Desperation on Wildflower Island

by Michelle Files

  For the next two hours, Catherine and Sebastian sat and talked, and laughed, and had a great time. They had moved away from the bar, and the bartender, to a table across the room. Cecily watched them though. It wasn’t that she was jealous. That’s what she told herself anyway. She was concerned for the woman who was new in town and didn’t know Sebastian’s reputation.

  At one point in the evening, Cecily turned around and saw the two of them laughing and leaving the bar together. She knew the woman had had five glasses of wine and was probably drunk. But they were adults and it was none of her concern. They could do what they wanted.

  Cecily felt agitated and annoyed at everything for the rest of the evening. She couldn’t quite figure out why.

  Chapter 13

  The next morning Catherine dragged herself to a corner table on the deck of the Wildflower Cafe, cowering behind the umbrella. She was wearing dark sunglasses to keep the freakishly bright sun out of her eyes. She had a hangover like she had never had before.

  After her night with Sebastian, something she regretted the instant she woke up in the morning, she needed to get out of that hotel room. He was already gone, to her extreme relief, but the room and the sheets smelled like him, lingering in the air. It was a musky sort of smell that brought back the events of the night to her thoughts in vivid detail, whether she liked it or not.

  She had showered, got dressed hastily, threw her hair back in a ponytail, and headed down to the cafe. She hoped that a strong cup of coffee, or three, would help her wake up and feel better.

  “Good morning. Can I get you some coffee?”

  Frankie was her waitress again. She was wearing red short shorts, white tennis shoes, and a white tank top. It suited her and her red hair that Catherine watched dance in the slight breeze. She wasn’t really watching Frankie though. She had a bit of brain fog that morning and her eyes just happened to focus on Frankie. She realized that she had been staring and snapped out of it.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, coffee please,” Catherine said quickly before Frankie walked away.

  Frankie turned back around. “Would you like something to eat? An omelet maybe?” she asked Catherine.

  Catherine knew that her stomach couldn’t take a single bite of food, due to her nausea. But, she wanted to try, thinking that she might feel better if she ate something.

  “Um, yes. Some pancakes please. That’s all.” Her stomach wretched at the thought of eating eggs that morning. No omelet for her.

  Frankie headed to the kitchen to give them her order. She was back in under two minutes with the coffee.

  “Oh bless you,” Catherine exclaimed as she reached for the black coffee, took it from Frankie, and started drinking it before her waitress had a chance to respond.

  Frankie gave her an odd look. She had never seen someone so eager to get their coffee. “I’ll be back in a few minutes with your food,” she told Catherine and headed to her next table.

  As Catherine watched Frankie walk away, her eye caught on a little girl sitting at one of the tables with her mother. The girl was about the age that her daughter would be and it made Catherine’s eyes fill with tears. The girl had long blonde hair and was very cute from what Catherine could see, though she could only see the side of the girl’s face. As Catherine reached across her table for a napkin to dab her eyes, she looked up at the girl’s mother and froze.

  It was Emily. A decade older, and her hair was quite a bit shorter, but she was positive it was her. That jet black hair and hazel eyes were the same as she remembered.

  Catherine sat there frozen, suddenly unsure of what to do. She had traveled across the country in search of Emily. She needed answers and knew Emily was the only one that could give them to her. However, she hadn’t really thought about what she would say if she was lucky enough to find her. In the back of her mind, she didn’t think it would actually happen.

  As Catherine thought about what to say, she stayed at her table, sipping her coffee, and watched Emily interact with her daughter. They were cute together and it made Catherine sad.

  Catherine had lost her chance to have a relationship like that. She had one child only. When her baby died, that was it. She never had another. She knew that she would never have a child with a man she did not love, and by the time Antonio came along, and she wanted another one with him, it couldn’t happen. Antonio had gotten a vasectomy years before he met Catherine. He told her that he had never wanted children. She was disappointed, but was in love by then. He knew how much Catherine wanted a child, and they talked about adopting one someday. But, he died before they pursued it. That’s when Catherine knew that she would never have a child. She would never have someone who would love her unconditionally. She would never have someone that would look at her, like Emily’s daughter was looking at her own mother.

  While she was watching the mother and daughter, Catherine’s food arrived without her even realizing it. She looked down to pick up another napkin to dab her eyes and noticed the food. She looked up and wondered when it had shown up. The waitress was all the way across the cafe at another table on the other end. She really was a bit out of it that morning. Catherine tried to eat, and got a few bites down, but that was it. Her stomach, and her nerves from seeing Emily, prevented anything more. As she put her fork back down, she saw that Emily and her daughter were almost finished eating and would probably be leaving soon. It was her only chance to talk to her. If they left, she may never find her again.

  “Is there anything else I can get you?” Frankie asked her.

  “What?” She was startled back to reality. “Oh, no. Thank you. Just the bill please.” That waitress was like a ninja, Catherine thought.

  As Frankie started to walk away, Catherine took her by the arm. Frankie looked down at her arm in surprise. Catherine saw the look on her face and let go promptly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I just wanted to ask you a question. Do you know that woman over there?” Catherine tried to point without being obvious about it.

  Frankie turned to follow the line of her index finger and recognized the woman immediately.

  “Yes, that’s Jeanette Hale. She’s my boyfriend’s mother. Why do you ask?”

  “Oh, I just thought she looked familiar. Thank you,” Catherine replied.

  Frankie gave her an odd look and walked away. It was a small town and weird things like that happened all the time.

  “Jeanette,” Catherine said quietly to herself.

  She was almost completely sure she had found the right person, even though the names didn’t match. She looked just like Emily, but Catherine had only known her for a few hours, ten years ago. Therefore, she wasn’t entirely positive it was the same woman. But Catherine wasn’t about to let her leave without talking to her and finding out for sure. As Jeanette and her daughter got up and started walking toward the exit, Catherine hastily threw a couple of twenty dollar bills down on the table, way more than her breakfast cost, and followed them out. She caught up to them in the parking lot.

  Catherine took a deep breath before speaking, trying to muster up some courage. “Excuse me. Emily, right?”

  Jeanette and Isabella both turned around. It was clear in Jeanette’s face that she recognized Catherine immediately. Her right hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. The second she realized that her reaction was over the top, Jeanette quickly dropped her hand and turned to her daughter.

  “Isabella, honey, here take my keys and go wait in the car for me.” She dug the keys out of her purse and handed them to her daughter. She watched her walk away and get in the car before she turned back to look at Catherine.

  “What are you doing here?” Jeanette asked her. Catherine could see the nervousness in her face, and didn’t understand the strong reaction to seeing her.

  “The more important question here is why do you look so freaked out?” Catherine could clearly see the odd reaction that Jeanette had in seeing her.

  “Oh, no, it’s nothing. I was just surprised to see you.
It’s been a lot of years, that’s all,” Jeanette replied.

  Catherine could see that Jeanette was trying to downplay her reaction and it made her wonder why. She just wanted to talk to her, nothing else.

  “Well, okay. I just wanted to talk to you about my daughter. I can clearly see that you remember me. You remember that my baby died, right?”

  Jeanette nodded.

  “I’ve been trying to find a copy of my baby’s death certificate. I tried the courthouse and the hospital, with no luck. The hospital told me that the records show that I left with my baby the next day, which is weird, because obviously I didn’t.” Catherine took a deep breath after spilling it all so fast. “Anyway, I was hoping that you remembered if you filed one? And, more importantly, where did my baby’s body go? I mean, did you have her cremated? Buried? I need to know.” Catherine was trying to hide the desperation in her voice.

  “How did you find me?” Jeanette didn’t answer any of Catherine’s questions.

  “What? Why?” Catherine was surprised by the question.

  “Because I haven’t gone by Emily since I worked there. Even my last name is different. Did you hire someone to look for me?” Jeanette was beginning to sound angry and accusatory, as she shuffled nervously from foot to foot.

  Catherine looked down at Jeanette’s feet, and back up to her eyes. She gave no indication that she thought anything of Jeanette’s odd behavior.

  “No, I didn’t hire anyone. I found someone at the hospital that said you moved here when you quit your job there. I didn’t know your new name. I’ve been here on the island for weeks looking for you. Then I saw you here at the cafe this morning. That’s how I found you. Why does it even matter?”

  Catherine felt her chest tightening. It was a stress thing for her. Something was very strange about Jeanette’s behavior and she needed to find out what that was. Jeanette’s reaction seemed overly odd to her. She only wanted to get some information about her daughter’s death. She wondered why Jeanette had such a strong reaction to her simple questions.

  Jeanette hesitated before responding. “It doesn’t matter, I guess.” She then consciously stopped fidgeting and stood very still, trying not to look nervous.

  “Okay, good. Then where is my baby’s death certificate?” Catherine thought that starting with one question at a time might make it easier to get answers out of the woman.

  “Um, well…I never filed one.” Jeanette began rubbing the back of her neck and she was not making eye contact with Catherine as she spoke.

  “What? Why not? You said you would take care of everything.” Catherine was surprised by her answer.

  “I don’t know. It slipped my mind, I guess. What do you need one for?” Jeanette asked her.

  “I just want a copy of it. How could it slip your mind? I trusted you to take care of it for me, like you said you would.”

  “I know, I’m sorry. I just had a lot going on at that time and once you checked out of the hospital, other things were on my mind, and I just forgot about it. I didn’t think it really mattered anyway.”

  Jeanette didn’t sound sincere in her apology at all to Catherine. It sounded like Jeanette was making up excuses, as if she wanted nothing more than to be done with their conversation and to get out of there in a hurry.

  “Fine. Whatever. I guess I’ll have to talk to the coroner, or someone, to figure out how to get one now.” Catherine was clearly annoyed, giving Jeanette a glassy stare.

  “No, you don’t need to do that,” Jeanette responded. “Death certificates really have no use unless you need it for insurance. Otherwise, it’s not necessary to have one, especially since the baby didn’t survive more than a few hours.”

  Catherine winced when Jeanette said that.

  “Regardless, I want a copy. It’s not your problem now, I guess. I’ll deal with it.” Catherine was already tired of getting the run around from Jeanette.

  “Okay, good. Sorry I couldn’t help. I’ve got to go.” Jeanette turned and started walking toward her car, relieved that their conversation was over.

  “Whoa, wait a minute,” Catherine called after her.

  Jeanette turned and glancing around uneasily, walked back to stand in front of Catherine. “What now?” Jeanette sounded irritated. “I thought we were done here.”

  “You didn’t tell me what happened to my baby’s body.”

  “Oh, well…I had her cremated. Then I um…scattered her ashes in a nice place in the forest.” Jeanette stuttered through her answer.

  Catherine didn’t know why exactly, but she didn’t believe her. Jeanette’s answers and mannerisms were all over the place. Catherine could sense that something was up, but she had no idea what. Why in the world wouldn’t Jeanette give her a straight answer? Was it that hard to just tell the truth? Didn’t Catherine deserve the truth? She watched Jeanette and could see that the woman couldn’t, or wouldn’t, make eye contact with her. The whole thing seemed very strange to her.

  “Is that right? What is the name of the place where they cremated her?” Catherine wasn’t going to let Jeanette off the hook so easily.

  “Um,” Jeanette raised her eyes in thought. “I don’t know. It was a long time ago and I don’t remember. Why are you bothering me about all of this now? It’s been years. Nothing will change now.” Jeanette sounded callous to Catherine, and looked around nervously.

  “You don’t know where she was cremated? How could you not know? Did you have your patients’ babies cremated all the time? Did you use a different crematorium each time? This whole thing is starting to sound a bit fishy to me.” Catherine was tired of the run around. She needed concrete answers. “I just want some straight answers from you. Why are you making this so difficult?”

  “I just don’t remember, that’s all.” Jeanette looked toward her car. “Look, my daughter is in the car and I have things to do. Are we done here?”

  “No, we aren’t done here. I have another question for you, though you haven’t been any help so far. Why do the medical records say that I left the hospital with my baby? It doesn’t say anything about her dying. Did you screw that up too?”

  Just then, Isabella got out of the car. Both women turned toward the sound of the car door slamming and watched her as she came toward them. When the little girl walked up to them, Catherine looked her in the eyes and got a good look at the girl for the first time. She had the same blonde curly hair and big brown eyes that Catherine had, and she was the same age Catherine’s daughter would be. She looked absolutely nothing like Jeanette, with her jet black hair and hazel eyes. Realization hit her in the head like a ton of bricks and it was Catherine’s turn to gasp.

  Chapter 14

  “Oh my god. Is that her? Did you lie to me? I remember you said you had a little boy, but you made no mention of a daughter.”

  Catherine said all of it without taking her eyes off of Isabella. A flood of emotions ran over her and she had to control them. She didn’t want to scare the little girl. Isabella looked back at her with wide eyes that conveyed fright to Catherine. She was a complete stranger to the girl and Catherine knew she had better reign in her anger. She looked up at Jeanette then with a hard expression on her face.

  Jeanette looked away quickly, taking her daughter’s hand, as if to keep her away from Catherine. “No, don’t be ridiculous.” Jeanette waved her other hand dismissively. “I had her after we met in the hospital. Isabella, go back and wait in the car.”

  “Okay, fine. But hurry up. I wanna go home,” the little girl whined to her mother.

  Jeanette gave her a stern look and Isabella headed for the car, eyeing Catherine curiously. Both women watched her until the car door closed.

  The second Isabella was safely back in the car, Catherine spoke. “If you had her after we met in the hospital, then when is her birthday?”

  That question caught Jeanette completely off guard. “Um…that’s really none of your business and you need to stop harassing us.”

  At that moment, Ca
therine knew in her heart that Jeanette was lying. The woman seemed incapable of giving her a straight answer. Catherine’s heart began to race and she felt dizzy. She looked for something to hold onto as she broke out into a sweat. Jeanette watched her with concern on her face. She could plainly see Catherine’s face turn white. Something was definitely wrong with her.

  Though she had never had one before, Catherine thought she might be having a panic attack. There was a car next to where the women were standing and Catherine leaned on it for support, to keep from passing out in the parking lot. The fact that she was still nursing a serious hangover, with very little breakfast eaten, didn’t help the situation at all.

  “Are you all right?” Jeanette asked her as she took Catherine’s wrist and checked her pulse. She hadn’t been a nurse for ten years, but she didn’t hesitate to jump in and try to help. It was instinctive for her.

  “Yes…I’ll be okay. Just give me…a minute to catch my breath,” Catherine replied carefully.

  “I’ll get you some water. Don’t go anywhere. Sit down on the ground if you need to and I’ll be right back.” Jeanette told her as she rushed off toward the cafe.

  When Jeanette returned a minute later with a cup of cold water and a cool cloth for Catherine to put on the back of her neck, Catherine was sitting on the ground, still breathing heavily. An older couple had stopped and were asking Catherine if she was all right.

  “Yes, thank you. I’ll be fine. I just wasn’t feeling well, so I sat down here. I was afraid that I might pass out,” Catherine explained. She could see the worry on their faces. “Oh, here’s my friend now,” Catherine told them when she saw Jeanette approaching them. “Thank you. I’ll be all right now. She’s a nurse.”

  “Well, okay. We hope you feel better,” the man told her as they continued their walk to the cafe.

  “Your friend?” Jeanette questioned her, with an amused look on her face.

  Catherine glared back at her. “I just wanted to get rid of them. They seemed nice enough, and were obviously concerned for me, but I didn’t want them calling 911 or anything. I’ll be fine,” Catherine explained. “I probably just need to eat something.”