I sat up straighter in my chair and cleared my throat. “There won’t be any agreement. As I said, Mrs. Hollingsworth, I have no interest in your money.”
Her expression never wavered. She reached for her checkbook on the lamp table and poised her pen over it. “Don’t be foolish. Timothy is bound to tire of you, and then where will you be? Penniless as well as heartbroken. This way you can at least enjoy life a little. Maybe you can even get a decent pair of shoes.”
The only sound was the ticking of a grandfather clock in the corner of the room. Mrs. Hollingsworth never once took her eyes off of me. I sat there in stunned silence for a moment and then I got up from my chair.
“Mrs. Hollingsworth, you don’t know your son very well because if you did, you’d realize that he loves me very much and the chances of him tiring of me anytime soon are pretty slim.”
I glanced down at my feet. “As for shoes, I’d rather wear my little Pick ‘N Pay sandals with their genuine leather uppers than the fanciest pair in Paris so long as I could wake up next to Timothy every day.” And then in a softer voice I said, “And since we’re talking about shoes, I wouldn’t want to be in yours, because you’ve missed the opportunity to get to know one of the finest men alive. It’s a crying shame, since Timothy would like nothing more than to be close to you.”
Her stony face didn’t flinch.
“Thanks again for the beautiful funeral for Meemaw,” I continued. “I believe I should go home now. I’ll find Aurora and ask her to fetch my handbag.”
As I left the room and turned the corner, I saw Mrs. Tobias sprinting down the hallway in her high heels.
“Oh, my stars, Elizabeth, you’re already here,” she said breathlessly. Her nose was red and peeling from the Hilton Head sun. “I was hoping to catch you before you came. I drove to the Bottom Dollar Emporium and Mavis said you were probably over here, so I rushed right over.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth stepped out into the hall. “Mother, what are you doing here?” she said.
“Well, I wanted to see Elizabeth, of course. Aurora let me in,” Mrs. Tobias said.
A puzzled look crossed Mrs. Hollingsworth’s face. “The two of you know each other?” she asked.
“Indeed we do, Daisy,” Mrs. Tobias said. “I introduced Timothy and Elizabeth to one another a few months ago.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth’s eyes flashed angrily. “So you’re to blame for this fiasco! Mother, what possessed you to do something like this?”
Mrs. Tobias smiled and squeezed my arm. “It was the best thing for the child. Elizabeth has the biggest heart of anyone I know, and Timothy was just so damaged and hurting when he came back to Augusta. I knew she would be the one to draw him out of his shell.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth planted a hand on her hip. “Well, she’s done a lot more than draw him out. She’s also convinced Timothy to elope with her. They’ve been married for two weeks.”
“Married?” Mrs. Tobias’s face lit up like a football stadium on game night. “Oh, Elizabeth, what a lovely surprise,” she said, as she hugged my neck. “Welcome to the family, my dear.”
“So you’re not mad at me for marrying Timothy, Mrs. Tobias?” I asked.
“Mad? I’m thrilled. I think the two of you are perfect for one another,” Mrs. Tobias said.
“I’m so relieved you’re happy about it,” I said.
Mrs. Tobias clasped her hands together. “I’m elated. I knew things must have gotten serious between the two of you when Mavis said you were over here taking tea with Daisy. I rushed over because there was something I needed to speak about most urgently. Now that you and Timothy are married and you’ve met Daisy, it’s time for a frank discussion,” Mrs. Tobias said.
“Mother. I’m not sure you understand. This is Elizabeth Polk. Dwayne Polk’s daughter,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said.
Mrs. Tobias gave her daughter a stern look. “You’re wasting that tone of voice on me, Daisy. I know Elizabeth’s maiden name. In fact, I think I might know more about Elizabeth than she knows herself.” Mrs. Tobias touched my wrist. “I have something important to tell you, Elizabeth. I’ve just been waiting for the right time.” She glanced at Mrs. Hollingsworth. “This will interest you as well, Daisy.”
“I hardly think so, Mother,” Mrs. Hollingsworth retorted.
“I promise you, it will.” Mrs. Tobias lifted her finger. “But I suggest the two of you take a seat.”
Thirty-Five
Do not disturb! I’m disturbed enough already.
~ Sign outside Mavis Loomis’s office in the Bottom Dollar Emporium
Mrs. Hollingsworth sat sullenly on the love seat while I perched on the edge of one of the little gold chairs. Mrs. Tobias paced on an oriental carpet.
“Please, Mother. Give us your revelation and be done with it,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said.
“I’m just trying to get the timetable straight in my mind, darling.” She rubbed her hands together. “I’m afraid I’m quite nervous and my mouth’s gone dry. Would you ring Aurora for a glass of water?”
“There’s a water pitcher on top of the chevalier,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said with an exasperated sigh.
Mrs. Tobias poured the water into a glass and delicately took a sip. She cleared her throat after swallowing.
“I believe this all started when I happened to catch one of those Bargain Bonanza commercials on television,” she began. “Your father, Elizabeth, or Insane Dwayne as he calls himself, was blowing up a La-Z-Boy. It was quite the spectacle.” Mrs. Tobias paused to take another sip of water. “Naturally that starting me thinking about Lilly.”
“Mother, I don’t want to—” Mrs. Hollingsworth said.
“I know, Daisy. It’s painful to talk about your sister, but today we must. This story, you see, has a great deal to do with Lilly.”
Mrs. Tobias smoothed her periwinkle dress and looked at me as she spoke.
“Lilly was my other daughter, Elizabeth,” she said. “Daisy and Lilly were identical twins and they were closer than close. They even had their own special language when they were little girls. When they were very small, they looked and acted so much alike, I could scarcely tell them apart. But as they grew older, it was clear that they were two separate people with distinct personalities.”
Mrs. Tobias lightly touched Daisy’s shoulder. Daisy stiffened at her mother’s caress.
“Daisy was the studious, quiet daughter, while Lilly was more of a social butterfly,” Mrs. Tobias continued. “Lilly was a delight to have around, but I’m afraid her judgment wasn’t particularly keen. When Lilly was just nineteen, she came to me, quite upset, and told me that she was four months pregnant.” Mrs. Tobias tsked at the memory. “Naturally, I was up in arms, particularly when I found out that the father of this baby wasn’t the sort of boy we had in mind for our daughter. Lilly wanted to raise the baby, but my husband and I thought it best if Lilly put the infant up for adoption. After a good deal of fuss and some convincing on Daisy’s part, Lilly reluctantly agreed.”
“Why are you telling Elizabeth this?” Mrs. Hollingsworth said in an angry voice. “The only part of the story that remotely concerns her is the fact that it was her father, Dwayne Polk, who impregnated Lilly. If it wasn’t for him, Lilly would still be alive today.”
I gasped. “My daddy and your daughter Lilly had a child together?”
Mrs. Tobias nodded.
“Does my daddy even know about this?” I asked.
“Oh no,” Mrs. Tobias said. “Lilly decided to keep it from him. When she’d thought about telling him, she discovered that he’d gone and married someone else.”
“That was my mama, obviously,” I said. “So this baby that Lilly put up for adoption would have been my half-brother or half-sister?”
Mrs. Tobias shook her head and gave me an odd little look. “No, Elizabeth. It’
s actually much more complicated than that.”
Goose bumps rose up on every inch of my body, as I had a sudden flash of insight.
“Mrs. Tobias, I think I know what you’re going to say,” I said in a near whisper.
“You do?” Mrs. Tobias asked.
My voice came out as a thin squeak. “When did Lilly give birth to her baby?”
Mrs. Tobias touched the top button of her dress. She locked her gaze with mine. “Twenty-six years ago on October 15 my daughter Lilly gave birth to a baby girl at St. Mary’s Hospital.”
I wordlessly shook my head. “Oh my gosh,” I said.
“I wish someone would tell me what’s going on,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said.
I ignored Mrs. Hollingsworth and asked breathlessly, “How did you find out all of this, Mrs. Tobias?”
“Let me back up a minute,” said Mrs. Tobias. “As I told you, I saw your father’s television commercial. He blew up some furniture, and then you appeared on the screen. What is that line you say in the commercial, Elizabeth?”
“‘Come see my daddy, Dwayne Polk, for savings that will blow your socks off,’” I recited with a blush.
“Exactly!” Mrs. Tobias said. “When I first saw you, I was so stunned I nearly choked on my brandy.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Elizabeth, do you have that locket I gave you?” Mrs. Tobias asked.
“Yes, I do,” I said. I took the locket from my neck and opened it. “The latch is no longer stuck. It sprung open while you were in Hilton Head.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth stepped behind my chair and peered over my shoulder. “I don’t see anything peculiar about the photograph. It’s just a picture of you, Elizabeth.”
I shook my head no.
“But who—?” Mrs. Hollingsworth began.
“It’s a photograph of me,” Mrs. Tobias said. “Taken when I was twenty years old.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth stared at the photograph with astonished eyes. “My goodness, the resemblance is uncanny. It’s almost as if Elizabeth could be—”
“My granddaughter,” Mrs. Tobias interrupted. “And she’s also your niece, Daisy. Elizabeth is Lilly’s daughter.”
Mrs. Hollingsworth paled and dropped into a chair.
Mrs. Tobias placed her hand on my shoulder. “When I saw you on those commercials and noted your resemblance to me as a young girl, I suspected that you might be the baby Lilly had given up for adoption so many years ago. I just didn’t know how it was possible and I still don’t. How in heaven’s name had Dwayne even known about the adoption to claim you? I visited the Bargain Bonanza and initiated some small talk with Dwayne. Through our conversation, I found out he had a daughter named Elizabeth and that she worked at a dollar store in Cayboo Creek called the Bottom Dollar Emporium.”
“And that’s when you started coming in to the Bottom Dollar,” I said.
“Yes, and as I got to know you I found that you had no inkling about Lilly’s existence and, in fact, thought your mother was a woman named Darlene, who had died when you were an infant. After I found out the date of your birthday, I knew for certain you were Lilly’s child, but I still have no clue how you ended up here. The last I’d known was that you were put up for adoption in Atlanta. How you ended up in Cayboo Creek with your natural father is a mystery to me.”
“I just recently found out what happened,” I said in a soft voice. “It’s all been so crazy.”
Mrs. Tobias and Mrs. Hollingsworth listened as I told them how Patsy Ann had confessed to switching the babies in the hospital and why she had done it. I told them about the baffling “B” in my mother’s diary and how “B” and my mother had kept their relationship secret because they were of different races. Every word I spoke drained a bit more color from Mrs. Hollingsworth’s skin.
“I can’t believe it,” I said. “All this time I was wondering who my daddy was, and here it ended up being Dwayne the entire time.” I glanced up at Lilly’s portrait on the wall. “It’s so sad. She was gone years before I even knew she existed.”
Mrs. Tobias patted my hand. “The two of you were alike in many ways. Lilly was something of a spirited young woman, but her heart was pure.”
I rubbed the locket between my fingers. “I wish I could have known her.”
“Elizabeth, dear. There is one other thing we should discuss.” Mrs. Tobias shot me a nervous glance. “Regarding that young man Clip Jenkins. He came to see me today.”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Tobias,” I said, in a gentle voice. “At first, I was upset about the offer you made Clip. But then I realized that if I had married him, I never would’ve met Timothy.”
She bowed her head. “Still. It wasn’t my place to meddle in your personal affairs. My behavior was inexcusable.”
I rose from my chair and touched her sleeve. “The way I see it, you knew you were my grandmother all this time,” I said. “I figure that you were just trying to look after me. Just like Meemaw would.”
She lifted her chin and a slight smile trembled at the corners of her mouth.
“I just had this uneasy feeling about Clip. So I hired a detective to follow him. When I found that he was not an honorable young man, I couldn’t bear to allow my only granddaughter to marry someone who would be untrue to her.”
“It’s all right, Mrs. Tobias. I forgive you.”
She sighed in relief and fixed her bright, blue eyes on me. “Now that it’s been established that you’re my granddaughter, calling me ‘Mrs. Tobias’ just isn’t going to do any longer, Elizabeth.”
“I don’t think I can call you Gracie, ma’am,” I said. “It just doesn’t seem proper.”
“No, no.” She laid a finger on her cheek. “I was thinking of a nickname. You called your other grandmother ‘Meemaw.’ I’d like it very much if you’d call me ‘Dear.’” Her eyes shone as she spoke. “It’s what I called my grandmother.”
“Dear,” I repeated. Then I paused for a moment. “There’s one other question I have, Mrs. Tobias, I mean... Dear,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were my grandmother earlier? You knew it all this time and you didn’t breathe a word.”
She sighed. “I was afraid of turning your life upside down.”
“I guess it was a tough call to make,” I said. “It all came out in the wash anyhow... Dear.”
Calling Mrs. Tobias “Dear” sounded just right to me. Not too cutesie, but nice and dignified. At the Shady Rest Retirement home where Attalee lived there was a sign out front that said, “Caution, Dears Crossing,” and I guess Mrs. Tobias was now my Dear, even though I think she’d sort of been that way ever since we’d met. Now, we’d just made it official.
Mrs. Hollingsworth, who had been listening in silence to our exchange, rose unsteadily to her feet. Her face was the pasty color of flour and she held a hand to her chest.
“If you’ll excuse me please,” she said in a feeble voice. “This has been a very trying afternoon for me.”
Before she could reach the foyer, she crumpled headfirst on the parquet floor.
Thirty-Six
Question: What has four legs and an arm?
Answer: A happy pit bull.
~ Dwayne Polk’s favorite joke
Later at the hospital, Daisy’s cardiologist told Timothy that if I hadn’t been around to give his mother CPR, she almost certainly would have expired before she made it to the hospital. As it was, he guessed she would make a complete recovery.
“That’s quite a wife you have there, Timothy,” he said, with a nod in my direction.
“You don’t even know the half of it, Dr. Freedman,” Timothy said, squeezing my arm.
Since he’d arrived at the hospital, I’d filled Timothy in about the baby-switching and how we now shared the same grandmother and that his mother was my aunt. His eyes
got wide as Mason jar lids and he nearly sloshed coffee all over his trousers when he discovered that he and I were technically cousins, although not by blood, since he’d been adopted.
Mrs. Hollingsworth was released from the hospital several days after her heart attack, and Timothy arranged for a home health nurse to stay with her for the next few days until she got her strength back. Daisy had refused to let him drive her home from the hospital, preferring a limousine service. When Timothy tried to visit her at home, Aurora answered the door and told him that Daisy wasn’t seeing anyone except the nurse, servants, and her private secretary. It appeared nothing had changed with Daisy Hollingsworth.
A week after Daisy’s release, I was squinting at Meemaw’s recipe card for chicken and dumplings when I heard a knock at the front door. I wiped my hands on a dishrag and strode through the living room to answer it.
“Did you forget your keys, Timothy?” I called and opened the front door.
There stood Daisy Hollingsworth. Her face was still pale despite the dusting of rouge on her cheeks. She wore a light-blue silk dress that only emphasized her frail coloring.
“Mrs. Hollingsworth. What are you doing here? Should you be up and about like this?”
“I’m just fine, thank you, Elizabeth. I was wondering if I might come in for a moment.” Her large colorless eyes dominated her thin, pinched face. It looked as if she’d lost another five pounds from her already slight frame.
“Sure. Can I get you anything to drink? I just made a pitcher of iced tea.”
“No, thank you.” She stood uncertainly in the living room.
“Please sit,” I said, offering her the best chair in the house, a striped wingback I’d gotten at a garage sale.
Mrs. Hollingsworth smoothed the back of her dress and gingerly sat down.
I perched on the couch and looked up at her expectantly. “Timothy’s supposed to be back home directly, so if you can a wait awhile—”
Bet Your Bottom Dollar (The Bottom Dollar Series Book 1) Page 22