The Sarah Addison Allen Fan Group discussion

Chapter 13 opens with Fred pondering what the mango splitter that Evanelle gave him could be for (he's insistent that it will help him get back with James). He's interrupted by Steve, the culinary instructor at Orion College who has always seemed to like Fred. Steve invites him to come to a cooking class about gadgets and shortcuts. He asks Fred to bring a gadget that other people might not know about... like a mango splitter. Fred desperately tries to call James to reconcile, but he knows that it's not meant to be. He decides to attend the class and ends up dating Steve, but he's not thrilled about it. Evanelle is always present on their dates.

Meanwhile, David is back in town. He runs into Emma and her mother at the gas station, and questions them about Sydney and Bay. Emma feels uneasy about their encounter with David, and when she goes inside to pay for the gas, she finds two quarters in her pocket that Evanelle gave her. She calls the Waverleys, but they don't pick up.

The Waverley women are throwing a dinner party in the garden. When Evanelle gets there, she accidentally reveals that Lorelei Waverley, the girls' mother, ate an apple from the tree. When Lorelei was about ten, the tree showed her that she was going to die in a big car accident. Every wild thing she did after that was to try to make that the biggest event in her life and not the car accident, hoping that it wouldn't happen. She left the girls with their grandmother because she knew she was going to die. Both Sydney and Claire realize that their mother's story is more complicated than they thought.

Claire and Tyler, Sydney and Henry (who are together now), Bay, and Evanelle are in the yard celebrating when David arrives. Sydney "tried to tell herself that maybe this wasn't so bad, maybe he was worried or wanted to see his daughter. But she couldn't fool herself. She wasn't going back to him. And he wasn't there to take her back. That left only one thing." David shoots Henry in the shoulder as he tries to protect Sydney. But as David is terrorizing the party, he picks up an apple and eats it. He sees his own death and, terrified, leaves the garden. The Waverleys know that he won't be back, but for good measure, David is arrested. He begs not to go to prison because he knows something terrible will happen to him there.

Afterwards, Sydney and Henry and Claire and Tyler live happily ever after. Claire tells the Waverley women that she's pregnant and everyone is thrilled, even the tree. And Bay, who had been waiting for a moment she felt in a dream to come true, finally gets her wish -- sitting under the tree, in the garden, with a rhinestone pin that Evanelle gave her casting sparkles everywhere. She knows everyone is right where they are supposed to be.

THE END

Any predictions for when we catch up with the Waverleys in FIRST FROST? Who are you most excited to see again?

I suddenly saw that ending halfway through the book, then went back and incorporated the pin Evanelle gave Bay into the story! Writing this book was like magic. The story kept telling me where it needed to go. Thank you, Angelique, for all these wonderful recaps of Garden Spells! I can't wait to share First Frost with everyone!

The only thing that bothered me was Emma just leaving a message. If you were really worried about that guy, wouldn't you make sure she knew about it. Seems she is still worried about what her mother thinks.

David is the only person that I am happy to see eat an apple. He deserves to see his biggest event, and how sad for him that it's so terrible. It contrasts richly with Tyler's experience with an apple.

Bay finally got it like her dream. I was so happy for her. She gets the satisfaction of solving her puzzle, and now she can relax.

I can't wait to see these characters again. I still have hope for Emma.