Brian and Joe found Andy Delarosa working in his front yard, spraying vinegar on his weeds. As they came up his front walk, they quickly surveyed the area and once again didn’t spy a single rosebush, much less the one that had been taken from Pearl’s yard.
“Officers,” Andy said when he saw them as he set the sprayer on a nearby bench, “what can I do for you?”
“We have a couple of questions we need to ask you,” Joe began.
“Let’s go inside,” Andy suggested.
“We have a witness who claims to have seen you take the rosebush out of Pearl Huckabee’s yard,” Joe said after the three were sitting in Andy’s living room.
“Umm…who?” Andy asked, moving restlessly in his chair while absently wiping his palms along the sides of his jean-clad thighs.
“I tell you what,” Brian began. “At this point we have other questions about that rosebush, and we don’t really care to pursue charges against the thief—not if we find out what we are looking for. To be candid, the witness is reluctant to come forward—but I know we can make her talk if it comes to that.”
“What do you want to know?” Andy asked hesitantly.
“Do you know why anyone would want to steal that rosebush in the first place?” Brian asked.
Andy considered the question for a moment and let out a sigh. “Well—I suppose it is possible any of my cousins might have wanted to take it—since they all knew. But it would have been for nothing anyway.”
“Knew what?” Joe asked.
Andy let out another sigh and sat back in his chair. “The house was owned by me and my cousins. We planned to sell it fully furnished. But then, right before the close of escrow, we remembered the old trunk in the attic. My grandmother had put all her mom’s stuff in it after her mother had died. We’d never bothered to look inside. Most of it was junk, but there was her notebook on her roses.”
“The rosebushes in the backyard?” Joe asked.
Andy nodded. “We’d always heard how my grandmother’s mom was obsessed with her roses. In her notebook, we found out how obsessed she was. I guess she had developed a new kind of rose. One of my cousins said that was something that could be patented and you could make a fortune on. I’d never heard about rose patents.”
“So that’s why you took the rosebush?” Joe asked.
“I’m not saying I took anything. But if someone took it, that’s probably why. Of course, whoever took it didn’t know that someone else patented the rose not long after she died. But even if they hadn’t, all the rosebushes—even the one someone took—were too far gone.”
“What do you know about your grandmother’s father?” Brian asked.
“The one who was a bigamist?” Andy asked with a laugh. “Is that who you think was buried over there?”
“Is that what you think?” Joe asked.
Andy shrugged. “I have to admit, the thought crossed my mind when I first heard what they found. But then I heard they found the remains for two or possibly three people buried back by the roses. If it was two, I suppose it could have been old gramps and another one of his wives.”
“According to one of your cousins, she knew your great-grandfather, so it couldn’t have been him.”
“You’re talking about Pearl, right? Sounds like something she would say. The woman is delusional.”
“So you never heard anything about your great-grandfather after he and your great-grandmother split up?” Joe asked.
“Thing about my family, they don’t get along, but they still have this genealogy obsession—like great-granny obsessed with her roses. If you can’t stand your relatives, why in the heck do you care about a bunch of dead ones? Am I right?”
“And you’re saying the family members who’ve researched your family tree never found out what happened to your great-grandfather?” Brian asked.
Andy nodded. “That’s right. Nothing. He vanished into thin air after deserting two families. But I heard you’re having those bones tested for DNA, so if one of those was old gramps, then you’ll be able to find out.”
“There’s DNA on file?” Joe asked.
“Personally, I’d never do a DNA test, but I know more than half of my cousins have.”
Walt and Danielle sat anxiously at the table at Pearl Cove with Ian and Lily, impatiently waiting for Lily to tell them what they had learned at the doctor’s appointment that afternoon.
“Well? Come on, tell us!” Danielle urged after the server brought their cocktails and left the table. “You really don’t expect us to wait until dessert for you to tell us, do you?”
Lily smiled sheepishly and looked from Danielle to Walt and back to Danielle, while Ian chuckled under his breath and took a sip of his cocktail.
“We don’t know,” Lily blurted.
“You don’t know?” Danielle groaned. “You mean that little stinker was turned from the camera? Refused to flash the ultrasound?”
Lily shrugged. “Umm, no. He—or she—was right there fully exposed—or so says our doctor. But we told her we don’t want to know. We’re waiting until the baby is born to find out if it’s a boy or girl.”
“You’re kidding?” Danielle asked.
Walt grinned. “Not knowing until the baby is born is how it used to be.”
Lily looked over to Walt and said, “You know, you’re the reason I started rethinking this ultrasound. It’s not like I was planning to decorate the baby’s room super gender specific and needed to know ahead of time so I could start decorating. I’m going with Snoopy—a rainbow on one wall, and Snoopy dancing on his doghouse on another.” Lily paused a moment and looked at Ian. “Or maybe we should see if we can do Snoopy sitting on the doghouse writing on his typewriter, like in the cartoons. Keep in theme with his—or her—writer dad.”
“I love Snoopy. I didn’t know that’s what you decided on,” Danielle said.
“Snoopy is a classic. He makes me happy, and I figure it would be great for a boy’s or girl’s room,” Lily explained.
“And you really are not going to find out until the baby is born?” Danielle asked.
Lily looked down at her baby bump and gave it a gentle pat. “I’ve read that knowing the gender of your baby before it’s born will help a mother bond with the baby. When I told Mom that, she laughed at me and asked me if I seriously thought she would love me any more if she had known my gender before I was born. She said her love for me—for all of her children—was already limitless.” Lily looked up and smiled.
“I don’t mind waiting to know,” Ian said. He leaned over and gave Lily a quick kiss on the cheek.
“And to be honest, I’m kind of glad Mom and Dad are coming for a visit before the baby is born. For some reason, Mom does not seem as annoying these days.”
“That’s because you’re starting to relate to her,” Marie said when she appeared suddenly the next moment, standing by the table.
“Marie!” Danielle said in surprise.
“Where?” Lily asked, looking around.
“I just stopped by to see if it was a girl or boy. I remember you saying Lily was going to find out today. But I just heard they don’t know—and won’t until the baby is born, which is how it used to be. But I need to run; Eva is waiting for me!” Marie vanished.
“Where is she?” Lily asked again.
“That was a quick visit,” Walt said with a chuckle.
“She’s gone already,” Danielle explained.
Fifteen minutes later Danielle and Lily were in the women’s restroom at Pearl Cove, when they ran into Toynette from the nursery.
“Danielle! How are you doing?”
“Hi, Toynette. This is my friend Lily. Toynette owns the nursery,” Danielle explained.
“Nice to meet you, but if you will excuse me!” Lily said hurriedly before rushing into one of the stalls.
Danielle giggled. “These days when Lily has to go—she has to go!”
“I remember when I was pregnant—” Toynette stopped talking suddenly and whispered, “Oh my, she is pregnant, isn’t she? Did I just step in it?”
Danielle grinned. “Yes, she is pregnant.”
Toynette let out a sigh of relief. “Good. Nothing more embarrassing than assuming a woman is pregnant when she isn’t. I was just going to say, when I was pregnant, it seemed I was always in the bathroom!”
Danielle chuckled.
“By the way, any word on those remains they found next door to your house? I haven’t heard anything about it in weeks.”
“No. They’re still waiting for the lab reports to come in. But when they do, hopefully they’ll be able to use DNA to identify the remains.”
“It is amazing what they can do these days with DNA testing. It seems like everyone is getting tested to see where they came from. I had mine done, but there was no real surprise. I always knew Mother’s parents were from Norway, and my father’s father was Swedish. My results were over ninety percent Scandinavian.”
By the time Lily came out of the stall, Toynette had left the restroom, and she was alone with Danielle.
“I’ve seen her at the nursery,” Lily said as she washed her hands.
“Oh, I don’t think I told you. Do you know who her uncle was?” Danielle asked.
“No, who?”
“Kenneth Bakken. Faye’s ex-fiancé, the one who ran off with her sister.”