What's Left Behind (31 page)

1. At the beginning of the story, Abby is still angry with Charlie because he left for college when she was pregnant with Luke. How do her feelings about that time in their lives change by the end of the story? As a teenager, do you think Abby was fair to Charlie?
   
2. For years, Lily Beth told Abby her father was a merman who returned to the sea for his own survival. What makes Lily Beth think Abby is finally ready to know the truth about her father? Who do you think Lily Beth was trying to protect with her fish tales?
   
3. In what ways does Abby see herself in Tessa?
   
4. How does admitting Luke’s faults help Abby move forward and let go of Charlie?
   
5. Charlie says that Abby “holds a grudge like nobody’s business. She never forgives.” Do you think this is true? In what way does Tessa’s father, Noah, hold a grudge and never forgive? How does this impact his relationship with Tessa?
   
6. At The Cove, Abby reasons that Charlie is proposing for selfish reasons. Do you agree?
   
7. Near the end, Abby surmises that when she tells Daniela about her young father, Luke, she’ll “have to rely on the inexactitude of memories.” How does this theme weave throughout the story? Give examples of how the novel’s characters remember the same events differently.
   
8. In Chapter 1, Abby says Lily Beth’s motto is,
   Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
   Farther along in the story, Abby catches Lily Beth off guard, and Abby wonders when her mother became human. Do you think Lily Beth was ever as strong as Abby once believed?
   
9. Abby’s bed-and-breakfast is called Briar Rose for the heirloom roses taken from Lily Beth’s cottage. After learning the truth about her father, Abby likens Lily Beth to Sleeping Beauty. How does that fairy tale color
   What’s Left Behind
   ? How is Abby also like Sleeping Beauty?
   
10. At the beginning of the story, Tessa believes her options are to keep the baby, give the baby to Abby, or give the baby away to a stranger. Discuss how and why Tessa’s options evolve throughout the story.
    
11. How does Abby help Tessa see herself differently?
    
12. How does Abby change the way Rob views the disintegration of his marriage? In what ways is Abby similar to and different from Maria?
    
13. How does Tessa affect Rob’s relationship with his daughter, Grace?
    
14. How is Abby’s relationship with Rob different from her childhood romance with Charlie? How does Luke’s death ultimately make her want to risk her heart with Rob? How does Lily Beth’s revelation likewise impact Abby and Rob’s relationship?
    
15. Abby sees Rob as mature. Do you agree?
    
16. In what ways are Abby, Tessa, and Rob all holding on to the past?
    
17. Do you know anyone who has cut herself/himself? If so, how has that influenced the way you feel about Tessa? Are you more or less sympathetic toward her?
    
18. Abby has never cut herself. But what are the lesser ways she’s harmed herself? What is she addicted to?
    
19. Even though Rob hasn’t lost a child, in what ways is he grieving?
    
20. Discuss how Rob’s mother’s death and his estrangement from his father tie into the theme of hiding behind fantasies.
    
21. At the beginning and nearing the end of the story, Abby asks, “When the person you’d built your life around was gone, where did that leave you?” Discuss Abby’s two very different answers to this question.
    
22. How is the labyrinth symbolic of the characters’ emotional journeys? How does the labyrinth project impact all of their lives?
    

2 cups flour
cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup plain yogurt (not Greek style)
Juice of 1 lemon
¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups wild Maine blueberries

Glaze
½ cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease twelve regular-size muffin cups or thirty-six minis.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until blended.

In another bowl, stir together yogurt, butter, egg, lemon juice, lemon peel, and vanilla until blended.

Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries. (If you must use frozen blueberries, thaw and drain before folding in.)

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake regular-size muffins 20–25 minutes and minis 12–17 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Remove muffin tin(s) to a wire rack. Let cool for 5 minutes.

While muffins cool, stir sugar and lemon juice together for the glaze. If you want extra lemon flavor, grate a teaspoon of lemon peel into the mixture.

Remove muffins from cups. Spoon or brush glaze over hot muffins. Let cool before serving for a crunchy sugarcoated topping.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018

Copyright © 2014 by Lorrie Thomson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9331-2
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9331-3
First Kensington Electronic Edition: September 2014

ISBN: 978-0-7582-9330-5

^{First Kensington Trade Paperback Printing: September 2014}