“What kind of complications?” Her mother pressed her lips together in that annoyed way Thea remembered well.
She’d never please her mother, would she? The muscles in Thea’s shoulders bunched together, a heavy weight pressing her down into the scarred oak floors. “Well, Mack would like to see the baby’s birth certificate to prove that Sarah is Eileen’s child before he drags Ms. Adair into the matter.”
“But that baby is ours!” Momma stepped closer to Thea. “You told him that, didn’t you?”
“Yes, Momma, but a birth certificate would go a long way to proving that the baby belongs with us.” Thea rested her hands on her mother’s shoulders and stared into her eyes. “Do you know if Eileen filed the baby’s birth certificate with the county?”
“Your sister was too busy to spend a day down at the courthouse.” Momma fidgeted with the long strings of her apron. “She was always too busy for anything useful or important.”
Thea ignored the implication. “What about Mrs. Williams? She delivered the baby, right? Would she have filed the paperwork?”
“I doubt it, but then again, I didn’t ask her to. I figured we’d eventually get around to taking care of it ourselves.”
Which meant the baby’s birth certificate likely hadn’t been filed. Thea turned and leaned back against the table, gripping the edges in her hands. How could she prove that Sarah was her niece if the only witness of her birth had left town for who knew how long? Where else would Eileen record the birth of her child? “Did Eileen have a Bible? Something she might have made a note in about the baby’s birth?”
Momma shook her head. “Not that I know of, but you know how sneaky your sister was. Always hiding things away in her room. Secrets, she said.” Her mother’s thin lips flattened. “All she’s ever brought home is trouble. Maybe if your father had lived...”
Thea nodded. If only Daddy had lived, Eileen wouldn’t have turned wild. Thea wouldn’t have been put in the middle of the violent arguments between her mother and sister. Maybe if Daddy had lived, Eileen wouldn’t have had that child all those years ago, and there would have been no reason for Thea to leave home at age seventeen. Maybe she would have married some local boy, had a baby or two of her own. Thea shut her eyes on those thoughts. Daddy was gone, and wondering what might have been was just a waste of time.
This was her life. Mother, herself. Sarah. She’d best get busy living it. “I have an appointment at the hospital first thing in the morning to check on my job application but if you’d like to go, I thought maybe we could stop by the courthouse and look through some of their records just on the off chance Eileen filed a birth certificate.”
“No!” Momma shook her head so hard, Thea worried she’d get whiplash. “I mean, that’s all right. I’ve got so much to do around here, getting Eileen’s old room ready for the baby and all.” She gave Thea an uncertain smile. “You’ve always been so good at taking care of things, I’d rather leave the birth certificate up to you.”
At least that hadn’t changed. Momma and Eileen always left their messes for her to clean up. But her mother had never turned down a trip into town, not when the shops were open and ready for business.
“Are you sure? You haven’t been out of this house since I got home. Wouldn’t you like to at least go into town with me? I heard Mr. Hice has some new material just perfect for the baby clothes you’ve talked about making.”
Momma wrinkled her nose as if the thought of a trip into town disgusted her. “The square is just so crowded with all those people from over at the bomber plant wandering around.” She shook her head again. “No, I think I’d rather stay here. That’s all right with you, isn’t it?”
Thea blinked. Momma never asked her permission for anything, had always been too busy passing out orders or barking out commands. “That’s fine, but I might be gone for most of the day. I’m going to try to catch up with Mack at his office after I spend some time looking through the county records.”
“You should have been here to take care of your sister.” Momma turned away from Thea and started down the hall. She’d almost reached the kitchen when she turned around and gave Thea a forced smile. “If you had been here, you would have talked Eileen out of going with that boy. But you weren’t, and now your sister’s dead.”
Thea closed her eyes, her muscles weighed down with the fatigue of the past few days as well as an equally heavy dose of guilt. The events of the afternoon had finally caught up with her, stripped her of all her energy. The practical part of Thea knew she shouldn’t take anything her mother said personally. Momma always lashed out when she was upset. She mourned the child she’d lost, the grandchild she’d never held. Her mother was grieving, that was all. Her fingers tightened around the edges of the scarred hall table until she thought they would break. Lord, please let it be nothing more than that. Don’t take Momma away from me just yet.
Maybe losing Eileen had been too much for her mother to handle, maybe the presence of a little one in the house was what Momma needed to find some joy in living again. Recovering her sister’s baby was the answer. Then Momma would have a reason to fight, and it would give Thea a chance to right a terrible wrong. To bring her sister’s baby back home.
This time.
* * *
Mack usually used his morning walks before the town came to life to meditate on the Scriptures or pray for the men and women who would soon be filling the streets of Marietta for another day on the job. He’d pray that no harm would come to them and that they would make wise choices. For the folks who visited their city, he prayed that they would have peaceful spirits and that he would handle those bent on making trouble with respect and honesty.
But this morning the peaceful spirit he needed in order to meditate or pray was out of his reach. His thoughts were scattered like the crimson-and-gold leaves gathered up by the harsh wind that had blown in late last night, yet his mind never strayed far from his conversation with Thea Miller yesterday. The bookish girl he’d known in high school had certainly changed. The way she’d stood her ground against him, her refusal to back down from her claim that Sarah was her niece and her plans to raise the child didn’t make him happy but he had to respect the woman’s grit. His uniform made it difficult for some folks to question his authority, but not Thea, not when it came to her family.
Was it possible Sarah was Eileen Miller’s baby?
Mack absently shook his head. A juicy secret like that would be too much for someone even as close-mouthed as Mrs. Williams to resist. Surely she’d have spread the word about delivering Eileen’s baby...wouldn’t she? The thin letter in his shirt pocket he’d spent half the night crafting felt like a heavy weight against his chest. He’d drop it in the mailbox on his way into the office this morning. Mrs. Williams could answer any questions about Sarah’s mother once and for all.
With that settled, Mack found himself thinking about Thea herself. Why had she come home after all this time? She’d missed Eileen’s funeral, though to be fair, she might not have heard the news until it was too late for her to get leave. Her mother had never had much to do with her, with either of her daughters, really. It seemed odd to him, but then he’d always been close to both his parents, particularly his father. The loss of Neil Worthington four years before had been the catalyst for Mack to settle down and attempt to find a wife. Someone he could build a life with, have the kind of marriage his parents had had, raise a family.
But
