" (here her writing became so small Meggie could hardly make it out) The last sentence worried Meggie, but when she looked anxiously at her mother, Teresa smiled and reached for her hand. , she wrote on the palm of it, and Meggie closed her fingers over the words as if to hold them fast. She read them again and again on the long drive back to Elinor's house, and it was many days before they faded. "