Instead of going directly to Marlow House, Marie took a brief detour and stopped in at where Gemma Francas had lived before Marie’s death. She found Gemma still alive and living in the home she had shared with her husband.
By the time Marie returned to Marlow House, the sun was setting, and Walt and Danielle were in the kitchen, having dinner.
“Where are the little ones?” Marie asked when she appeared in the kitchen.
“Upstairs in the nursery with Eva. She’s singing to them; she has a lovely voice,” Danielle said.
Marie nodded. “She does.”
“You spent a lot of time with Adam this afternoon. Did you pick up any interesting gossip while eavesdropping?” Danielle grinned mischievously.
Marie waved her hand dismissively and took a seat at the table. “Oh, I wasn’t with him for that long. Melony has taken the week off, and the two had lunch at Pier Café. I love that boy, yet I don’t know how Melony keeps from whacking him over the head with a cast-iron skillet, considering some things that pop out of his mouth.”
“Probably because she’s a criminal attorney and knows it’s not wise to represent herself,” Walt said with a chuckle.
“What did he say?” Danielle asked.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. But after I left them, I stopped at Gemma Francas’s place. She still lives in the same house. You should go over there tomorrow and see what she knows about the quilt.”
“Walt and I were just talking about that.”
“Has there been any activity since I’ve been gone?” Marie asked.
“Just the knocking. I have to admit, it’s actually kind of helpful.” Danielle shrugged. “Although, now when I hear knocking, my milk drops, even if it’s someone at the front door.”
“I suppose that’s better than objects flying around the nursery,” Marie said.
“I’ll give Lily a call and see if she wants to go over there with me,” Danielle said.
“By the way, when I was at Gemma’s, I had a look around her house. It was very interesting.”
“Interesting how?” Walt asked.
“Well, if you think about it, she raised her stepdaughters for most of their lives. She was really the only mother they ever had. Yet there isn’t a single picture of them in the house. While they no longer live in Frederickport, they could very well be parents now, even grandparents. And if so, she has no pictures of grandchildren displayed.”
“Some people aren’t into family photos,” Danielle suggested.
Marie shook her head. “No. There were pictures around the house of her husband, Dan. Pictures of the two of them. There were even pictures on the wall of what I have to assume were her or Dan’s parents or grandparents. But nothing of Dan’s girls. And if they have children or grandchildren, no pictures of them either.”
* * *
After Danielle’s shower that night, she went into the nursery to feed the babies. Marie and Eva had gone downstairs to chat, giving Walt and Danielle some alone time with Addison and Jack. But the moment Danielle stepped into the nursery, she saw the twins’ quilt again draped over one rocker, no longer downstairs in the living room.
She paused a moment in the doorway and looked over to Walt, his back to her as he changed one of the babies’ diapers. “Walt? Why did you bring the quilt back upstairs?”
Walt turned to face Danielle. “What are you talking about?”
Danielle pointed to the quilt. He looked at it and frowned.
A moment later, Walt took the quilt back downstairs and promptly returned without it. “Marie said she didn’t bring it up here. And we know Eva can’t.”
“Wonderful,” Danielle said dryly as she picked up Addison.
* * *
Danielle opened her eyes and stood in a bedroom she had never seen before. Rose-patterned paper covered the walls, and pink lace curtains hung across the room’s only window. She glanced around, observing the collection of bedroom furniture and the two baby cribs. It looked as if someone had come in and pushed all the bedroom furniture against a wall to make room for the cribs.
Confused, Danielle walked to the cribs and looked in one and was startled to find a sleeping infant. Dressed in a pink sleeping gown, the baby had shoved its tiny, clenched fist into its mouth, and Danielle could hear the suckling sound, as if the baby nursed. She walked to the second crib and found another baby, identically dressed. Red fuzz covered both infants’ heads, a stark contrast to the dark hair both Addison and Jack had been born with.
Knowing she did not belong here, Danielle moved toward the open doorway and looked out into the hallway. She was no longer at Marlow House, but she didn’t know where she was or how she had gotten here.
Danielle rushed down the hallway and started down the stairs but paused. She couldn’t just leave the babies alone.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” she called out. No one answered. She continued down the stairs and started walking through the first floor. Danielle wanted to leave the house, but she couldn’t abandon the babies.
“Hello?” she called out again. When she didn’t get a response, Danielle moved through the first floor of the house, looking through the kitchen, living room, and what looked like a sitting room. Deciding to check on the babies, Danielle ran back upstairs. But when she reached the top of the stairs, she heard voices on the first floor.
She turned around and called out, “Hello?” The next moment she felt a hand shove the center of her back, sending Danielle tumbling down the stairs onto the floor below.
Danielle sat upright in bed, let out a scream, and opened her eyes.
Walt, who had been sleeping next to her, bolted upright.
* * *
“So you actually screamed in your sleep and woke up Walt?” Lily asked Danielle as the two of them drove to Gemma Francas’s house.
“Yes. Poor Walt. I think I scared the crap out of him.” Danielle looked down the road, her hands firmly clutching the steering wheel.
“Is this a house your brain just made up, or did it look like one you’ve been in before?” Lily asked.
“Wasn’t familiar. But aside from the cribs, it was like a house you would expect a little old spinster lady to live in, like from one of the old movies my mom used to watch. Definitely no man touches in that house.”
“Could it have been a dream hop?” Lily asked.
“One thing about dream hops, I always sorta know it’s a dream. But in this one, I didn’t realize I was dreaming.”
“What do you think it means? Dreams always mean something.”
“It could mean you’re having twins,” Danielle teased.
“Oh, shut up! Why would you say that?”
“Well, those twins in the dream definitely weren’t my babies. But by their hair color, they could be yours.”
“Oh hush, or when we get to Gemma Francas’s house, I’m going to knock even if she has a doorbell.”
Danielle laughed. “Please don’t do that. I promise I’ll behave.”
Lily sat back in her seat and patted her baby belly. “I wonder who pushed you down the stairs.”
Danielle shrugged. “Maybe my subconscious was telling me it was time to wake up.”
* * *
When Danielle stood with Lily on the front porch of Gemma Francas’s house, she was grateful the home had a working doorbell. It was going to be awkward enough convincing a stranger to talk to them, and she didn’t need her blouse getting soaked with breastmilk.
Gemma recognized Danielle from a photograph she had seen in the local newspaper, and she was curious why Danielle Marlow wanted to talk to her. She invited Danielle and Lily inside, took them to her living room, and insisted on serving them tea.
Gemma had left Lily and Danielle alone in the living room to get the tea when Lily whispered, “This is the house, isn’t it?”
Danielle frowned at Lily. “What house?”
“The one from your dream!”
Danielle chuckled. “No. Sorry to disappoint you. It looks nothing like the house in the dream. And you didn’t notice? This isn’t a two-story house.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Disappointed, Lily slumped back in the chair.
Gemma returned a few minutes later, carrying a tray with a plate of cookies and three glasses of tea. Danielle stood up to help her with the tray, but Gemma told her to sit down, that she was fine. The next moment, she set the tray on the coffee table.
After handing both her guests a glass of tea and a napkin with a cookie, Gemma asked what they wanted to talk to her about.
“This is a little wild,” Danielle began. “You see, I recently had twins.”
Gemma nodded. “Yes, I read about it in the newspaper. Congratulations. Although, I read how they came early at your baby shower, and you didn’t make it to the hospital. That must have been terrifying.”
“Well, it kinda happened fast. I didn’t really have time to think about it. Anyway, my friend Lily here went to an estate sale last week and bought me a quilt for my babies. It’s unique. And I would love to know who made it.”
Danielle pulled out her phone and found the photograph she had taken of the quilt. She handed the phone to Gemma while saying, “I was told you were the one who gave the quilt to Alice Beckett. Lily bought the quilt at the Beckett estate sale.”
Now holding Danielle’s cellphone in her hand, Gemma froze a moment before looking down at the phone. She glanced briefly at the picture and then quickly handed the cellphone back to Danielle.
“Do you remember it?” Danielle asked.
Gemma nodded silently.
“Umm, can you tell me something about it? Who made it? Who was it made for?”
Gemma closed her eyes for a minute and then opened them again and looked at Danielle and Lily. She absently licked her lips before saying, “My husband’s first wife, Betsy, made it.”
“For her twins?” Danielle asked.
“Why would you give it away?” Lily blurted. She instantly regretted asking so bluntly.
Gemma settled back in her chair and folded her hands together on her lap. In a soft voice she said, “My husband Dan, Betsy, and I, we all grew up together. Dan and Betsy moved to Frederickport right after their twins were born. I moved here too. After all, Betsy and I were best friends.”
Danielle set the glass of tea she had been holding back on the tray without taking her eyes off Gemma, listening to what she had to say.
“Unfortunately, Betsy changed after the babies were born. Wasn’t interested in them.”
“Postpartum depression?” Lily asked.
“I assume so. One day I came to visit Betsy, and she told me she no longer wanted this life. That she didn’t want to be married or a mother. I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I stood quietly as she folded the quilt she had made for her babies, set it on the kitchen table, and then removed her wedding ring and set it on the quilt. She just left. Walked out of the house. Someone picked her up. But I don’t know who it was. I only know that it was a man.”
“She just abandoned her babies?” Lily muttered.
Gemma nodded. “After she left, I had to stay with the babies. I couldn’t leave them all alone. I considered calling Dan, but I wasn’t sure what to tell him. So I just waited for him to come home from work while trying to figure out how to tell him what Betsy said.”
“I can’t imagine having to give someone that news,” Danielle said.
“After I told him, he was utterly broken. I ended up helping Dan with the babies since he had to work. Eventually he was able to get a divorce, and well, Dan and I had spent so much time together, we had both lost someone we once cared about. I suppose it’s not that surprising. We fell in love, and we eventually got married.”
“Did you ever consider keeping the quilt for the twins? Something to have from their mother?” Danielle asked.
Gemma smiled sadly. “It was actually Dan who wanted the quilt gone. Whenever he looked at it, it was like a knife in his heart. A couple of weeks after Betsy left, he told me to get rid of it. I took it home with me that night. It was still in my car the next morning when I stopped by Alice’s house to pick up some eggs. She walked them out to my car and saw the quilt and admired it. I told her it belonged to a friend who no longer wanted it, and I told her she was welcome to it. She was happy to take it.”