Something Molly Can't See

by Carol Maloney Scott

  My stomach churns and I put down the fruit bar I’ve been holding.

  “Really? That’s quite a story. Did you ever try to find out the identity of your birth mother?”

  She looks up at the ceiling, as if she’s looking at Meemaw pawing through her underpants, and says, “No, I didn’t. I was happy with my adoptive parents, and in the days when I was a girl most people didn’t go stickin’ their noses into stuff like that. I figured if she wanted to find me, she would, but I’m sure she had a family when she got older and that was that. I’m okay with it. I did see a photo of her once, though. My mama had it. She said it was given to her along with all the adoption papers.”

  “Do you still have it?” I blurt that out way too fast and backtrack a little on my enthusiasm. “I mean, I hope you got to keep such a valuable keepsake.”

  “Oh yes. Wanna hear somethin’ funny?” She leans in as if someone could be listening. “I keep it in my underwear drawer.”

  My face falls as we hear another crash upstairs.

  Jenny jumps up. “Oh my goodness, are the squirrels on the roof now? I may need to call an exterminator. I hate to do that—they are such cute little things.”

  Meemaw comes barreling down the stairs, flying without a broom.

  “I swear, I’ll need a month of Sundays to rest up from this trip. But look what I found?”

  She holds up a black and white photo of a young woman. It looks like she’s at a picnic.

  I am dyin’ to yell out, “Is that you?’ when Meemaw says, “I gotta go, sugar. I can’t hold this hauntin’ shield or whatever the heck it is. I used so much energy on movin’ everything in tarnation around…”

  She drops to the floor and Jenny gasps.

  Oh come on, Meemaw. If she sees you, we are so screwed.

  I quickly glance at Jenny and she says, “Do you see it?”

  “What?” I squint as if there isn’t an old lady sprawled on the floor. I’d go help her up, but I don’t think I can handle a ghostly body, and I need to find out exactly what Jenny sees before…

  “The photo! It’s the photo of my mama!”

  I look back and sure enough—Meemaw is mercifully gone but the freaking picture is laying on the floor.

  I strongly doubt Jenny is gonna believe the squirrels found it tucked in one of her underwire bras and threw it down the stairs.

  ***

  “Hey, is everything okay?”

  Ray opens his door slowly, as if he’s hiding a dead body, or he’s afraid that me coming to visit him could result in his own personal injury. I don’t come by unless I have to for the girls. I’ve been avoiding Ray since I found out he was at Mama’s for supper and I filed the divorce papers.

  But I am desperate for any information I can get my hands on. Meemaw disappeared after she lost control at Jenny’s house, and I haven’t seen her since. It’s been a week.

  Tucker’s birthday party is coming up soon, and once Jenny regained her composure, she told me that she hopes she’ll see me there.

  She picked up the photo off the floor and I got a good look at it. However, I have no idea if the girl in that picture is Meemaw. I haven’t seen many pictures of her when she was young, and I didn’t want to study it like a weirdo. I’m not supposed to know Jenny’s birth mother or be concerned about her identity.

  As I was leaving her house she looked awfully upset, and I felt terrible that Meemaw and I dragged her back to the past with that photo.

  She said, “I feel like a spirit wanted to me to see this. Maybe my birth mama has passed on. You comin’ here must have called her for a visit. Thank you, Molly. You may have some abilities you don’t know about.”

  I nervously smiled and hightailed it to my car after she closed the door.

  The only ability I seem to have is the one where I make things worse the more I try to fix them.

  I smile at Ray and say, “I just wanted to talk to you without the girls around.”

  He brightens and steps back. “Then come on in. Make yourself at home.”

  “Make yourself at home. Give Ray all your money!”

  Marvin, the parrot is always a shock to my system, even though I know he’s here.

  I stare at the odd bird, but I didn’t come here to accuse Ray of anything, so I am not going to question the bird’s comments. Who knows what nonsense he teaches him in his spare time? And the girls are having a grand old time teaching him to say things.

  I strongly doubt Ray is using the parrot to rob banks and if so, he wouldn’t use his own name.

  I laugh to myself at the insanity of it all, and Ray says, “So, I got the divorce papers.”

  I sink into the chair furthest from the parrot (who knows what the poop situation is with these things—after all, monkeys throw their poop), and I say, “That’s good. I mean, Ray I’m sorry it has to come to this. But you just hurt me too badly. Things have changed and…”

  He gets up and kneels on the floor in front of me. The gesture reminds me of when he proposed many years ago. I was pregnant and afraid, and Ray looked like my salvation. I can still see a glimmer of that in his eyes, and even though he has disappointed me in so many ways, it’s still sad.

  “Molly honey I understand. I wish I could go back in time and not be such an ass, but I can’t. I appreciate you welcoming me back into the girls’ lives, and I will do right by you in this settlement.”

  He switches knees because his body parts aren’t as limber as they were fifteen years ago.

  “I want you to quit the waitressing job and let me help you. With Tucker out of the picture, you don’t have to worry about him being mad or jealous, right?”

  That stings but he’s right. I can’t help but get angry all over again, though. If Ray hadn’t lured me to the champagne glass hot tub love nest, things wouldn’t have ended with Tucker so abruptly.

  No, actually they would have dragged on, and then when we were forced to break up and admit that we are cousins, it would have hurt even more.

  So maybe Ray did us a favor. Tucker can be happy with Ashley and I can find someone else—someone without so many suitcases, as my dear silly friend Dawson would say.

  I get teary-eyed and say, “Ray, please get up. If your knees lock up, I don’t wanna have to call for help. That would really be a blow to your manhood.”

  We both start laughing and he sits on the floor.

  “You’re still a funny girl, Moll. Please consider my offer, though. I’m putting it in the Will…I mean the divorce agreement; I’m working on with my lawyer. Haha…why did I say Will? I’m not looking to check out any time soon.”

  We laugh again but we actually do need to make a Will—the girls need a proper guardian. But I don’t feel like bringing that up now. I’ll ask Ed Franklin at my next appointment.

  I stand up and offer Ray my hand. He grunts on the way to standing, but I know he’s just fooling and he’s in better shape than that.

  Lia was right—a hot middle-aged guy moved into Fred’s old apartment. He’s just not the guy for me anymore.

  Ray straightens up and says, “So did you just come by to say hello?”

  He doesn’t look like he’s buying that, so I tell him. “No, actually I was wondering if you’d like to tell me why you went to Maine? I just have a feelin’ you might have had another reason other than the logging job.”

  “Give Ray your money!”

  I know it’s a stretch to assume Ray knows anything about Meemaw’s time in Maine, the adoption, or any of it…but that parrot is surely making him look like his hands were in the cookie jar before supper.

  ***

  With Meemaw AWOL for weeks, I am as sick to my stomach as a vegan in a steakhouse.

  I have been considering Ray’s proposal—no he didn’t change his mind and ask me to stay married to him. I’m talking about his offer to help me quit my job and devote all my time to Molly’s Dollies.

  He owes me for all he’s put me through, both emotionally and financially, but I also don’t l
ike the idea of him being my knight in shining armor. He seems sincere that he’s accepted the divorce and he’s done trying to woo me back, but he could have just changed his tactics.

  When I asked him about Maine, he said he went up there to work and that was that. I could have sworn his left eye looked a little twitchy when he said it, but my imagination could just be out of control. If I didn’t know my Meemaw had a long-lost daughter, how the hell would Ray know?

  Meemaw didn’t like him when she was alive, so they didn’t have any heart to hearts. And he surely was not up in her attic searching through her boxes before he left town.

  I’m sure it is just a weird coincidence.

  Ray took the girls up to their camp for spring break week, and he’s bringing them back on Easter Sunday. I wasn’t too keen on that, and of course Mama annoyed me about them missing church. Even though I hardly ever take them to church.

  I thought about going with Ray to get them—he’s going up on Saturday and then bringing them back on Sunday. But just because Tucker is out of the picture and I’m not dating anyone, I still need to set boundaries with Ray. It’s so easy to fall back into familiar patterns, especially when he is being nice and reasonable.

  Mama was bending my ear about how Tucker’s party shouldn’t be held on the Holy weekend and she’s not going, and Daddy is doing a tree removal job on Saturday, and she’s upset with him for doing that. Her complaining is endless.

  I’m spending more time at Molly’s Dollies this week with the girls gone, and I’ve been attending all the meetings.

  Lia wants to remove herself from the day to day here, and I don’t blame her, now that she has received her full inheritance from her Granana, she and Logan want to start traveling to Europe. I think he’s even thinking about selling Tonic.

  So, everything is fairly peaceful.

  Well, as peaceful as it can be when you’re waiting for a ghost to come back and tell you if the photo she saw is her, and the woman who could have been your mother-in-law is in fact your aunt.

  I’m hoping Meemaw didn’t get punished again. I don’t see why she would. Jenny didn’t see her, at least I don’t think she did. Crap, maybe she did, and she didn’t want me to think she was totally bonkers.

  Either way, there is nothing I can do until Meemaw comes back, or Ed Franklin turns up some information the legal, earthly way.

  Tucker and Ashley have been spotted together a few times, and I think they have been going away on the weekends together. No one wants to discuss it with me and that’s okay. I don’t want to make any of our mutual friends uncomfortable.

  I think one of my plans this year will involve moving once my business takes off. We could get a nice little house in town.

  Shawn pops his head in my door. “Hey, Molly, do you have a second?”

  My neighbor and junior accountant has been a little lower key lately. My guess is that he’s either gotten over his initial awkwardness at being the new guy, or he has also noticed Ashley and Tucker together all the time and he’s set his sights elsewhere.

  I never thought I’d say this, but I could take a lesson from Shawn.

  “Sure, come in. What’s up?”

  He walks in and closes the door. I gesture for him to sit and he squeezes his long, lanky body into one of my guest chairs.

  He pushes his glasses up on his nose and says, “I just wanted to thank you for not getting upset with me over your daughter’s…um…inappropriate interest in me. Not that I’m saying she did anything wrong, but…”

  “It’s okay, I know you did not give her any encouragement. She’s just at that age where she sets her mind to somethin’ and doesn’t want to listen to her mama. It seems like she’s gone off you, so to speak.” I laugh and continue, “I mean, she doesn’t seem to be following you around anymore and she barely mentions you. Of course her dad was there at the St. Patrick’s Day party, but I bet one of her girlfriends probably said you were too old and that made her see reason.”

  Shawn leans forward in his chair and talks with his hands. “Actually, no. It was Tucker.”

  My eyes widen and I frown. “Tucker told Magnolia to stay away from you, and she listened to him?”

  Given my relationship with him, and all the drama with her dad, I highly doubt Tucker has any influence over my daughter.

  “No, yes, sort of. He told me that he introduced her to one of the boys who worked at his shop after school. He said he’s a nice kid and he’s a classmate of Magnolia’s.”

  “How did he manage that?” The school doesn’t allow adults who aren’t parents or authorized to be on site onto school property.

  “It’s funny, actually. He told the kid that he knows a pretty girl who goes to his school. Turns out the kid knows who Magnolia is and he likes her. Tucker just gave him a little prod to show his interest.”

  “Wow, that’s amazing. Wait, so she has a boyfriend she’d hiding from us now?”

  “That I don’t know. I just know that he’s only sixteen and if Tucker approves of him, I’m sure he’s a good kid.”

  Shawn stands up and says, “Really I should dislike Tucker for turning Ashley’s head, but he’s such a nice guy. It’s hard to be mad at him.” His face gets redder than usual and he says, “Oh, I guess you know that. I mean, I know you and he…”

  “It’s alright, Shawn. Everyone knows Tucker and I were dating, and it didn’t work out. Do you know for sure that he and Ashley are an item?”

  “No, but it sure seems like it. I guess we’ll see at his birthday party. Are you going to that?”

  “I haven’t decided yet. How about you?”

  “Yeah, I’m bringing a date. A girl I met at the library. Olivia introduced us.”

  Huh, Olivia doing something nice. Maybe it’s just me and Lia she dislikes.

  “That’s great, Shawn.”

  “Yeah, I figured I looked about as foolish chasing Ashley as Magnolia did following me around. Anyway, just wanted to make sure we were cool. I’ll get back to crunching numbers. They’re looking good, by the way. Soon you’ll be a full-time entrepreneur.”

  He smiles and I swear his freckles light up. He’s a cute kid. It’s too bad Magnolia isn’t older, or he isn’t younger. Now I have to find out about this mechanic-in-training kid.

  But first, I am calling Ray and telling him that I accept his generous offer to fund my early retirement from waitressing. There is no reason to suffer when I can have help. And he is signing the divorce papers.

  Maybe things are finally calming down around here. I still don’t know the identity of my aunt, but I’m starting to think maybe it doesn’t matter.

  Even if Tucker and I are cousins, it was a short relationship, and neither of us had any idea, and it is actually legal to marry your cousin in about half the states, including the one we live in.

  Yes, I looked it up. I know the creepy factor is still there, but it helps a little. And some day my nutty Meemaw will come back and tell me what she saw in that photo before she crashed and evaporated on Jenny Swanson’s living room floor.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Penny for your thoughts, Ms. Jenkins?”

  My ever-charming neighbor, Ken Washington, leans closer as I continue to hold up the kitchen counter in the neighborhood clubhouse.

  “Oh, hey Ken. I’m just thinking about…crap, it’s that obvious isn’t it?”

  He nods his head and takes a sip of his cocktail. “It is, and I thought you might want a little diversion from the activities on the other side of the room.”

  He is referring to Tucker and Ashley, who have been laughing and whispering together for the past ten minutes.

  I should not have come to this party, but Ray went to Philly to pick up the girls from camp, and everyone I know is at this party, except they are all coupled up. Even Olivia brought a date. He’s nerdy looking, but cute.

  I smile at Ken and say, “Yeah, I appreciate it. Where’s Beth tonight? Workin’ at the hospital?”

  “Yep, she gets o
ff tomorrow in time for Easter supper. One of my favorite meals. She’s already made some of the fixin’s and her sisters will supply the rest. I thought we’d all do Easter together at the clubhouse, like we did Thanksgiving last year, but nobody said anything.”

  I glance over at Ashley again. The reason that’s not happening is because our new apartment manager doesn’t care about such things. All she cares about is her meditation voodoo and screwin’ my…my what? I sigh heavily and put my drink down on the counter.

  Tucker isn’t my anything.

  “Ken, think about Thanksgiving last year. Between Jason’s messed up proposal to Lia and his co-workers showin’ up and outing him as a cheater—”

  Ken throws his head back and says, “Girl, that was intense! When I found out he’d been bangin’ that old lady, I almost got turned off my supper. But only a little bit. I love my holiday meals.”

  He rubs his belly and I laugh along with him. It was quite a scene, and with things the way they are this year, who knows what a big holiday dinner with the residents of Pentagon Place would bring.

  Best not to find out. Ray will be home with the girls tomorrow evening. I promised Mama we would all come by. There is no arguing with her, and Ray has promised that he won’t accept any more invitations from her unless I am there, too.

  At the mention of food, I follow Ken over to the buffet table and try to keep my eyes away from Tucker and Ashley. I am concentrating so hard on ignoring them that I almost spill the whole ladle of Swedish meatballs down my cleavage when I hear her voice.

  “So, Olivia tells me you guys had drinks the other night.”

  Yes, I thought it was Meemaw for a second, too. That’s how sneaky Ashley is—I thought she was a damn ghost.

  I slowly put the ladle back in the crock pot and continue filling my plate. If I make eye contact with her, it’s not going to be pretty, and I promised myself that if I came to this party, I wasn’t going to ruin it for Tucker with arguments and drama.

  He deserves better than that.