Chapter 40 #2
Ada’s expression turned somber. “I hope so. I hate to think of her dealing with all that by herself. Your gran—oops, I’ll need to get used to that.” She brushed a hair out of her face. “She was sort of scary, but also epic cool. Even when I shaved my head.”
Rose smiled at the memory. Tess had actually screamed the first time Ada entered the kitchen with a shaved head. Magnolia hadn’t so much as flinched. She had, however, gifted Ada a soft winter hat for Christmas.
“Did you ask Tess about it?”
Rose tapped her forehead. “I’m a moron.”
Ada tilted her head with a grin. “So, that’s a no.”
Tess, a woman who’d worked inside Briar House since she was a teenager. A woman who was more family than an employee. She’d also gone to school with Magnolia in their younger years.
“You brilliant woman!” Rose hugged her. “Why haven’t I asked her yet?”
“Cuz you’re a moron,” she teased. “And maybe cuz you don’t see her everyday now that she’s retired.”
“I’ll talk to Tess. I need to check on Livie too. I had to let her go since it’s just me now. I wrote her a recommendation. Hopefully, she’s found a new job.”
Ada left an hour later, promising to help on the next scheduled moving day. Rose drank a glass of water and took more Tylenol.
Rose then drove to the Conroys and parked in front of their white ranch style farmhouse. Brigette and she sat indoors, mugs of freshly brewed coffee atop their scarred farmhouse table. She’d once said the dents and gouges were what came of having five children.
Rose blew across the top of the hot liquid before asking, “Did Magnolia date anyone after Devin died?”
Brigette pushed her heavy silvery blond braid behind one shoulder before wrapping both hands around her mug. “I don’t remember. We all grew apart for awhile. The older boys were all sorts of trouble at the time.”
Rose was well acquainted with the trouble her boys got into. She was four months younger than their twins.
“We all did what we could for her when she lost Devin,” she said. “She knew she could call us anytime, but you know how stubborn she was.” A perplexed look entered her cornflower blue eyes.
“What is it?” asked Rose.
She shook her head dismissively. “Nola was a private person. I never knew all her secrets, but I never shared all of mine.”
Rose leaned forward. “What do you mean?”
Her expression changed. “It sounds crazy, but at one point, I thought she might be pregnant. Felt I recognized the signs. I was carrying the twins at the time. Her pallor matched how I felt.”
This was it—the information she needed. She shifted in her chair.
“She never admitted it. She told me she was going to visit her sister. I thought that strange. She never got along with Cherry.”
Rose swallowed. Her heart beat sporadically in her chest. Could she trust Brigette and Jeremy with the truth? “How long was she gone?”
“Months. I didn’t keep track of how many. I wish I could tell you more.”
Rose decided. “She was pregnant, with me.”
Brigette’s mouth fell open. “You—you’re serious, aren’t you?”
Rose nodded. “She wrote me a letter. Daisy and Clark adopted me. I read it after she passed.”
“Of course she’d tell you in a letter. The emotional stuff was always hard for her.” Tears filled Brigette’s eyes as she reached for Rose, took both her hands. “Oh, honey, I never knew. No wonder you’ve come here. You want answers.”
“She doesn’t say who my birth father is.”
Brigette’s brows crooked as if in concentration. “I’ll have to think on that. I was younger than her, only overlapped a couple of years in high school. She and Devin were true loves, though. Hard to imagine her trying to find that with anyone else.”
The house door creaked open and smacked closed.
Brigette shook her head. “He keeps saying he’s going to fix that.”
Jeremy entered the kitchen dressed in Wranglers and a button-down plaid shirt.
He was a tall man, at least six four in cowboy boots.
His oldest son, Aidan, followed him. They were the same height, but the Evers Hollow Fire Department t-shirt Aidan wore emphasized the hours he spent at the firehouse gym.
Jeremy removed his cowboy hat, set it on a nearby bench, and dropped a kiss on his wife’s lips. “Aidan’s here to pick up the dinners you made for the firehouse.”
He greeted Rose then went to wash his hands at the kitchen sink.
Aidan hugged his mom and greeted her. Then he turned to Rose and squeezed her shoulder. “Good to see you. Been awhile.”
Brigette stood. “The lasagnas for the firehouse are in the garage freezer. Do you need help loading them?”
“Nah, I got it.” Aidan hugged her once more. “We appreciate you, Mom and Dad. Stay out of trouble, Rose.” He winked at her before he went back out the door.
Jeremy poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter.
Brigette sat back down. “Rose is here to ask about Nola. Did she date after Devin died?”
“You expect me to remember? That was what, thirty years ago?” He leaned against the counter.
“Not quite that long. Maybe we set her up?” She tapped her index finger against her chin.
He shrugged. “We took her to the range a number of times. She loved to shoot when she was angry. Crack at it, too.”
Something else Rose hadn’t known.
Jeremy shook his head. “I don’t remember her seeing anyone other than Devin after high school. The others might know.”
The image of Magnolia at a shooting range was still with her. It shouldn’t surprise her, but she hadn’t seen her with a gun outside the night of the barn fire.
Jeremy’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking? She was your grandmother. Not like any of them are still alive except all of us.”
Brigette chuckled. “I forget.”
Both she and Jeremy looked at her.
“The whole lot of them asked her out at one time or another. Even my Jeremy.”
A hint of color reddened the older man’s cheeks. His boots shuffled. He looked as if he’d been caught stealing a whole pie off a windowsill.
“You can’t still hold that against me, love.” He cradled his hand around his wife’s shoulder. “Besides, Nola turned me down.”
Brigette gave a wry smile. She reached up and patted her husband’s hand. “Nola was my best friend. She knew how I felt about you.”
“You can’t blame any of us for trying.”
Brigette gave him a tender look, the kind that implied they forgot they weren’t alone. “No, Nola’s always been beautiful, but you saw me in the end.”
This conversation was clearly over. The Conroys were making moon eyes at each other in front of her. No wonder they had five kids. It was amazing they didn’t have more.
Rose slipped out with a subtle thank you for the conversation. An exchanged glance with Brigette said they would talk again.
She drove back to Briar House, pondering what she’d learned from their discussion.
Magnolia enjoyed shooting. That knowledge was unlikely to lead anywhere.
Brigette had thought she was pregnant.
All The Elder men had asked her out at some point. Dr. Cook, Hal, Jeremy? The mayor?
Aunt Cherry’s words came to mind.
Louise always hated my sister.
Maybe that’s why Louise Winston wasn’t part of The Elders. Magnolia had mentioned years ago that she and Louise went to school together—that there was no love lost between them. She’d never mentioned details.
As for Magnolia, had she dated any of them? Perhaps Tess would know. She pulled out her phone and sent a text.