Danielle sat with Walt in the parlor on Tuesday morning, going over their day’s schedule while Danielle nursed the twins.
“If I could get out of here by nine, it will give me almost three hours,” Danielle told Walt. “That should be plenty of time. You going to be okay alone with the twins?”
“Why is Walt going to be alone with the twins?” Marie asked as she appeared in the room.
“Morning, Marie,” Walt greeted. “But I’m perfectly capable of taking care of Addison and Jack while Danielle goes out.”
“I never said you weren’t.” Marie smiled down at Danielle, who had her hands full nursing the infants. “Where are you off to, dear? Isn’t Lily coming home today? I thought you’d want to be here when she gets back with the baby.”
“She is, but according to Ian, they probably won’t discharge her until after lunch. There are a few things I want to pick up before she gets here.”
Jack stopped nursing, and Walt leaned over to Danielle and gently took him from her. “I also think my wife wants to get away for a few hours by herself.” Walt put Jack over his shoulder and gently burped the baby.
“Well, I can understand that.” Marie looked to Walt. “While I understand you’re perfectly capable, if you would like me to stay while Danielle is out, I’ll be more than happy to.”
Standing by the sofa, Walt continued to pat Jack. “I always appreciate an extra set of hands.”
“Good.” Marie smiled and glanced around. “I assume Ian is at the hospital. His car wasn’t out front. Is Connor with him?”
“No. Connor’s with his aunt Kelly,” Danielle said. “She’s going to bring him over here later this afternoon.”
“When are you planning to leave?” Marie asked.
“I want to get out of here by nine, so in about fifteen minutes.”
“Before you go, I wanted to tell you both, Clay tracked Eva and me down early this morning. The dream hop was not a success.” Marie went on to tell them what Clay had shared with her and Eva, while Addison finished nursing.
Danielle adjusted her blouse before handing a now sleeping baby to Marie while saying, “Sorry to hear that, but can we deal with this later? I’d really like to get going so I’m back by noon.”
“No problem, dear.” Marie gently burped Addison. “Those young hooligans have time to mend their ways.”
“Thanks, Marie.” Danielle stood up from the sofa and adjusted her clothes. She walked over to Walt and kissed his cheek. “Love you.”
Walt kissed her back. “Enjoy your time.”
“What are you picking up?” Marie asked while Danielle gathered up her purse and cellphone from where she had set them in the living room.
“Old Salts, for one. We’re out of cinnamon rolls. After all, Lily and I have to keep up our calorie intake for all this breastfeeding.”
Marie laughed. “Sure you do, dear.”
Danielle sat alone in her Ford Flex, parked in her garage, the engine not running. She pressed the button on the remote clipped to her visor and watched as the garage door opened, letting in the morning sunlight. Instead of buckling her seatbelt or putting the key in the ignition, she leaned back in her car seat, took a deep breath, and enjoyed a few moments of solitude.
While she loved being a mother, there were times she felt overwhelmed. In those moments, guilt washed over her. After all, what did she have to complain about? She had a supportive and involved husband, a tremendous support system, and unlike so many young parents, she didn’t have to worry about buying groceries or putting food on the table.
Perhaps it was the breastfeeding. Again, even asking herself that question brought a fresh wave of guilt. Danielle had always wanted to breastfeed when she had children. Yet she had always understood that not all women could produce enough milk, and for some women, it simply did not work out for other reasons.
When finding out they were having twins, she expressed disappointment to Lily that she wouldn’t be able to breastfeed without supplementing with formula. But Lily told her she knew some mothers of twins had enough milk to nurse both babies without having to add formula, and perhaps she would be able to.
As it turned out, Lily had been right. She had plenty of milk. While Danielle was grateful, she sometimes felt overwhelmed at how much time she spent nursing, and she couldn’t go anywhere for more than a few hours, or her milk would drop, and her bra would get soaked.
But then she would remember something Lily’s mother had told Lily. She had reminded her that those first years of motherhood might seem overwhelming in that your entire life revolves around your babies—your toddlers. It’s not like you can just take off and do whatever you want without first making plans for your children. Lily’s mother had told her daughter that those early years of motherhood go so quickly, much quicker than she could ever imagine, and that while it might sometimes seem as if your life is no longer yours, before you know it your children are off living their own lives, and you look back on those early days and realize how it went so fast—too fast.
Danielle smiled at the sentiment. She wanted to enjoy every moment of motherhood. And she was. Danielle took another deep breath and fastened her seatbelt.
A few moments later, she turned on the ignition and drove out of the garage. Once all the way onto the driveway, Danielle stopped the car and pressed the button on the remote again. Looking in the rearview mirror, she watched the garage door close.
Just as Danielle pulled into the alley, a voice said, “I need to talk to you.”
Danielle slammed on the brakes and looked to the passenger seat. There sat Wesley, smiling at her.
“What are you doing here?” Danielle looked up the alley to make sure there were no cars coming before pressing on the gas and continuing down the narrow road.
“I wanted to see if there has been any progress with my wife.”
“You mean your widow. Be honest, are you just jealous of your brother, or are you really concerned he’s going to kill her?”
“I know my brother.”
“Not sure what that means. But I don’t know what you expect us to do.”
“Do you remember that aunt who left Bonnie her estate?”
“I remember you telling me about it.”
“Bonnie is finally listing her aunt’s property. And when she does that, then my brother is that much closer to killing her. When that property sells, it’s going to be a lot of money.”
“What do you want me to do? Prevent the sale?”
“Hmmm. That’s an idea. At least until we can figure out how to break them up.”
“How will preventing a sale help?”
“You suggested it.”
Danielle groaned. “Yeah, I suggested it facetiously. But why do you think it might slow your brother down?”
“If she sells the property and they put the proceeds in a joint bank account, it will be easier for him to keep the money if she mysteriously dies. But getting his hands on the real estate might be a little tricky.”
“And how do you suggest I stop the sale?”
“She hasn’t officially listed the property, but she’s having Adam Nichols give her a CMA. She dropped off the key this morning.”
“Adam?” Danielle glanced briefly at Wesley.
“You know him?”
“I’ll tell you what, I’ll go talk to Adam, see what I can do, but only if you let me do this myself. Now where is this house at?”
Wesley told Danielle the name of Bonnie’s aunt, along with the location of the property. He then said, “He won’t know I’m there.”
Danielle put on her brakes and looked at Wesley. “I mean it. I want some time to myself today. I don’t want you hanging around and annoying me. Just go and check back with me tomorrow.”
“You mediums aren’t very nice to ghosts.”
“Yeah, right. I’ve heard that before. Now go!”
“Hi, Leslie, is Adam in?” Danielle asked fifteen minutes later after entering the front office of Frederickport Vacation Properties.
Leslie, who sat behind one of the desks just inside the office, smiled up at Danielle. “Hi, Danielle. Here to see Adam?”
“Yeah, wondered if he was here.”
“He is. Just got in about fifteen minutes ago. He’s in his office, having coffee and reading the paper. Go on back.”
A few minutes later, Danielle sat with Adam in his office, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a cinnamon roll he had offered her.
“I have to stop by Old Salts and pick up some of these,” Danielle said before pulling off a bite of the roll and popping it in her mouth. She glanced at the newspaper on the desk and added, “I thought Walt was the only one who still read a newspaper?”
Adam, who sat behind his desk, shrugged. “I like to read the local newspaper.” He took a sip of coffee and asked, “So what are you doing? Playing hooky?”
Danielle leaned back in her chair, a cup of coffee in one hand and a partially eaten cinnamon roll in the other. “Lily comes home from the hospital today. But not until this afternoon. I have a few errands to run before she gets there. And yeah, playing hooky a little.” Danielle flashed Adam a smile.
“So how did I get on your errand list? Or do you just have super-cinnamon-roll radar?”
Danielle chuckled. “No. The cinnamon roll was a bonus. But I thought I would stop by and see if you have any interesting listings.”
“You looking to buy?”
“Remember my former mother-in-law?”
“The one married to the medium?”
Danielle nodded. “Yeah. She hasn’t been back since her first visit, but we talk frequently on the phone. She liked Frederickport and wondered what the current real estate market was like.” It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Not a lot on the market right now, to be honest. But I might be getting a new listing. I have to go check it out.”
“Where is it?”
Adam stood up and grabbed a photograph off his desk and carried it to Danielle. She set her coffee cup on a table and took the picture from Adam.
Adam sat on the edge of his desk, several feet from Danielle. “It’s on your side of town.”
“I’ve seen this house.”
“It’s been empty for over a year. First, it was going through probate. The owner died. Between you and me, the whole thing was a mess.”
“How so?” Danielle handed the photograph back to Adam.
Adam accepted the photo, glanced at it a moment, and then tossed it on his desk before saying, “It was owned by an elderly woman. I think Grandma knew her. Grandma knew everyone.” Adam chuckled. “Anyway, she had two nieces, and one niece was her caretaker for the last couple of years of her life. But when she died, she left everything to the other niece.”
“That must have made the niece who’d been taking care of her upset.”
Adam nodded. “She contested the will. It looked like it was going to drag on, but then she just dropped her case. And the niece who hadn’t been the caregiver inherited everything.”
“Why?”
“Some rumors started going around about elder abuse, involving the niece who had been taking care of the aunt. But when she dropped her case, the rumors stopped.”