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  He crosses the room, leans down and kisses the top of Annie’s shoulder. “This seems like a dinner we should be having on the back porch.”

  Annie is unsure if this suggestion is brought about by a memory or just a spur of the moment thought. “It’s going to be pretty chilly outside once the sun goes down.”

  He grins. “We can wear sweaters.”

  She sees the gleam in his eye and knows this is a memory.

  That evening Annie moves a small heater to the porch, and they bundle themselves in wool sweaters. She sets out a cluster of five candles just as she did that Friday before the accident, and they have dinner at the small table.

  It is too chilly to linger afterward, so they come inside.

  As she washes the dishes and sets them into the drainer, she hears the thump, thump, thump of Oliver’s cane moving through the house. She is just finishing up when she hears him call her name.

  Annie wipes her hands and hurries to the living room, but he is not there. She checks the bedroom and then the hall bath.

  “Where are you?” she finally calls out.

  “Come to the hall,” he answers.

  She does and when Annie looks up, Oliver is halfway up the staircase.

  He looks down and grins. “Let’s go find that memory I’ve misplaced.”

  ~ ~ ~

  In the weeks that follow, Annie reopens the apothecary and Oliver settles at the desk in his study. Every other day the clerk from his office comes with a new package of files for Oliver to review. They work together for an hour or two, then the clerk returns with a list of assignments: research this case, find a precedent for such-and-such a ruling, bring back a report on any priors.

  Before the month is out Oliver has few, if any, holes in his memory.

  In January on a Friday evening when Oliver sits in his study browsing through the Richmond Times-Dispatch he happens across a small article on page 6 of the Regional News Section.

  DRUNK DRIVER GETS 2 YEARS

  January 29, 2015, Second District Court of Virginia: Danny Logan, a multiple offender, was sentenced to two years in the Coffeewood Correctional Center for a third DUI offense. At the time of the accident Logan was driving without a valid license. His license had been suspended for a previous DUI offense in September of 2014.

  Logan pled No Contest to the charge.

  Samuel Harkins, the presiding judge, said, “This incident was so horrendous it is a miracle the victim survived. Had he not, this would have been a manslaughter charge, and Logan would be looking at 20 years to life.”

  Although there is a photo of accident aftermath, there is no mention of Oliver’s name.

  When Oliver looks at the photo, he remembers the accident. It plays like a slow motion movie running through his mind. He remembers the phone flying from his hand. He can picture the split second the truck slammed into the side of his car, the explosion of the airbag, the policeman at the window, the fireman lifting his leg free. He can hear the sound of sirens growing closer, and then there is nothing.

  Nothing until Annie’s shadow speaks to him.

  Oliver folds the newspaper and slides it into the bottom of his briefcase. On Monday he will return to work at the courthouse, and he will dispose of the newspaper there. This is the one memory he will forever keep from Annie.

  The Scale of Life

  When the Keeper of the Scale watches Oliver Doyle climb the staircase toward the loft, he gives a huge sigh of relief. On the earth it is felt as a gust of wind. A swirl of red and gold leaves tumble from the oaks surrounding the Good Shepherd Church, and the branches of the willow at Memory House sway.

  For the moment, Annie Doyle’s scale is in balance.

  The Keeper knows this will be short-lived. A baby is on the way. Before the year is out, Annie’s scale will again be weighted on the happiness side.

  She is one of those rare individuals capable of happiness so great it spills over into other lives. In the time she has known Ophelia Browne, she has caused Ophelia’s scale to weigh heavily on the happiness side. And were it not for the accident, Oliver’s scale would have bottomed out with what is known as overwhelming joy.

  Max Martinelli, Annie’s friend, is a girl who, with the exception of that one year in Paris, has always been perfectly level. But as he gazes into the future, the Keeper can see Max’s scale will soon be totally out of balance. It will happen because of what Annie tells her.

  He wearily shakes his head. The Keeper knows this will come to pass, but he has no power to ordain the events of life; his job is simply to maintain the balance of sorrow and happiness.

  Tonight Annie will look up and see the stars in the night sky. The scale is there between Spica and Antares, but she will not see it again until next summer.

  Even then—even when the scale is visible in the sky—no mortal can see the balance of their scale. This only the Keeper sees.

  Since the start of time he has carried the weight of this responsibility, so he stands ready with a collection of small round river rocks made smooth by years of wear and worry. When the time is right, he will balance each mortal’s scale, just as he has done for all these many centuries.

  If you enjoyed reading this book, please post a review at your favorite on-line retailer and share your thoughts with other readers.

  I’d love to hear from you. If you visit my website and sign up to receive my monthly newsletter, as a special thank you, you’ll receive a copy of

  A HOME IN HOPEFUL

  http://betteleecrosby.com

  If you would like to continue reading about Memory House, Ophelia, Annie and Max

  Click Here to order your copy of What The Heart Remembers, Book Three. Follow along as Max returns to Paris in search of her lost love and discovers a truth so devastating it could change her life forever.

  Also included in this series:

  MEMORY HOUSE

  Book One in the Memory House Series

  Click Here to download a free sample or buy the book.

  Turn the page for more heartwarming stories.

  The Wyattsville Series

  SPARE CHANGE

  Book One

  Click Here to download a free sample or buy the book.

  Winner of five Literary Awards, Spare Change has been compared to John Grisham’s The Client. Eleven year-old Ethan Allen Doyle has witnessed a brutal murder and now the boy is running for his life. Olivia Westerly is the only person he can trust, and he’s not too sure he can trust her. She’s got no love of children and a truckload of superstitions—one of them is the belief that eleven is the unluckiest number on earth.

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  The Wyattsville Series

  JUBILEE’S JOURNEY

  Book Two

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  Winner of the 2014 FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal, Jubilee’s Journey is the story of a child born in the West Virginia mountains and orphaned before she is seven. When she and her older brother go in search of an aunt, he is caught up in a crime not of his making. Jubilee knows the truth, but who is going to believe a seven-year-old child?

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  The Wyattsville Series

  PASSING THROUGH PERFECT

  Book Three

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  Passing through Perfect is a story rife with the injustices of the South and rich with the compassion of strangers. It’s 1946. The war is over. Millions of American soldiers are coming home and Benjamin Church is one of them. After four years of being away he thought things in Alabama would have changed, but they haven’t. Grinder’s Corner is as it’s always been—a hardscrabble burp in the road. It’s not much, but it’s home.

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  The Serendipity Series

  THE TWELFTH CHILD

  Book One

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  The Twelfth Child is an uplifting tale of trust, love and friendship. To
escape a planned marriage, a willful daughter leaves home and makes her way in a Depression-era world. When she is nearing the tail end of her years, she meets the young woman with whom she forges a friendship that lasts beyond life.

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  The Serendipity Series

  PREVIOUSLY LOVED TREASURES

  Book Two

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  Previously Loved Treasures is a story that resonates with heartwarming albeit quirky characters and the joy of a pay-it-forward philosophy. When Ida Sweetwater opens a rooming house, she will find the granddaughter she never knew she had and turn a group of haphazard strangers into a family.

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  The Serendipity Series

  WISHING FOR WONDERFUL

  Book Three

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  Wishing for Wonderful is a story narrated by a Cupid with attitude. It will have you laughing out loud as Cupid uses a homeless dog in his scheme to give two deserving couples the love they deserve.

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  More Great Reading

  CRACKS IN THE SIDEWALK

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  A USA Today Bestseller and Winner of the 2014 Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal, Cracks in the Sidewalk is a powerful family saga that is a heartrending reminder of how fragile relationships can be. Based on the true story of a woman’s search for her missing grandchildren.

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  WHAT MATTERS MOST

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  In What Matters Most Louise Palmer is faced with life-altering changes and must choose between friendships and marriage. Although it is at times laugh-out-loud funny, beneath the humor there is a message of love, tolerance and coming to grips with reality.

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  BLUEBERRY HILL

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  Blueberry Hill asks the poignant question—can love save a person from self-destruction? In a heartrending memoir Crosby looks back to a time when the sisters were young enough to feel invincible and foolish enough to believe it would last forever.

  About the Author

  Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance.

  “Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

  Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win numerous other awards, including The Reviewer’s Choice Award, FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and The Royal Palm Literary Award.

  To learn more about Bette Lee Crosby, explore her other work, or read a sample from any of her books, visit her blog at:

  http://betteleecrosby.com

  Table of Contents

  THE LOFT

  The First Stone

  Annie

  The Swans

  Ethan Allen Doyle

  The Dream

  Short Honeymoon

  Annie Cross…now Doyle

  The Call

  Oliver Doyle

  Healing Tea

  Annie’s Plans

  Ophelia

  The Architect

  Max Martinelli

  Roommates

  The Magic of Friendship

  Annie

  In the Weeks that Follow

  Every Right

  Perchance to Dream

  Ophelia

  Max’s Visits

  The Decision

  Changes

  Annie

  Coming Home

  Ophelia

  A Sad Surprize

  Max

  Baylor Towers

  The First Night

  Annie

  A Time of Changes

  A Perfect Life

  The Dinner Party

  Annie

  The Weight of Happiness

  The Premonition

  Annie

  In Dorchester

  Mercy Hospital

  Annie

  Day One

  The Long Night

  The Good Doctor

  Laura Doyle

  The Ultimatum

  Doctor Rahul Sharma

  Annie’s Dream

  The Book

  The First Word

  Celebration Time

  Annie

  Of Things to Come

  A Time of Renewal

  Oliver

  The Homecoming

  The Scale of Life

  More by Bette Lee Crosby

  About the Author