers rely on only two
things: a dark night and their eyes. You don’t need much else to see the
best show in the world.
It was Marta who first turned him on to stargazing. They were at a
party, each with different dates, each bored out of their mind. He found
her outside, down the lawn from the party, staring up at the sky. Her
russet-red hair tumbled down her back as she tipped back her head, her