Midnight At The Blackbird Cafe

On Friday, Anna Kate pulls weeds in the garden. The gray cat reappears in the yard. She thinks it might be hungry, but the cat just walks to the end of the garden and waits for Anna Kate to join him. Anna Kate follows the cat like she did the day she got lost while looking for Aubin’s house. She discovers a gate between her property and that of Hill House, the house where Gideon lives and runs his law practice. As she continues to follow the cat up to the house, Gideon calls down to her. He’s stuck on the roof. He went up there to keep a squirrel from making a nest in his chimney and the ladder fell. Anna Kate helps him get down. Gideon asks Anna Kate to accompany him to the movie at the courthouse amphitheater that night.

When Anna Kate and Gideon arrive at the courthouse amphitheater, Faylene invites them to sit with her and her daughter, Marcy, as well as Marcy’s infant daughter, Lindy-Lou, and husband, Josh. Natalie and Ollie arrive a few minutes later and join the group, which includes Josh’s brother, Cam. Natalie gives Faylene the headbands she made for Lindy-Lou. Marcy is so impressed by her craftsmanship that she asks Natalie to make more so she can sell them on consignment at her shop, Hodgepodge.

Natalie mentions that her parents are on their way to join her and Ollie. Anna Kate grows uncomfortable, not sure she is ready to meet Seelie. However, before she can decide what to do, Seelie arrives with Doc. Anna Kate stands to face Seelie and is surprised that instead of an evil woman, she sees a woman caught up in grief. The sight of Anna Kate profoundly affects Seelie.

The reporter asks Gideon about the blackbirds and wonders if there is something special about them. Gideon says Zee was fiercely protective of the birds. The reporter wonders if Zee harbors a secret about the birds, and Gideon wonders who doesn’t have a secret.

Anna Kate changes her mind about attending the dinner Doc consistently invites her to after she sees Seelie in person. She arrives at Natalie’s ahead of dinner on Sunday. Anna Kate asks Natalie what Seelie is like, and Natalie explains that she was warm and loving before AJ died but became cold and distant. Natalie says the only time she sees the mother she knew before AJ’s death is when Seelie is sewing or when Seelie is with Ollie. They both comment on how a split second can change so many things in so many people’s lives. Natalie admits she was compared to AJ constantly as a child, so she became rebellious to get her mother’s attention, but it only made Seelie colder.

Anna Kate, Natalie, and Ollie go up to the main house for dinner. Doc welcomes them graciously, but it is clear he is in pain. Doc pulls Anna Kate aside and asks her not to mention her previous concern for his health. Seelie welcomes Anna Kate and compliments the biscuits she brought for dinner. They settle to eat, and Seelie is almost bubbly, which causes Natalie to wonder if her mother is medicated. Before the meal begins, Seelie explains to Anna Kate that she blamed Eden for the car accident that killed AJ because she needed someone to blame. However, when Anna Kate asks if she still believes Eden is responsible, Seelie won’t give her a direct answer. Seelie states that she didn’t know Eden well, even though Eden and AJ dated for three years.

Seelie says Eden was cruel to hide Anna Kate away. Anna Kate turns it around and points out that Seelie’s attempts to separate Eden and AJ are what set events into motion. Seelie admits she did that and explains that Eden did not fit in in their world. Seelie says that his relationship with Eden kept AJ from living up to his full potential. Anna Kate announces that they can’t overcome the past and it was silly to try. Seelie agrees but admits she regrets not getting to know Eden better. She asks for forgiveness for the mistakes she made. Anna Kate asks for time, and leaves, but promises to return.

Anna Kate is lost in thought about Seelie when Gideon comes for coffee the next morning. They talk about the hold Wicklow exerts on people, but Anna Kate continues to insist she will leave at the end of July. Gideon wonders why Zee never mentioned him to Anna Kate, and Anna Kate wonders if Gideon is hiding something from her.

The regulars arrive, and Otis complains that the only pie left is one with blueberries in it, and he doesn’t like blueberries. Anna Kate finds this interesting because Pebbles Lutz, another of the regulars, bought all the other pies early that morning and gave them to the birdwatchers, who camp on her acreage each night. Anna Kate suspects Pebbles did this to keep Otis from his dreams of his deceased wife. This leads to a discussion of dreams, and Anna Kate learns they are not always just love notes, but sometimes information. Faylene claims her husband once came to her in a dream to remind her to pay the property taxes and to have the oil changed in her car. When Anna Kate asks Faylene why she doesn’t eat the pie anymore, she says she wants to be open to new love. However, Otis claims he doesn’t want new love. He is content with the dreams of his wife although she often nags him in them. Pebbles is frustrated by this news. Anna Kate promises not to sell the pies in bulk anymore and tells Pebbles that she shouldn’t trick Otis in her attempts to woo him.

Seelie sits in the café and writes in a notebook. The reporter notices her and asks if she is doing a story on the birds, too. She says that she’s trying to rewrite her life story.

Natalie goes to Hodgepodge to drop off a collection of her sewing for her consignment deal with Marcy. She runs into Cam as he delivers a few of his photographs for a similar purpose. One of the pictures he’s putting up for display is of a waterfall near his cabin. Natalie voices pleasure over the photograph, and Cam offers to take her and Ollie there one day. Cam leaves and Natalie immediately runs into her mother and Faylene. Ollie and Lindy-Lou are there, too, asleep in a double stroller. Faylene asks Natalie about Cam and suggests they are dating, which causes Seelie to express disapproval, but Natalie denies it. The two women inspect Natalie’s sewing, and Seelie offers a rare compliment.

Natalie asks what Seelie is doing at Hodgepodge, and she admits that she was there to ask Faylene about Eden. She has decided to learn more about Eden but is having trouble because Eden kept mostly to herself. Faylene suggests Seelie speak to her cousin, a classmate of Eden’s, or Aubin. When Seelie leaves, Faylene wonders if Seelie is medicated.

Summer and Anna Kate finish a day of processing the ripe mulberries. As they clean up, Summer admits that she doesn’t have enough money to go to college in the fall and she’s afraid to tell her father because she doesn’t want him to do something crazy, like sell the house. Anna Kate tells her not to worry and assures her they will find a way to raise the money.

Anna Kate is in the garden thinking about leaving Wicklow and the café. She’s sad because she worries about what will happen to her customers and the mulberry trees, but she mostly worries about the blackbirds. When she asks for guidance, the gray cat shows up again. Anna Kate follows the cat to the front of the café and runs into the birdwatcher, Zachariah Boyd. He tells her that he’s been having dreams of his mother, who wants him to find a woman to settle down with and write a book he’s been planning. He says in the dreams, his mother also released him from the guilt he’d felt about her passing.

Anna Kate continues to follow the cat. He takes her to the cemetery where Zee and AJ are buried, and where Eden’s ashes were secretly scattered over AJ’s grave. The cat disappears and the blackbird that Anna Kate recognizes as Eden appears. The bird leads Anna Kate to Aubin, who is sitting at his wife’s grave. Anna Kate sits with Aubin. He mentions his friendship with AJ. He talks of how close they were when they were young. Anna Kate wonders why he downplayed the friendship the first time she talked to him, and he says he wasn’t a good friend toward the end, and he didn’t want to open old wounds.

Anna Kate tells Aubin that his blackberry tea sells well at the café and that she sets aside the money it earns to help with Summer’s tuition. Aubin doesn’t know about Summer’s tuition problems, but Anna Kate assures him she has ideas to earn the money. She suggests Aubin rent out space in his home to the birdwatchers, and he tells her about a bunkhouse on his property he could rent. She promises to help him. They also decide that Aubin will set up a stand at the end of his driveway to sell honey, eggs, and the walking sticks that he carves.