Chapter 11 - The Second Certificate
At three o'clock, the house was almost silent.
Broken flowers remained in the dining room.
Half-eaten food covered tables.
The orange juice stain still marked the kitchen floor because nobody had touched it.
Audrey looked at it.
Ethan came beside her with a towel.
She stopped him.
"Leave it."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"I want to remember."
"Remember what?"
"The last mess she ever ordered me to clean."
Ethan put the towel away.
They sat at the kitchen table.
Vivian rocked Nora in the adjoining room.
Celeste stood at the island.
Nobody mentioned the slap.
Finally Ethan did.
"I shouldn't have hit her."
Audrey looked at him.
"No."
"I was angry."
"I know."
"That doesn't make it right."
"No."
He nodded slowly.
"I'll apologize for that part."
Audrey touched his hand.
"But not for throwing her out."
"No."
"Good."
Celeste cleared her throat.
"There is something else."
Audrey laughed softly.
"Of course there is."
Celeste sat.
"The second certificate."
"You know where it is."
"I knew."
"Past tense?"
"Eleanor kept it."
"Where?"
"In a safe deposit box."
Audrey leaned forward.
"Which bank?"
"First Hawthorne."
"Then we'll get it."
"The box was emptied."
"When?"
"The week Eleanor died."
"By who?"
Celeste looked toward the hallway.
"According to the bank, Eleanor."
"But?"
"Eleanor was hospitalized."
Audrey closed her eyes.
"Marianne."
"We don't know."
"Robert?"
"We don't know."
Ethan stood.
"Can we stop pretending?"
Celeste looked at him.
"You believe both of them did it."
"I believe they've lied all day."
Celeste nodded.
"So do I."
Audrey asked, "What did the certificate say?"
Celeste hesitated.
"You've seen it."
"Once?"
"Yes."
"What name was on it?"
"Audrey Lisa Bennett."
Audrey's throat tightened.
"Father?"
"Thomas James Bennett."
"Mother?"
Celeste looked directly at her.
"That is why Eleanor hid it."
Audrey stopped breathing.
"What?"
"The mother listed wasn't Lisa Hayes."
Silence.
Audrey felt Ethan's hand on her shoulder.
"Who?"
Celeste lowered her eyes.
"I don't know."
"You just said you've seen it."
"The name was obscured."
"How?"
"Black ink."
Audrey stared.
"Someone censored my birth certificate?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Ethan whispered, "Could Lisa have adopted Audrey?"
Celeste nodded.
"Possibly."
Audrey stood so quickly the chair scraped.
"No."
Ethan rose.
"Audrey."
"My mother gave birth to me."
"How do you know?"
"Because she told me."
"Did she ever show you hospital photographs?"
Audrey opened her mouth.
Stopped.
There were photographs.
But none from the hospital.
Her earliest picture was at three weeks old.
The photograph with Thomas.
She had never noticed.
Celeste spoke gently.
"Lisa may still have been your mother in every way that mattered."
Audrey looked at her sharply.
"Don't."
"I'm sorry."
Nora began fussing.
Audrey left the kitchen.
She took Nora from Vivian and carried her upstairs.
The baby calmed against her chest.
In the nursery, Audrey sat in the rocking chair.
She thought of Lisa.
Pancakes every Sunday.
Singing too loudly in the car.
Working double shifts.
Keeping every school drawing.
Crying when Audrey left for college.
Lisa was her mother.
No certificate could erase that.
But something had made Lisa lie.
Audrey needed to know what.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice.
Older.
Shaking.
"Is this Audrey Hayes?"
Audrey looked at Nora.
"Who is this?"
The woman inhaled.
"My name is Dr. Evelyn Shaw."
Audrey's heart started pounding.
"I worked at St. Catherine's."
Audrey stood.
"How did you get my number?"
"Someone told me Eleanor's family was asking questions again."
"Who?"
"That isn't important."
"It is to me."
The woman sounded frightened.
"I need to tell you something before they find me."
Audrey's grip tightened on the phone.
"Who is they?"
"Robert Bennett."
Audrey went cold.
"What do you know?"
Dr. Shaw began crying.
"The baby called Anna was not Lisa Hayes's biological child."
Audrey closed her eyes.
"Who was my mother?"
A sound came from the other end.
A door.
Then Dr. Shaw whispered.
"Oh God."
"What?"
"They're here."
May you like
"Who?"
The line went dead.
