Her voice was smooth and calm as she continued. “We will just tell Elizabeth and Mom and Dad that we don’t need Elizabeth to take you. She doesn’t need to be your mommy because I’m your mommy, and, no, you won’t have a daddy because he’s gone, but you have uncles and a grandfather and plenty of people who love you.” Still looking down at Maisy, she said, “You’ll see, sweetheart. We’ll have the best life together, just you and me. We don’t need anyone else.”
Horror washed over me. There was a chance, sure, that Tilley was just waxing poetic about something totally fictional. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d pretended I was at a ball with her, or going to see the queen at court or some other absurdity.
But this felt different.
Was Robbie actually Tilley’s child? Surely not. I rubbed my chin. But in my memory, wasn’t Elizabeth saying, “It’s not like Iwantto do this. But she isn’t in her right mind. She can’t raise him”?
It hadn’t meant anything to me then. But now… I couldn’t remember Elizabeth being pregnant with Robbie. I couldn’t remember seeing Tilley at all for months after Robert died. I was a child, so that didn’t mean much. But still… I remembered people being sad. I remembered Mom telling me not to ask where Robert was. But God. They just named him Robbie anyway? Elizabeth always said she had named him for her father, which I guess was a lucky coincidence. I wanted to ignore this feeling. But I knew, with every cell, that Tilley was Robbie’s mother. It was like a vase had shattered and now that the biggest piece was in place, I could glue the whole thing back together.
Daisy knelt down by Tilley, cradling Maisy’s head. “Aunt Tilley, this is Maisy, not Robbie.”
Aunt Tilley smiled placidly at her. “This is my baby, Robbie. Isn’t he beautiful?”
Yeah. She was long gone. I sat beside her on the couch and asked, “Robbie is your baby? Not Elizabeth’s baby? Not Amelia’s little brother?”
Tilley shook her head sadly. “No one will tell you the truth but me. I gave birth to this baby, and they won’t let me keep him because I wasn’t married to Robert. They say I’m only twenty, but twenty is plenty old to raise a child.”
Honestly, that seemed like something they would have done.
“Tilley, can I hold your baby?” Daisy asked smoothly.
“I think it’s time for the baby to go to bed,” I said. “Maybe Daisy could put him to bed? She’s a nurse, you know.”
Tilley nodded. “Oh yes. A baby nurse. How kind of you to hire one for me. I am so very tired.”
Daisy took Maisy, and I gestured for her to go into the nursery. I’d never seen Tilley get mad or violent, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
“I’m going to get you home, Tilley. Okay? Back to Dogwood?”
She nodded sullenly. “Okay.” Then, with her most piercing stare, she looked right at me. “But they don’t love me there. They took my baby.” Then she whispered to me, “Robbie is my son, Mason.Myson.”
She said it with such ferocity that my blood ran cold. And I had the distinct feeling that Daisy wasn’t the only one I would be visiting tonight. I would get Tilley home and try to act normal as I told Amelia she needed to keep an eye on her. But, as soon as she was settled, I was going straight to see my mother.
MASONDie on a Hill
I would definitely consider my mother and me to be close. But, at the same time, she tried to keep us at arm’s length in some ways, never made decisions for Parker and me. I’m not saying she wasn’t pulling the strings behind the scenes. But, on the surface, she felt it was very important for us to call our own shots. Honestly, sometimes I wished she’d yanked a knot in me a little sooner when I was wallowing all those years. But maybe it would have just made me resent her.
I knew it was highly possible that, when I went to find her, she would be with Elizabeth, which could be complicated. Because obviously I couldn’t talk to her about what I’d discovered if that was the case. But, to my surprise, she was alone in her rose garden, wearing her big sun hat with the ribbon tied under her neck and her gardening clogs. My heart surged with love for her. I didn’t want to argue with her. She was the only woman whose heart I would never, ever break. And nothing brokemyheart like being out of her good graces.
But Robbie deserved to know the truth.
I had racked my brain about how to find out what it was. But, short of a blood test, what would I even do? And I didn’t want to askanyone else and stir this pot. So I decided the best thing to do was go straight to the source.
Mom smiled when she saw me. “My baby boy,” she said, kissing my cheek, holding out her hands to the sides to avoid getting dirt on me.
“I have to talk to you,” I said seriously.
She sighed and took off her gardening gloves. “Is this about the girl?”
The girl. My heart fluttered.
“No. Not about Daisy.”
She smiled. “Oh, good. Because I really like this one, Mason. I think she’s good for you.”
“Sheisgood for me, isn’t she?”
No.No.I scolded myself. I was here on a mission. I wasn’t going to let her distract me.
