where's Amy? what happened to Amy?

A reader named Amy (whose middle name just happens to be Grace) wrote today to tell me that she enjoyed HEARTS, but was very disappointed not to find out what happened to Amy (Ruby's daughter), who was supposed to have a baby in December. HEARTS takes place in February, and there's no mention of Ruby's daughter. Where is she? What's happened to her? Amy (the reader) read all the way through the book, hoping to find out about Amy (the character), but there was a total silence. Not a sentence, not a word, not even a syllable.

Gosh, did I leave Amy out of the story? Oh, no! I couldn't have! She must be there somewhere--she's just had this wonderful baby, and she and Kate....

But no, she isn't there. I did leave her out, but please believe me, it was completely, totally unintentional. I got so tied up in what was going on with China that I completely forgot to pass on the wonderful news about Baby Grace! And in fact, Amy is the second reader to call this horrible oversight to my attention. While I was still out on tour, Judy wrote: "You didn't let us know about Amy's baby! Here are all these virtual grannies waiting for BLEEDING HEARTS so we can know about Amy and Kate's baby, and no news." (And then Judy went on to tell me a crackin' good story about a pilfered bleeding heart plant that had me falling out of my chair with laughter.)

So for Amy and Judy and all you other anxious virtual grannies (you know who you are), here's the straight scoop on Ruby's wild-child and her little girl. The baby was born on Christmas Eve, with Ruby and Kate looking proudly on, giving moral support while Amy did her part. The baby has dimples and curly red hair (naturally!) and Amy and Kate named her Grace. Ruby adores the baby and likes Kate more all the time, especially since Kate seems to be settling Amy down--or maybe it's motherhood that's doing it. But Ruby's mother...well, I'm sorry to have to tell you that Ruby's mother may never be able to accept Amy's and Kate's living arrangements. What's more, she's been acting very strangely lately. A security guard in a high-class department store recently caught her leaving the store with her purse full of--

Oops, sorry. You'll have to wait for SPANISH DAGGER for that bit. But rest assured: Amy is fine, Grace is totally wonderful, and Ruby couldn't be prouder. As for me, I am sorry. Very, very, very sorry. I'll do better next time, I promise. Meanwhile, blessings on all you virtual grannies out there for rooting for Amy and Grace and Kate and Ruby. You're the greatest!

Now, changing the subject--somebody wrote a comment asking about the knitting I did on the tour. I didn't do much, I'm afraid. Only two socks, and they don't even match (although I did learn to knit a nifty new heel flap). Oh, and I did three-quarters of a stranded mitten with #2 needles, in seven or eight colors, but I can't find it right now, and I'm not sure I want to, because the longer I knitted that mitten, the more I hated it.

Anyway, I haven't unpacked that bag of yarn yet, and won't for another week or two, because I am getting a new floor this coming week. Two new laminate floors, in our bedroom and in my office. This means utter chaos, of course, since these two rooms house most of the books, and ALL of the books have to come out of the bookcases so the guys can move them before the carpet comes up and the floor goes down. But you know what I'm talking about, because you have been there and done that, and you know exactly how I feel: happy about the new floor and glum about getting ready for the new floor.

And then one of the dogs--Toro, the heeler--sneaked into the kitchen and snarfed up what was left of the steak that Bill grilled tonight (a lot, actually, enough for a breakfast steak sandwich). It's not as if Toro hadn't already been fed his own gourmet doggie dinner, and hence couldn't possibly have been driven by hunger. But the steak was right out there in plain sight and easy reach (we won't say WHO left it within easy reach, although it was a person of the male gender). Toro says the devil made him do it.

It's been a very hard day.