Part 25 (1/2)
Misinterpreting the pause, her grandmother said, ”Saundra knows what's going on. You can tell us both.”
”There isn't all that much to tell.” She slipped into a chair. Veronica was instantly on her lap, staring at her mistress.
Dana briefly described the visit, but that was enough to upset Ellie Jo. ”He's hiding something,” she said. ”Isn't it always the case, the man with the most to hide is the one who turns to G.o.d?”
”I don't think it was that way, Gram.”
”Of course you don't. You've just found your long-lost father. You want to believe him.”
”No,” Dana said with some force. ”He wasn't there for my mother, and he's never been there for me. That makes me predisposed to distrust him. But Hugh is right. He didn't know we were coming-didn't even know I existed-and his answers still made sense.”
Frail hands gripping the table, Ellie Jo pushed herself to her feet. ”Men are scoundrels.” She turned and nearly fell.
Veronica jumped off Dana's lap.
”Gram-”
”Oprah's on,” she said, releasing the edge of the table and hobbling toward the door. ”You should watch her, Dana Jo. You'd learn about the lies people tell.” Veronica followed her out.
Dana stared after them, before meeting Saundra's gaze. ”Is she all right?”
”Touchy,” Saundra said gently. ”And weak. I've suggested she see her doctor, but she says she saw him for her foot and they didn't find any other problem.”
”That was an emergency room visit,” Dana remarked. ”They didn't look at anything but her foot.”
”Which begs the question of what caused the fall. It could just be age, Dana. Equilibrium goes the way of flexibility. And now that cast can't be helping any.”
”About her general health-do you think there's cause for worry?”
”Yes,” Saundra said. Her eyes were sad, her smile kind. ”Do I think she'll admit that? No. The best you can do is to have her internist demand a visit when she returns to the orthopedist. Would that work?”
”I'll make it work.”
Saundra looked down at the teacups. ”And I do agree with you about your daddy. There's always the possibility that he had the story of his sister waiting, if he was trying to conceal his heritage. And it's also possible that his family found the second cousin to donate bone marrow without an extensive search. But he is a priest. I'd be p.r.o.ne to believe him.”
Dana was grateful for the support. ”That leaves me back at square one.”
”Yes, ma'am, it does,” Saundra said in a way that made Dana wonder if she knew something Dana didn't.
”I take it this isn't the first time you've had tea with Ellie Jo.”
”No, ma'am. We've been doing it most every afternoon since she hurt her foot.”
”What do you talk about?”
”Now, if I told you that, I'd be betraying a friend.”
”Is it so private?”
”All talk between old ladies is private. Talk is one of the few things left to us as we age. We lose so much else.”
”Like?”
”Energy. Strength. Health. Money. Independence.”
”You're independent.”
”Uh-huh. For now. Another ten years and I might just be needing someone to feed me my oatmeal, or read me my books, or make sure I don't wander out of the house and get lost.”
”Exactly,” Dana said, reaching across the table to take Saundra's hands. ”What if Ellie Jo slides further downhill? What if distraction becomes confusion and she loses her memory? Then I'll never know the truth about Lizzie's roots.”
”That's a.s.suming Ellie Jo knows the truth. Are you sure she does?”
”No.” Dana sat back. ”What do you think?”
Saundra was silent for a minute, her eyes troubled. Finally she said, ”I think not.”
Hugh called his parents' house, knowing that his mother would answer the phone, and told her what they had learned in Albany.
”A priest?” she asked, sounding delighted.
”Very Catholic,” Hugh reported. ”Very Caucasian.”
”And you're sure?”
”He was right there in the rectory, wearing his collar and called Father Jack by the parish secretary.”
”I meant are you sure about the Caucasian part? If he isn't the source of the baby's color, who is?”
”I don't know. But at least we've ruled out the father's side of Dana's family. More importantly, Dad's spent the last five years a.s.suming the man was a lowlife. Now it turns out he's a priest.”
”I'm pleased for Dana. Your father will be, too. Here. Let me get him.”
”No, Mom. Just give him the message.”
”But this is something you should tell him yourself.”
”I don't yet have the answer he wants.”
”Hugh.”
”Not yet, Mom.”
But it was only a few minutes later that the phone rang, and when he picked up, he heard his father's furious voice. But Eaton wasn't ranting about Dana.
”What in the h.e.l.l are you doing to Stan Hutchinson?”