The Daughters of Julian Dane

by Lucile McCluskey

  Mattie slid back the closet door saying, “Take your pick.”

  Della and Addie entered a closet as big as a modest size bedroom. It was lined on three walls with clothes. The back wall was mostly, coats and jackets, most with their price tags still attached. “Oh, my,” Della exclaimed as the two of them began going through them. There were plain coats, fur trimmed coats, leather coats, long ones and short ones. Then Addie found a light gray, wool cape lined with a silky gray material.

  “Oh, Mama, look at this. There was a silver, crescent shaped pin with a star above it pinned to the left side, and no tags were attached. “She must have worn this,” Addie said to Miss Mattie. “It has a pin on it and no tags.”

  “In this house, Addie? You’ll find that a lot of her clothes have what she called appropriate jewelry attached to them, especially the hostess gowns she wore daily. She even gave me a few pieces when she tired of a gown and decided to retire it, as she put it. That pin would have been bought just for that cape. It would look real nice on you.”

  “It would be a waste not to use these new coats and things,” Della said, as she fingered a cream colored, soft wool, lightweight coat with a gold music staff that had a gold pearl at the bottom of the staff. She was fascinated by the coat as well as the pin. She had never had anything so nice – never hoped to.

  Watching her, Mattie said, “Try it on, Della. Wilhelmina was about your height, and she couldn’t have weighed but a few pounds more. I’m sure all of these things will fit both of you.”

  The coat did fit Della perfectly, and Addie was running her hands over the soft material of the cape, which she had put on.

  “Well, will they do for in the morning?” Mattie asked.

  Della agreed that they certainly would, but asked, “Are you sure we should take these?”

  “According to Grant Cutler, everything in this mansion belongs to Addie.”

  Her hair dried, and her mother soaking in that big tub in the bathroom, Addie knew she had at least thirty minutes. She rushed to the elevator wondering where she would find grandpa? He certainly couldn’t be looking out the window. Where else would she look for him?

  Grandpa, where are you, she wondered. And suddenly, he was beside her.

  “You’ve been busy,” he said.

  The elevator had stopped, but Addie made no move to open the doors. “I wanted to tell you that we got all four of the trolleys in the old fire hall building.”

  “Young Addie, do you think I don’t know that? I listen to most of the conversations that go on in this house. You told your mother. Remember? And thank you for inviting those men to dinner. I rather enjoyed them.”

  “You know everything that goes on around here, don’t you?”

  “I try. What else have I got to do? I know your mother is having a hard time with morning sickness. Tell her to gulp down a glass of lukewarm water with about a teaspoon of salt in it when she gets up in the mornings. She’ll throw it up as soon as it hits her stomach. Then she’ll feel like eating her breakfast and getting on with her day.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Well, it worked for the women of my time.”

  “I’ll tell her. And I sure hope it works. But, Grandpa, I’ll have to have some more money. I bought me a used car, and I’m buying Mooney’s house for him for thirty-five thousand, I hope. The car is sort of beat up on one side, but Mooney says he can fix it. It’s just like new on the inside, and I really like it. I wish you could come outside and see it.”

  “I saw it when you came in. It’s white. And, young Addie, the money is yours. By-the-way, I have a favor to ask. There is a couple of those TV boxes stored on the fourth floor. Would you get one turned on for me? I haven’t seen the news since Mattie turned off the one in the library. Willy left it on. Sometimes I wondered if she knew I was here? A couple of times I accidentally touched her while reading over her shoulder.”

  “You could touch her? Could you touch me?”

  “Yes, young Addie, but you wouldn’t like it.”

  “I would too. Why do you say I wouldn’t like it?”

  “I’ll show you.” He reached out his hand and laid a finger on her hand.

  “Ouch!” she exclaimed. “That hurt! It was so – so cold.”

  “I said you wouldn’t like it. Now, come on,” he said, motioning for her to open the elevator door.

  They got out and she hurried to find a TV close enough to a wall outlet where she could plug it in. She had to get back downstairs before her mother missed her.

  The TV connected, she moved a lounge chair to face it. “Now you’re all set. Just keep it turned down low. I gotta run.” Now she knew a way for her mother to meet grandpa.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Della awakened very nauseous on Easter morning and Addie remembered grandpa’s remedy. She hurried to the kitchen. When she returned minutes later with the lukewarm salt water, her mother was sitting on the side of the bed, her head in her hands.

  “Drink this, Mama. It’ll make you throw up immediately, and then you’ll feel better.” She helped her up and to the bathroom.

  “What have you got?”

  “Some lukewarm salt water. Come on, try it.”

  “I’ll try anything that will help.” Moments after Della gulped down the mixture, it came back up.

  Grandpa was right so far, Addie though. She sure hoped he was right about her feeling better soon.

  Della rinsed her mouth, gargled, and brushed her teeth, then asked, “Where did you learn about that?”

  “Do you feel better?”

  “Yes. I feel like I’ve sort of been cleaned out. I just hope Mattie doesn’t plan for us to eat before we go. Did you hear the men leave? It wasn’t even daylight?” Addie assured her that she had slept through the night soundly.

  The sunrise service was held at the foot of three crosses as Mattie had described it, and Della was very impressed with it, and the minister. As they were walking back down the rise to the community center, Della recalled that, at one time, Merchant Street had crossed Forrest Lane. It was an old residential street with white oaks that created a canopy over most of the street in the summer. The city had decided that Merchant Street and Forrest Lane didn’t mix, so Merchant Street had been ended a block behind Forrest Lane. And the building that was now the community center had been the only building left on Merchant Street after the separation.

  Della liked what they had done to the building and how it was situated on a cul-de-sac. She had seen the Reverend Black before, but she didn’t know him. When Mattie had introduced them, and he had expressed his delight that they had come, she wondered if this might be the place where they would now worship? She had yet to explain to Ben about Morris Kirkland.

  There had been about a hundred people in attendance, but the only ones she knew were Dr. Bradley, his wife, and Nate and Mel Johnson. Several people had bid them a friendly welcome. The Johnsons had snubbed them, although speaking to Mattie. Clay Dewitt and his wife, Mandy introduced themselves, and Clay told her to call him at his office if she or Addie needed or wanted anything while Grant Cutler was in England.

  It was eight-thirty by the time they were leaving. Addie suggested that they go to breakfast at the Log House Restaurant if her mother felt like she could.

  Della agreed that she would like to try, as they approached Mattie’s black BMW. She took the front seat with Mattie, and Addie sat behind her. As they drove out of the parking lot, Addie reached over and took Della’s purse. She watched to see what her daughter was up to, and saw her put a hand full of bills in it and put it back beside her. She wasn’t quite sure about her doing that. After all, she had that fifteen hundred that Grant had given them. She would talk to her later about it.

  Addie still had several bills left, but she wanted her mother to have some small bills. It seemed so strange to have so much money – not to have to worry about every penny she spent. And she wondered again if she really had a right to Miss Willy’s money? But it was i
n Stonegate. And according to Mr. Cutler, if it was in Stonegate, it belonged to her, according to the deed that Wilhelmina Stone had written for the sale of Stonegate.

  The parking lot at the Log House Restaurant was very crowded. “We may have a long wait,” Della said. “Is that all right with you, Mattie?”

  “What else have we got to do? Unless we want to go home and make our own breakfast.”

  “It’s fine with me,” Della said as Mattie found a car pulling out of its parking space and waited to take it.

  When they took their places in the buffet line, Addie remembered the morning that she and Donnie had stood in that line, him so close to her she could feel his breathing on her neck. It had seemed so natural, so comfortable, even though it was her first time for such an experience. She had felt then that they belonged together. She still felt that way. Right now, Wednesday seemed a long way off.

  Addie stood in front of Mattie, then Della, then a young couple behind her. Then a familiar, irritating voice was heard behind the young couple. “I don’t want to be here,” Della heard Eve Mobley whisper loudly between clenched teeth. “There’s no telling who might be here.”

  “I don’t see why we couldn’t have had cereal at home,” complained Evelyn Ann.

  “Oh, you’ll both make it, and eat like pigs,” Jake Mobley said.

  Della breathed a deep sigh. Okay, Della. This is it, she told herself. Can you do it? She turned and looked past the young couple. “Why, Eve, Jake, I’m so glad to see you. And, Evelyn Ann, dear, it’s so good to see you again,” she said smiling brightly. Then she stepped past the young couple to face Eve Mobley, who stood between her daughter and her husband.

  “Why, I, uh, good morning,” the woman said coolly.

  “It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Martin,” Jake Mobley said, smiling. “I hope you’ve had a good morning,” he added taking her hand. “How are you and the Lincoln getting along? I didn’t see it when we drove up. You can’t miss a car like that.”

  “Oh, we came in Mattie Horn’s car. We had gone to sunrise services with her. So far I’ve driven it very little, but Addie has driven it some. You may need to explain some more of its workings. I know I have the book, but it’s so much clearer when you show me.”

  “I’ll attend to that at your convenience. Just call me.”

  Eve Mobley was looking daggers at her. “Thank you, Jake.” Then taking a step closer to Eve, she said, “Oh, Eve, I congratulated Jake on having a daughter as kind and helpful as Evelyn Ann,” and she put her hand on the girl’s arm, “but I must tell you also how indebted I am to her. Would it be asking too much to invite your family to join us as my guests for breakfast? I can’t ever repay Evelyn Ann for rescuing me, but I would feel I was returning the favor somewhat.”

  She had made Eve Mobley uncomfortable. She could see the refusal in her eyes, but she was going through with it if it killed her.

  The woman was looking her over with a sneering grin. “Thank you,” she said, “but we’re having a going away family breakfast for Evelyn Ann. She’s going with the church’s young people on their Spring retreat to Florida.”

  “Oh, my dear,” Jake Mobley said taking his wife’s upper arm in his hand. Della was sure he was slowly tightening his grip. “The Martins are our friends and fellow church members, almost family. We’d be delighted to join you, Della, and thank you.”

  If looks could kill, Della thought, Jake would be dead. “I’m so glad. We’ll just step back here with you all, and let this young couple get a little closer to the food. It smells so delicious, doesn’t it? She asked as she steered Mattie and Addie to joining her.

  She introduced Mattie to the three Mobleys, explaining that she was chef and housekeeper at Stonegate.

  Then Eve wanted to know, “Are you still at Stonegate? I heard that the butler and gatekeeper had already left.”

  “I am for the time being,” Mattie answered. “Stonegate has been my home for so long, I hate to think of leaving it. I just love the place.”

  “Are you afraid to stay there alone?”

  “Oh, I’m not alone. Della and Addie are staying with me while Mr. Martin is away on a trip.”

  “You are? You’re staying at Stonegate?” the woman asked, surprised, as she was taking a closer look at the expensive clothes that Della and Addie were wearing. She showed special interest in Addie’s gray wool cape and the unusual star and crescent pin. Della didn’t miss her interest. “Those are most unusual pins,” she said to Addie.

  “It’s just one pin, Mrs. Mobley. “See,” she said as she turned back the material to show her how the star was attached to the crescent by a single clasp.

  “How clever. Where on earth did you find an item like that in Riverbend?”

  “It’s not from here. It was ordered by mail,” Addie said.

  “I didn’t think I’d seen anything like it in any of the stores.”

  Della thought it best to change the subject. “Eve, I simply must tell you what a treasure your daughter is. Did she tell you about coming to my rescue the day of the accident?” In glowing detail I’m sure, she thought.

  “Why, yes. I think she, uh, mentioned it.”

  “Eve, I have never been so embarrassed in my whole life.”

  The woman gave a satisfied smirk to her husband. Della ignored it. “I think it was just about the worse day of my life. I thought when it started out with me being so terribly nauseous that morning that it couldn’t possibly get any worse, but believe me, it did.”

  “Really,” Eve said sarcastically. “And why were you so nauseated in the morning?”

  “As if you didn’t know? When a woman makes an appointment with Dr. Stover, it’s all over town in minutes who is having a baby. Della leaned closer to the woman. “Ben and I are expecting, and we’re so excited about it, but you know how it is. You’re too sick to think about food early in the morning, and so I didn’t. I had a lot of running around to do, and I had put food completely out of my mind. And I paid for it with the most embarrassing moment I can ever recall.”

  “Oh,” Eve said as if this was all news to her.

  “Addie and I had an appointment with Brother Morris after school at the parsonage. She had a matter that she wanted to talk over with him. I got there before Addie did, and I fainted right inside the front door. Oh, Eve, can you imagine it?”

  Della pretended not to notice the slight nodding of Eve’s head to Evelyn Ann, or the sly grin on her face. “And I think that Brother Morris must have tried to catch me as I was falling, but all he got was a handful of my blouse, because all the buttons were popped off of it when I came to. I was so mortified I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. That poor man was begging me not to rush out, but that’s all I could do. In fact, I’m sure I was still trying to get my clothes together when I yanked open the door. Was I?” she asked Evelyn Ann.

  “Oh, uh, why, yes. I think you were,” She was as sarcastic as her mother.

  “Well, dear, I’m so grateful that it was you standing at that door when I opened it. If it had been someone else, can’t you just imagine what they might have thought – this woman rushing out of the parsonage putting her clothes together?”

  “Yes,” Eve Mobley chuckled.

  “I was on the edge of fainting again, and I knew it. But, Eve, your daughter is so perceptive. She knew I was about to pass out. And she was so helpful. She drove me to the corner market and got me some orange juice and a candy bar, and she made sure I was able to drive my car when we returned to the parsonage before she left me. Well, I’m telling you, Evelyn Ann absolutely saved my life.” Della hoped she was doing some good to help matters, for she hated catering to this woman.

  Then turning again to Evelyn Ann, “And thank you again, my dear.”

  “I’m sure it was embarrassing,” Eve said with interest. “I didn’t know you had fainted inside the parsonage.” But the snide way in which she said it told Della that the woman didn’t believe much of what she had just said.

>   They had moved up to the hostess stand. “Miss, please give us one of those large, round tables. There’s six of us.” And Della placed a five dollar bill in the girl’s hand, making sure the Eve noticed.

  The girl was pleasantly surprised. “Yes, ma’am. Smoking or non?”

  “Is non-smoking all right with you, Jake?”

  “That’s fine, Della,” he answered, smiling at her as if he knew exactly what she was doing.

  When they were seated, Eve next to Della, the woman turned to Della, “But Addie wasn’t at the parsonage,” she remarked.

  “You weren’t at school that day either,” Evelyn Ann said to Addie.

  “No. I wasn’t at school, and I wasn’t at the parsonage. I – uh, I had spent the day with Miss Willy at Stonegate. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I had gone with Donnie Whitefield to pick up a mirror before we went to school. And Miss Willy didn’t want me to leave.”

  Eve and Evelyn Ann glanced at each other with a bewildered, surprised look.

  “Oh, Addie,” Mattie said, “remind me to get you some more oatmeal. That breakfast I fixed for you took the last I had. Miss Willy didn’t eat oatmeal. I kept it on hand for my meatloaves.”

  “Oh, that’s all right, Miss Mattie. I’m not really an oatmeal fan. Miss Willy knew that’s all I would eat as a small child, and since she hadn’t seen me in so long, she just assumed that’s what I still had to have for breakfast.” Not me, Addie Martin, but Victoria Dane, Addie thought. That breakfast had been the thing that convinced Wilhelmina Stone that I was Vicki Dane – or that she had possession of my mind and body at the time. No way, would I, as Addie Martin, have known exactly what Vicki Dane insisted on for breakfast, and how she wanted it prepared. And only because they had become like one person in the end did she know what had transpired while Vicki had control of her.

  “You, spent the day with Wilhelmina Stone at Stonegate?” Eve exclaimed in disbelief.

  “Yes, ma’am. I guess I forgot about the appointment with Brother Morris when Miss Willy insisted I visit with her. You see, we are distantly related. And I guess when a person is as old as Miss Willy was, and lived such a lonely existence – well, I guess any relative is most welcome.”