When Danielle returned to Marlow House from the funeral home, she found Walt in the library, jotting down ideas on a legal pad for his current book.
“I stopped and picked up some burgers for lunch,” Danielle announced when she entered the room, holding up two to-go paper sacks.
Walt looked up from his writing and smiled. “You must have read my mind. I was just about to get up and make myself a sandwich.”
Danielle handed Walt one of the paper sacks. “This is better—and easier.”
Walt set his notepad and pen on the nearby table and took the paper bag from Danielle.
“Find out anything interesting at the funeral home?” he asked.
“Just that Pearl isn’t related to the Mortons,” Danielle said as she sat down on the sofa next to Walt. She then went on to tell him what she had learned.
Danielle was just about finished recounting the morning when Marie suddenly appeared in the room.
“Marie!’ Danielle said with surprise. “You and Eva must’ve been having a good time at the theater. We haven’t seen you since we first got home.”
Marie shook her head in agitation and began to pace before them. “I was only with Eva the evening after you got home. I’ve spent the last couple of days at the cemetery.”
“Cemetery?” Walt frowned. “What were you doing there?”
Marie stopped pacing and faced them. “Trying to make some sense of life.”
“In a cemetery?” Danielle asked.
“I heard something that has shaken me up—made me question why—why am I allowed to stay? Why am I able to harness energy while not being confined as Walt was? What is the reason for any of it?”
Walt and Danielle exchanged quick glances and then looked back to Marie. “What happened? Is this about Marlow House closing? If it is, we’re okay,” Danielle said.
Marie frowned. “What do you mean Marlow House is closing?”
“Umm…our business license was revoked, but—” Danielle began, only to be cut off by Marie.
“No, no.” Marie waved her hand dismissively. “This is about Adam.”
“Adam?” Danielle asked. “What’s wrong with Adam?”
“I stopped over to see him, and Melony was there. Melony does not want children!” Marie cried before flopping down in one of the chairs facing the sofa.
“Oh…” Danielle muttered.
“And do you know what is worse?” Marie asked.
Danielle shook her head. “No. What?”
“Adam doesn’t want children either! How can he not want children? What about my great-grandchildren?”
“You do have another grandson,” Walt reminded her.
“But he isn’t Adam! That’s why I stayed, to make sure he would get married, settle down, have babies. And I thought that was going to happen with Melony—that I would be able to see them start their life together.”
“Is it Melony or Adam who doesn’t want children?” Walt asked.
“It’s both of them,” Marie grumbled. “If it was just Melony, I would start looking for someone else for Adam. But Adam claims he doesn’t want them either. So what would be the point? And I do so like Melony. How can she not want children? Maybe if she wanted them, she could change Adam’s mind. If anyone could change Adam’s mind, it would be Melony. But they actually agree on this! What am I to do?”
“I’m just curious why you went to the cemetery,” Walt asked.
“To visit my parents. I needed someone to talk to. Of course, I didn’t expect to actually see them, they have moved on, but I did come across a couple of lingering spirits. Unfortunately, they were absolutely no help. I didn’t even bother discussing this with Eva, she told me once she never wanted children, so how would she understand?”
“Maybe she could help you understand Adam and Melony’s point of view?” Danielle suggested.
“I’m not sure how that’s going to help,” Marie grumbled.
“Marie, I understand your disappointment,” Danielle began gently. “But you have to know deep inside that it would be wrong for Adam to have children if it was not something he really wanted. It would be wrong for the children too. Maybe they will change their minds—but maybe they won’t.”
“Why don’t they want children?” Marie asked sadly.
Danielle considered the question a moment. “I can’t speak for them. But maybe in Melony’s case it has something to do with her own childhood. Same for Adam. Neither one had a great relationship with their parents. Maybe they’re afraid. Maybe they don’t feel capable of being good parents. Or maybe they just don’t want kids. Marie, it is a big responsibility. And if someone doesn’t want children, they shouldn’t have them.”
Marie let out a sigh. “Maybe they’ll change their minds.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Walt and Danielle quietly ate their burgers. Suddenly Marie sat up straight and blurted, “What do you mean your business license was revoked?”
Danielle went on to update Marie on what had happened to her business license and what they planned to do with Marlow House.
“I could have told you Pearl wasn’t related to the Morton family,” Marie said.
“What happened to Elmer Morton?” Walt asked.
Leaning back in the chair, Marie crossed her ankles. Folding her hands in her lap, she said, “It was probably twenty years after your death; he fell down the stairs at the funeral home. He was alone when it happened, and when he didn’t go home that night, Maisy Faye went looking for him. She was the one to find him at the bottom of the stairs. They said he had been dead for a couple of hours.”
“Maisy Faye?” Walt muttered. He then smiled and said, “Maisy Faye. I knew a Maisy Faye once. Beautiful young woman, with golden curls. I haven’t thought about her in years…”
“It definitely was not the same Maisy Faye. This one was one of the twins, and I think she was about three when you died,” Marie told him.
With arched brows Danielle looked to Walt. “Hmmm…do I need to be jealous? The way you say Maisy Faye’s name sounds like there was a little something going on,” she teased.
Walt’s faraway look quickly passed and he flashed Danielle a sheepish smile. “No. There was nothing between us…at least…I don’t think so.”
“You don’t know?” Danielle couldn’t help but chuckle.
He shrugged. “Her face came to me immediately when Marie mentioned the name—and I remember her voice. But I can’t recall exactly where I knew her. Maybe in college—or she might have been one of Angela’s friends.”
“Whoever she was, it was a different Maisy Faye,” Marie said matter-of-factly.
“From what Norman Bateman told me, the twins were Maisy Faye and Daisy Faye. But his mother, Maisy Faye, goes by Faye now,” Danielle explained.
“I don’t recall ever knowing the babies’ names. Someone might have told me, but if they did, I don’t remember. I was never on friendly terms with Elmer,” Walt said.
“Adam told me a little about their story. How Daisy ran off with Maisy’s fiancé,” Danielle said.
“Ahh yes, it was quite the scandal back then,” Marie said. “Especially with the disinheritance.”
“So what was that all about?” Danielle asked.
“The twins were a few years older than me,” Marie began. “Identical twins. One of my friends used to call them pinup girls—because of their extraordinary looks—and figures. Mr. Morton was raising them on his own. Daisy was the trial, always testing the limits, wild as a March hare. Frankly, I expected her and one of her beaus to be walked down the aisle at the end of a shotgun, considering her reputation. But Maisy was such a sweet thing. She took care of the house, looked after their father, never got in trouble, and was engaged to a war hero.”
“And then Daisy stole Maisy’s boyfriend?” Danielle asked.
“Yes, but before that happened, Mr. Morton went to his attorney and had Daisy written out of the will. He’d had it with her. I’m not sure what happened exactly—what was the final straw—but there were rumors he walked in on Daisy in a compromising position with a man. Some said it was a married man. But you know rumors.”
“Did Mr. Morton fall down the stairs after Daisy ran away with Maisy’s boyfriend?” Danielle asked.
Marie shook her head. “No. A few days after his attorney wrote up the papers, there was the accident at the funeral home. Daisy was supposed to move out of the house next door—her father had basically evicted her. But after he died, Maisy begged her to stay on. With her father’s unexpected death, she didn’t want to stay at the house alone. The lawyer said that since the house was Maisy’s now, Daisy could stay if her sister wanted.”
“Did they ever suspect Daisy might have had something to do with her father’s fall?” Walt asked. “After all, he did disinherit her.”
Marie shook her head. “No. According to the family attorney, Mr. Morton was willing to put Daisy back in the will if she straightened up. Maisy had more to gain with her father’s death, and she would never have hurt him. Plus, Mr. Morton was not a young man, and he had a bad leg, so a fall wasn’t especially surprising.”
“How long after their father’s death did Daisy run away with Maisy’s boyfriend?” Danielle asked.
“It was about two months later. The two girls were staying together at the house next door. When her sister was not around, Daisy would shamelessly flirt with Kenneth, her sister’s boyfriend. Everyone was talking about it. But poor Maisy seemed utterly clueless. And then one day they were gone. Just like that. They left a note telling Maisy they were sorry but that they had fallen in love.”
“She loses her father, then her fiancé and her sister?” Danielle said sadly.
“It changed her. Which I can understand, I suppose. She became bitter, withdrawn. Maisy stopped seeing her friends. She sold the house—although, from what I understand, she had already sold it before her sister ran off. At the time she planned to move into a new house as a new bride—with her new husband. She hadn’t expected her beau to run off before the wedding. Maisy did move into the new house, but alone.”
“She obviously got married, had a son,” Danielle said.
Marie nodded. “Yes. After her father died, she let the man who worked for him run the mortuary, but he was out of his element. It was too much of a job for him. She ended up rehiring someone who had once worked for Mr. Morton. From what I understand, he had left Morton Funeral Home to take a better job in Portland. But Maisy managed to talk him into coming back and taking over the business. About a year after her sister’s betrayal, they were engaged. They built a new—larger—more impressive home, where they moved into after their marriage. That’s the one she still lives at, with her son, Norman. In fact, it’s right down the street from the Glandon Foundation.”
“What happened to Norman’s father?” Danielle asked.
“He died years ago. He was much older than Maisy.”
“Were they happy?” Danielle asked.
“I suppose. Although, we were never friends. We had both grown up in Frederickport, basically knew each other most of our lives. But as to the state of her marriage, I have no idea.”
“According to Norman, the sisters stayed in contact until Daisy’s death.”
Marie nodded. “I had heard that. In some ways it always surprised me because of how Maisy withdrew from all her friends after Kenneth ran off with Daisy. And it wasn’t just Maisy who was forever changed by Daisy’s actions. Millie Samson’s brother-in-law killed himself over it all.”
“Why?” Walt asked.
“It was Millie’s husband’s older brother, Lewis. It was before Millie was married. Lewis and Daisy had dated off and on. He was crazy about her. And when she took off with Kenneth Bakken, he drove his car off Pilgrim’s Point. It was heartbreaking for the family, especially for Millie’s husband. He worshiped his older brother. But like I said, that was before he and Millie were married.”
“According to Norman, Kenneth Bakken died fairly young,” Danielle said.
“Yes. It was a couple of years after they ran off. They were in another country—I can’t remember where—maybe Greece—but he got sick, died. Family was heartbroken. After he ran away with Daisy, he never again saw his family or the friends he left behind. And from what I heard, he only sent a few postcards.”
“Why?” Danielle asked.
“Kenneth had always been well respected. Frankly, I think he was ashamed. Daisy could be very seductive. I always wondered if he ever came to regret what he had done. Maybe even right before he died. But by then, Maisy had already started a new life; she was married. Although I could be wrong and maybe Kenneth was perfectly happy with his choice. I just always thought it was sad that he didn’t reconcile with his family before he passed away.”