Three Days Later
Monday Morning—Harrington House
Molly was at the kitchen island, luxuriating in the absolute silence of a nearly empty house. Breakfast and the morning paper were on the counter in front of her. Sunshine streamed through the windows, and the kitchen smelled of coffee and freshly baked muffins. There were no guests, no hovering Elise, no Kevin drilling and pounding, no Tommy Campbell commenting on the architecture and furniture, and George, the agent, was not slinking about—no hovering, no poking, no pounding, and above all, no lurkers. Molly hated lurkers. She sighed and thought about the secret room, which was no longer a secret. On that subject, she was full of questions. Did her grandfather seal up the room? And why did he leave a whiskey bottle on the shelf? Did they see a safe, and if so, could there be something inside—a note from the past? She wondered if she’d ever find the answers to those questions.
Her forehead wound was a little itchy, and she had a whisper of a headache. Spreading homemade strawberry preserves on her buttered toast, she smiled, feeling calm for the first time since the book-launch party only ten days ago. Funny, it seemed so much longer.
Sarah Driscoll was upstairs in the Roaring Twenties Room. She had arrived on Saturday after being discharged from the hospital. She’d complained about not wanting to be alone in the home she’d shared with her mother and, before he’d passed away, her father—or the man whom she had believed was her father.
Molly hugged her and said, “You can stay as long as you like.”
Sighing deeply, Molly considered all that had happened with Lauren. She’d been in a coma for over twenty-four hours. But when she awoke, she had been evaluated and deemed mentally competent to stand trial. Still in the hospital, she’d been charged with second-degree murder, and, according to the morning paper, she’d hired the best criminal defense attorney in the county.
Molly’s thoughts turned to Tony, how safe and protected she’d felt in his arms. She hadn’t seen him since Friday evening’s excitement. She touched her forehead where he’d kissed her. Tony called daily to check on her but said he’d been working all weekend, completing the paperwork to turn Aubrey’s case over to the county prosecutor that morning. She took a sip of coffee and chuckled. Each time he called, he asked about her head.
He still thinks I hallucinated Elnora after hitting my head on the window seat.
She looked upward, shifting her eyes to check the room’s corners. “He doesn’t believe in you, Elnora.” She chuckled and returned to the newspaper, taking a bite of the jellied toast.
The loud, old-fashioned doorbell shattered the silence. “So much for a quiet morning.” Perhaps it’s Tony, she wished. Then, she chided herself for sounding like a schoolgirl and blamed it on the bump on her head.
Molly stopped short when she recognized the figure through the beveled glass of the front door. She took a deep breath and opened the door.
“Adele?”
“Good morning. I apologize if I’ve stopped by too early.”
Adele Rhodes looked tired. She’d neatly combed her hair, but not in her usually well-coiffed style, and she wore dark slacks and a light-blue sweater over a white Oxford shirt instead of her signature Dior suits.
“No, of course not.” Molly opened the door wider. “Please come in.”
“I…uh…heard Sarah Driscoll is staying with you. Is that true?”
“Yes, she dropped by on Saturday, and I invited her to stay here for a while.” Molly gestured toward the parlor. “Please, let’s sit down.”
Adele nodded. “Yes, that would be nice.”
Molly followed her guest into the living room, where Adele lowered herself onto the sofa. Molly sat in the Queen Anne chair next to her. “I have that flavored tea you liked the last time you were here. Would you like some?”
Adele ran her fingertips across her forehead. “I—uh…” She sighed.
“What is it, Adele? Can I help you with something?”
“Is it true that Sarah may be my granddaughter?”
So that’s the reason for her visit! Molly thought. “According to what Lauren said before the accident—yes. Sarah told me they did a DNA swab at the hospital, but the results are pending and could take a few weeks.”
“That day I met her here, I thought there was a familiarity about her, maybe around the eyes. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but now—maybe it was some kind of mother’s intuition.”
Molly didn’t know how to respond, but her heart ached for Adele.
Adele leaned forward. “Do you think I could see her?”
“I haven’t heard her up and about this morning, but I’m happy to see if she’s awake.”
“Thank you.” Adele reclined against the sofa.
Molly’s mind raced with questions as she slowly climbed the staircase for the first time since the accident. Was Adele grasping for a part of her dead son, or did she want to get to know Sarah for herself? It might be good for both women to have something to cling to.
Molly paused at the top of the stairs, a little winded from the climb. Three days of lying around had taken their toll. She smoothed down her shirt, crossed the upstairs foyer, and knocked on Sarah’s door.
“Yes?” Sarah called.
“May I come in?”
Sarah opened the door, wearing a T-shirt and yoga pants, her long, dark hair pulled back into a high ponytail. “Are you supposed to be climbing those stairs? I thought you said we’d start the laundry at ten. It’s only nine.”
“That’s not why I came up. There’s someone here to see you.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Who?”
“Adele Rhodes. She’d like to talk to you.”
Sarah backed into the room and sank onto the unmade bed. “Mrs. Rhodes wants to talk to me? Why?”
Molly leaned against the doorjamb. “She heard, maybe from her lawyer, I’m not sure. But she knows what Lauren said about Aubrey and her…and you.”
Sarah dropped her head into her hands. “Oh.”
“If your mother’s claims are true, then Adele is your grandmother.”
“I guess I haven’t thought this through enough to make that connection. In fact, I’ve tried not to think about it at all.”
Molly sat beside her on the bed and put her arm around her. “You’ve had quite the shock. You don’t have to see her if you don’t want to, but you both are hurting.”
Sarah’s eyes welled with tears. “I don’t know what to say to her. She’s a little scary.”
Molly smiled tightly. “I thought she was a lot scary when I was a kid. But she’s a woman who’s lost her son and now has found out that she might have a granddaughter, something that I’m sure she never thought she’d experience.” Molly patted Sarah’s back. “You could be a comfort to each other during all of this. I’m afraid it’s just beginning.”
“Okay, I’ll come down. Give me time to splash water on my face and get dressed.”
Molly stood, opened the door, then turned back and said, “You’ve got this.”
When Molly returned to the parlor, Adele stood with anticipation in her eyes.
“She’ll be down in a few minutes,” Molly said. “She wants to freshen up. In the meantime, I’ll bring you some tea.”
“Thank you, Molly. Maggie would be so proud of you.”
Molly felt a lump in her throat at the mention of her mother’s name. “I hope so,” she said, her voice quivering as she wiped her eyes and turned toward the kitchen.