Chapter 34
Chapter Thirty-Four
Twenty-Three Years Ago
Helen pushed the pram into the Honeysuckle Cafe. The freshly painted dining area looked sparkling clean and bright. Her father and sister had spent the entire week painting the cafe, inside and out, and using bright colours against white trim. The dining area was blue and green. When she’d heard that, she’d wondered if it would work, but walking into the space …she loved it. The honeysuckle vine out front was in full bloom, and there were snippets of the vine hanging in pots from the ceiling or stashed on top of bar stools all over the cafe. The greenery perfectly complimented the bright paint.
“This looks great, Rita,” she said, pulling the pram up to park beside her favourite table at the window overlooking the square.
“You think?” Rita had a streak of white paint down one side of her face.
“It’s perfect.”
“Thanks.” Rita kissed her cheek in welcome and then they sat together at the table. A waitress brought them a pitcher of sweet tea and two glasses and took their order.
Rita peered into the pram with a look of pride and love on her face. “She’s so sweet.”
“Especially when she’s sleeping,” Helen added in a sugary voice.
They both laughed.
Rita added. “Yes, she’s an angel when she’s asleep. It makes me just want to kiss those chubby little cheeks.”
“Don’t you dare. You’ll wake her up,” Helen threatened.
“Yes, ma’am.” Rita offered a mock salute.
Dad and Uncle Bill walked into the cafe. Dad shut and locked the door behind him. It wasn’t time to open up yet, and the place still smelled a bit like paint.
“It doesn’t matter, Bill,” Dad said, obviously irritated.
Bill frowned. “It matters because I say it does. I’ve got just as much of a right…”
“You haven’t been around for months. You hardly ever come into the cafe and work. And if I say the accounting software we use is fine and we don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on something new, including a new PC to run it, then the conversation is over.” Dad slapped his hands together.
Bill’s face grew red. “You always want to have things your way.”
“Not always, but this time, yes.”
“This is my cafe too.”
Dad hesitated, his voice grew calm. “Not anymore, Bill.”
“What? What are you talking about? Y’all can’t just take it from me.”
The two of them disappeared into the office and shut the door behind them. The women couldn’t hear them any longer, just their muffled voices raised in anger.
Helen exchanged a look with Rita. “What was that about?”
“I don’t know. But I’ve never seen Dad get so angry.”
Their father was always calm and had a smile on his face. It made Helen nervous to hear him raise his voice because it was so unusual.
Cathy traipsed into the cafe, using her key to gain entry. She wore a bright red pantsuit which showed off her tan, and her bangs were hairsprayed high above her forehead into a wave shape. She smacked gum as she chewed and leaned against the wall, one foot propped.
“What’s up, leeches?”
“Nice,” Rita said, with a shake of her head.
Cathy grinned. “I’m trying not to swear. It’s not ladylike, apparently. Gareth doesn’t like it. So I have to come up with new names for y’all.”
Her new boyfriend sounded like a real winner from what Helen had heard. Although she didn’t like to judge, Cathy made that very difficult at times.
She seemed to notice the pram for the first time and leaned down to look beneath the hood where Julie was sleeping. Her brow furrowed and face hardened. “Hmmm … doesn’t look much like you, does she? She twirled her blonde hair with a finger. “Hasn’t got the family locks. And that skin—pretty fair for an Osbourne, I’d say.”
“Mind your own business, Cathy,” Helen said with a sigh. “I don’t really care what you think.”
“Yeah, shut up, Cathy,” Rita added. “She’s beautiful and you’re jealous.”
Cathy laughed. “Jealous? Hardly. Gareth’s about to propose and then we’ll be popping out babies. You should get a DNA test for her though. Doesn’t look like either one of you.”
After she left, Helen met Rita’s gaze with worry bubbling in her gut.
“What’s wrong? Don’t let her get to you. You know what she’s like,” Rita said.
“I know, it’s just that … she’s not the first person to say something. I mean, she’s the first to be so rude about it, but I’ve had that comment from dozens of people over the past eighteen months.”
“Dozens?” Rita arched an eyebrow. “People are nosy and obnoxious. Ignore them.”
“But what if she’s right? What if they all are? I mean, she doesn’t look like me or Paul.”
“So? That doesn’t mean anything. Babies come out however they come out. I was right there with you when she was born. I swear it’s the same baby. I know she went to the special care nursery, but I got a good look at her.”
“Are you certain?” Helen asked, feeling resolve build within her.
Rita chewed on her lower lip for a few moments, her gaze drifting from Julie’s face to Helen’s and back again. “Not certain…”
“Oh no!” Helen threw both hands over her face. “What if she was accidentally switched in the hospital or something awful like that?”
“It seems pretty unlikely,” Rita replied.
“But it does happen.”
“There’s a simple way to find out, I guess.” Rita inhaled a quick breath. “You just have to get her tested.”