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“And me. We’ll be two misfits together.”
“Three.”
“Oh yes. Can’t forget Rowena. If we make coconut shrimp for dinner, do you think she’ll like the flavor?”
“I’m sure she’ll love it.”
It was the night of the third day that Diane called and woke Tayla.
Diane gave no greeting, just “I guess you’re still mad at me.”
“You played a rotten trick on me. You should have told me when Charlene was pregnant.”
“I didn’t know until she was six months along. Mother called me in hysterics. Garett was wonderful. He told his dad he had to go back to the US and why. My dear father-in-law set up the job in Atlanta so we could be with our daughter.”
“You told your father-in-law but not me?”
Diane sighed. “Tayla, be fair. You know what you’re like.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You manage people like those stores your husband owns. You would have been talking lawsuits and college for Charlene. We had a scared teenager on our hands and she needed love, not lawyers.”
Tayla had to swallow at that. It was too close to her first thoughts. “What about the baby?”
“Mother took care of the poor thing.” Diane’s voice caught. “It broke my heart seeing Charlene holding that little boy. No one knew what caused him to be stillborn.”
“What?” Tayla whispered.
“I know. It’s too horrible to think about. After we got home, I wanted to stay with my daughter but...” Diane’s voice began to rise. “But Garett and I had been through so much with her while she was pregnant. Nights of nothing but tears. Damn Randal Medlar! And Mother said you’d be there only hours after we left and that you’d know how to take care of everything. Besides, Charlene said she needed time alone to grieve.”
But I was a day late, Tayla thought. Charlene was alone for one whole day. Tayla’s body was beginning to shake. “Yes. Time to grieve.” Her voice was raw.
“Are you all right? You should call Mother and ask about the funeral arrangements. Maybe you can help with the headstone.” There was no answer. “Tayla? Is something going on? Is Charlene okay?”
“Everything is fine. I’m going to take her home with me.”
“I don’t think I can allow that. I’d miss her too much. I can’t—”
“Charlene needs a challenge. She needs something to occupy her mind.” Tayla was squeezing her eyes shut as she said the clichés. She had to get her niece away from...from whatever she’d done. “And you need a rest after what you’ve been through in the last months.”
“I could use some time to myself,” Diane said. “These past months have been stressful. With Garett’s job and Charlene’s pregnancy, I—”
“Six months,” Tayla said. “We’ll try it and if she’s unhappy I’ll return her.” She could almost hear Diane thinking.
“Walter won’t like sharing you.”
“Walter can go to hell. I have to go now. I have to do...uh, some things.” She hung up.
She went into Charlene’s room. She was asleep, snuggled in bed beside Rowena. The baby opened her eyes and looked up at Tayla. Witho
ut waking Charlene, Tayla lifted the child and held her. “Who are you?”
The baby was asleep before she got to the living room and turned on the big TV. It hadn’t been on since she’d been there. The first thing she saw on the news channel was a photo of Rowena. They were calling it the White Lily Kidnapping because a handful of lilies of the valley had been left in the stroller.
The ones from the pot outside, Tayla thought. The white dress and the little pink sweater were hanging in the closet in the nursery she and Charlene had put together. When Tayla had admired them, she’d thought how her sister had bought those expensive clothes for the baby but not a crib. But then, the baby wasn’t supposed to come home with them.
The news said there was a three-state-wide manhunt for the White Lily Kidnapper. They were talking prison and...and execution. Kidnapping was punishable by death.
