The Pink Bonnet

by Tolsma, Liz;

  Again, another nod. The hardest thing he’d ever done. “I have Pearl’s file. I took it the night I broke into the records room to dig up information on Mrs. Dowd’s child. We’ll open it. See what it has to say.”

  She rubbed his arm. “That’s what’s best for all involved. Once we find her, we can decide what to do from there.”

  He stopped, turned her to face him, and drew her to his chest. He kissed the back of her neck. “Have I ever told you what a wise woman you are and how much I love you?”

  She nuzzled him. “Many, many times. But I never get tired of hearing it.”

  “In the meantime, if we want to protect Pearl, we can’t stay in Memphis. Tann and Kelley and Crump are too powerful, and I know too much. They’ll be after all of us.”

  “Then we’ll leave. I’ve always wanted to live in the country. We were going to go to Lookout Mountain before. Let’s do it now. Find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to settle where Tann won’t find us.”

  “You won’t miss the city’s society?”

  She caressed his cheek. “I have all I need.”

  And so did he.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Water droplets splashed on the mirror above the washbasin in the boardinghouse as Cecile washed her face. She and Percy had come here last night after everything was settled. Today, she was going home. While her bath yesterday evening had been nothing short of heaven, the charred odor of smoke and soot clung to her. The water helped to erase the horror of the past few days.

  Millie sat on the edge of the bed, her legs dangling. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the black Mary Janes she wore. What had happened to the bright, mischievous little girl Cecile had known?

  She dried her face on a towel and sat beside her daughter. “What is it, Millie?”

  She shook her head. “I be good. I promise.”

  “Oh sweetheart, none of this happened to you because you weren’t a good girl.” So much guilt for a four-year-old to carry. “It happened because Miss Tann is a bad, bad woman.”

  “I didn’t listen. Mrs. Ward didn’t like me.”

  “She had no right to take you from me. That’s not what I wanted. I wanted you to live with me always. You’re my girl. Nothing could ever change that. I’ll love you forever, no matter what.”

  “Even when I bad?”

  “Even then. I promise that no one is going to ever take you away from me again. I’m not going to let you out of my sight. We’ll be like we’re glued together.”

  A slight smile crossed Millie’s not-quite-so-round cheeks. Cecile would see they plumped again.

  “How would you like to go meet your grandma and grandpa?” If her parents wouldn’t welcome her, she didn’t know what she would do. But those were decisions for later.

  “Grandma and Grandpa?”

  Cecile touched her chest. It had been difficult for her to speak of her parents, but had she really never mentioned them? “Yes. They live far away where it snows in the winter all the time.” Perhaps Millie even had cousins.

  “I like snow. You eat it.”

  “If it’s white.” At the sight of Millie’s scrunched-up face, Cecile chuckled. But inside, she ached. When she’d mentioned going to Massachusetts, Percy never said anything to her about them being together. Hadn’t he truly loved her? He had said the words, but did he mean them? Perhaps it was fine when she didn’t have Millie, but maybe he didn’t want children. Or didn’t want Millie.

  How wonderful it would have been to have a complete family for her child, a mother and a father. Two people to love her. Siblings someday. And how wonderful it would have been for Cecile to have someone to share her life with, her hopes and dreams and ambitions. Together, once they were settled, they might have even continued to fight Tann. To shed light on the corruption that ate away at the fabric of Memphis society. But it was not to be. She swallowed hard, having shed enough tears in the past few months to last a lifetime. Sorrow had come to an end. The time had come for joy.

  She would return home. Family meant everything. She had Millie back. Now she would work on getting the rest restored to her.

  With great care, she slipped on the dress provided by the woman who ran the boardinghouse. Cecile would pay her for it once she reached home. She pinned on her hat and peered in the mirror. Dark half-moons still hung from her eyes, but there was nothing she could do about that. From the box the shop owner in Memphis had packed it in, she withdrew Millie’s pink bonnet. Though scrawny, Millie had grown while away. The bonnet wouldn’t fit her much longer. Cecile slipped it on Millie’s head. For the first time today, Millie flashed a genuine smile. How good it was to see it on her daughter. The trauma of this ordeal would fade. The real Millie would reappear in time.

  They met Percy in the parlor. He’d shaved, though the scent of smoke hung about him. He pecked her cheek and patted Millie’s head. “You look rested.”

  “I could have slept another ten hours, but I’m anxious to get going.” The longer she stayed, the more difficult it would be to leave. And he’d given her no reason to hope for a future for them.

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  “And you, Miss Millie Mae, are you ready?”

  She eyed him, but neither nodded nor shook her head.

  He offered Cecile his elbow, and they walked in silence to the bus depot a few blocks away. Did the same ache fill him that almost consumed her? After Nathaniel died, she believed she’d be on her own forever. But she’d healed and fallen in love again. He told her yesterday he loved her. Then why wasn’t he stopping her?

  They reached the red brick depot, and she purchased their tickets. Once she had them in hand, they located a bench in the almostempty lobby to sit and wait. She leaned against him. Even though he smelled like burning wood, he also smelled of pine. A sweet and pleasant odor, one she would remember him for.

  “I’m going to miss you.”

  His quiet words startled her, and she bolted upright. “I’m going to miss you too.” Was there more to come? She gripped the tickets so tight she crumpled them.

  “I’ll try to keep in touch.”

  “That would be nice.”

  A heaviness fell over her, and her shoulders slumped. “Thank you for everything you did for me and Millie. I know what it cost you. I can never repay you.”

  “There’s no need. I may have lost a great deal, but I gained so much more. You have given me the life I didn’t realize I desired. You have given me true happiness and wealth.”

  Then why was he letting her walk out of his life? “And you’ve restored my daughter to me. That’s everything. Absolutely everything.”

  The call came for her bus to Atlanta then on to Boston. The three of them rose and made their way to the vehicle. As they stood by the bus’s folding door, he grabbed her, embraced her with such fierceness, and kissed her. Hard. Long. Passionately.

  And she responded. Poured her gratitude, her love, her desire into that kiss. Drank him in like a thirsty desert-dweller at an oasis. Impressed this moment in her memory to last a lifetime.

  He pushed her away. A rush of cold came over her. She took Millie by the hand and started up the steps. She pinched the bridge of her nose, her feet leaden. She willed herself to climb another step.

  “Wait!”

  Percy’s call stopped her. Spun her.

  He rushed to her, grabbed her, pulled her from the bus. “Don’t go. Please, don’t leave me. I don’t ever want to be without you and without Millie again. You’ve brightened my life in a way that no one else ever has. Now, forever, I want to show you how much I love you.”

  Right there on the asphalt in the parking lot, he dropped to one knee. “Cecile Dowd, will you marry me?”

  Though she vowed she’d had enough of tears, she couldn’t stop them from streaming down her face. She joined him on the ground, kneeling in front of him. “When no one else believed in me, you did. When I gave up hope, you gave it back to me. When I was at my lowest, wh
en it was the darkest, you brought light.

  “I’m the one who can never repay the debt I owe you. Not only did you return my daughter to me, but you brought love back into my life at a time when I didn’t even know I needed it. I love you, Percy Vance. I love you as much as I could ever love anyone.”

  She leaned in to kiss him, but he stopped her. “You haven’t answered me.”

  She laughed. “Yes, Percy, yes. I’ll marry you.”

  Now he drew her to himself. This kiss was soft, gentle, but full of promise for the future.

  Millie tapped Cecile’s face. “Momma, you’re crying.”

  “These aren’t sad tears. They’re happy tears. I’m going to marry Mr. Vance. He’s going to take care of us, very good care of us. He will help keep that bad lady away.”

  Millie pulled down her brown eyebrows. “You promise?”

  Percy touched Millie’s cheek. “I promise. No one is ever going to take you away from your momma and me. We’ll go together to meet your family. Start a new life there.”

  Nothing in the world sounded better to Cecile than that.

  Millie wrapped her arms around their necks and entered their circle, the brim of her pink bonnet against their foreheads.

  Author’s Note

  When I set out to write The Pink Bonnet, I knew it would be difficult for me to write about the kidnapping and sale of children because I am the mother of three children who came to us through adoption. I wanted to tell the true story of Georgia Tann and the Tennessee Children’s Home Society without casting a black shroud over adoption in general.

  Georgia Tann was a woman who ran an adoption agency in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1924 until 1950. It is estimated that, in that time, she kidnapped over five thousand children and sold them to the highest bidder. She even advertised the children in the newspaper, especially around the holidays. Some of the nation’s biggest celebrities adopted through Miss Tann, including Joan Crawford, Dick Powell, and June Allyson.

  It was a frightening time to be a parent in Memphis. You didn’t dare allow your children to walk the streets alone or play in the park by themselves. You kept a watchful eye for Tann’s black Cadillac limousine, which was said to cruise the streets. She caught women still groggy from anesthesia after giving birth and tricked them into signing away their rights.

  Complicit in her heinous acts were Judge Camille Kelley and E.H. “Boss” Crump. Though Crump had moved into state and national politics years earlier, the city’s former mayor still held considerable sway in Memphis, and he wasn’t afraid to wield his power. Judge Kelley rubber-stamped Tann’s adoptions. Her lawyer, Abe Waldauer, also worked with her to accomplish her dirty deeds.

  An investigation was opened in 1950 into Tann’s crimes, but she died of cancer before any conclusions were reached. No one was ever held to account for their actions. Very few, if any, of the children sold illegally were ever recovered.

  Tann did have a chauffeur, though James is a character who springs completely from my imagination. All of the other characters in the book are fictional. While in 1933 Tann did have homes throughout the city that served as orphanages, Angel House is not a real place.

  And though it is critical to highlight that the black market continues to operate in adoptions (I have seen it with my own eyes), it is also important to know that most adoptions today, both domestic and international, are aboveboard. These are truly children whose parents, due to a variety of circumstances, are unable to care for them. Today’s social workers strive to ensure that children are placed in good, loving homes where they will be allowed to grow and thrive.

  At its very best, adoption is messy. It is a series of losses for everyone involved—the birth parents, the children, and even the adoptive parents. Along the way, there is grief, and there can be healing. Adoption is a beautiful way to build or add to a family. There is an orphan crisis in our world. There are 160 million children who don’t have loving families. If only 7 percent of the world’s Christians adopted, the crisis would be alleviated. If you have been considering adoption, please contact your local agency to find out more.

  Even if you can’t adopt, please consider sponsoring a child. In addition to our three, we have a sponsor daughter we have gotten to know over the years and love as much as our other children. Adoptive families also appreciate your monetary support and your prayers.

  Acknowledgments

  This book would never have come to be without a good number of people who supported me throughout the entire process. First, thank you to my amazing crit partner, Jen Crosswhite. You, my friend, know romantic suspense. Thank you for standing by me when I tore my first draft to shreds, and thank you for helping me put it back together. I still say your name should be on the front cover. Thank you also to Diana Brandmeyer for your wonderful critique work. You have a sharp eye, and I’m so grateful for you.

  Thank you to my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray. You convinced me I could write this book, so thank you for being such an encouragement to me. I appreciate how you have walked through this process with me and for all the wonderful advice and help you’ve given me throughout the years.

  Thank you to the fabulous team at Barbour Publishing. I’ve written five novellas with them, but this is the first full-length novel. Thank you, Becky, for taking a chance on me. I loved writing this story. Your idea for this series was phenomenal, and your helpful hints for this book were spot on. Thank you to my editor, Ellen Tarver. I’ve enjoyed working with you. You have some great suggestions! Thank you for helping me grow as an author. Looking forward to next time!

  And as always, thank you to my family. I know life these past two years has been crazy, so thank you for allowing me to take this crazy ride. Doug, you are my rock and my anchor. Thank you for telling me that I’ve done enough for one day and for closing my laptop when I needed a break. Thank you for putting up with all this insanity. I love you! Thank you to Alyssa, for taking care of Jonalyn so I could stay at the cabin and rework this book. It means the world to me that you are willing to do that for me. I’m so proud of the woman you are. God has great plans for you. And Brian, even though you didn’t get to share in this writing whirlwind, thank you for always making me laugh just when I need it most. You don’t know how many times you’ve kept me from tears. And Jonalyn, thank you for being you and reminding me what is most important in life.

  Most importantly, thank You, Lord, for Your abundant blessings. Without Your sustaining grace in life, I would be able to do nothing. You have given me far more than I deserve. Soli deo Gloria.

  Liz Tolsma is a popular speaker and an editor and the owner of the Write Direction Editing. An almost-native Wisconsinite, she resides in a quiet corner of the state with her husband and their youngest daughter. Their oldest daughter is a college student. Her son proudly serves as a US Marine. They adopted all of their children internationally, and one has special needs. When she gets a few spare minutes, Liz enjoys reading, relaxing on the front porch, walking, working in her large perennial garden, and camping with her family.

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