I don't know how much she comes to believe in destiny and fate, it seemed to me she or someone else worked pretty hard to get them all the places they ended up. It's been too long though, some of the details are starting to fade. Stupid memory. 

Ave's mother surely believed in the more spiritual aspect or she wouldn't have given her the name. I got the impression that mom thought the real Ave Maria that helped her was an angel, not a real person, and the child Ave Maria did not. Mom might have figured running into the angel was her destiny, how she ended up in the place she did to meet her husband. There was the coincidental factor to it, she didn't have much of a plan. Our Ave didn't really have that kind of thing happen that I remember. She was all about the planning and didn't leave much to chance. 

I'm with you Chris, a question that really is reaching.  I don't know.

Question I had – What was the point of the story near the end of the book about the woman that jumped off the mountain in Italy committing suicide?  It seemed out of place to me, and I cannot fathom what it gave to the overall story.

14. Big Cherry Holler, Adriana Trigiani's next novel about the people of Big Stone Gap, jumps forward eight years into Ave Maria and Jack Mac's marriage. Knowing these two characters as you do, do you expect the path of true to love run smooth for them? What quirks do Ave Maria and Jack Mac bring to the relationship that could cause bumps or, conversely, even out the way?

I figure Ave will continue with over thinking and get herself into shenanigans when it comes to their relationship but it will all somehow work itself out in the end :P

I agree with Chris, lol. These aren't innovative books, they're gonna be the same ol' happy ending stuff. Ave's thinking will probably cause some kind of conflict. I think I saw somewhere they have a kid in the second book, that could give her some fodder to tweek on.