Hannah was more than slightly taken aback. “Actually, yes . . . I am. What makes you ask, Rosa?”
“I’m asking because it’s almost two and Lily has an interview with Mike at two. Will you be there, Hannah?”
“I . . . I don’t know.” Hannah thought fast. “Would you like me to be there, Rosa?”
“Yes, please. I wanted to be there myself, and I asked Mike but he didn’t want me there.”
“Why did you want to be there?”
“Because Lily is my daughter.”
Hannah was so surprised by this revelation, she opened her mouth and gasped. Then she quickly closed her mouth again. She knew she’d probably looked like a fish caught out of water and she was a bit embarrassed by her reaction. “Sorry, Rosa. You surprised me. Is Lily really your daughter?”
“If you’re asking whether I’m her biological mother, the answer is no. Janette is Lily’s biological mother, but I took care of Lily when she was a baby, and Janette had to go into treatment. Mr. Wally asked me to do this and I agreed because I love Lily. I didn’t have any children of my own. I have worked all my life and I never married. I was Mr. Wally and Janette’s housekeeper when Lily was born.”
“I knew you took care of Lily. Janette mentioned that when Sally brought her to the kitchen.”
“Yes. Because poor Janette got the disease you get after a baby is born.”
“Are you talking about postpartum depression?”
“Yes! That’s the name Mr. Wally called it. Janette had to go into the hospital, and she stayed there for a long time. Mr. Wally hired me to take care of Lily and he hired someone else to be the housekeeper.”
Hannah took a moment to think about that. It put a new perspective on the Wallace family life. “So Janette was gone for the first few months of Lily’s life?”
“She was gone for more than that. Janette didn’t come home until Lily was six months old.” Rosa stopped speaking and gave a deep sigh. “I did my best to teach her how to care for Lily. I really did. But Janette was still sick and she couldn’t seem to understand what to do. I think it had something to do with the pills she was taking. They made her forget things like changing Lily’s diaper and feeding her.”
“What did you do when you realized that?” Hannah asked.
“I told Mr. Wally. I felt bad about it, but Janette just couldn’t seem to take care of Lily. I don’t think she wanted to take care of Lily. All she wanted to do was take more pills.”
“What did Wally say when you told him?”
“He took Janette to a special doctor who said Janette needed a special treatment program and it could last for a while.”
“And that’s what happened?”
“Yes, and Mr. Wally asked me to stay and keep taking care of Lily.”
“Was Janette upset that she had to go back for more treatment?”
“Oh, yes. She was very upset. Janette tried to stop taking the pills on her own, but it didn’t work. And I know she wanted to take care of her baby. She just . . .” Rosa stopped speaking and sighed again. “She just couldn’t get along without the pills.”
“So Janette went back into treatment?”
“Yes. I told her not to worry, that I would stay to take care of Lily for as long as she wanted me to.” Rosa stopped and clasped her hands together. “Perhaps I did wrong. I don’t know. I did the best I could. Lily needed a mother and . . . and I think she thought that I was her mother.”
“How long was Janette in treatment?”
“Over a year. Mr. Wally went to see her and so did I. I even took Lily with us once, but the doctors said that seeing her baby upset Janette too much.”
“How old was Lily when Janette came back home from her treatment?”
“She came home every few months, but she always had to go back to the hospital again. I think it hurt her to see that Lily was growing up without her. She heard Lily call me Mama once, and that upset her so much she had to go back to the hospital that night. I did try to explain to Lily that I wasn’t her mama, that Janette was, but she was too young to understand.”
Hannah felt tears prickle behind her eyelids. Life must have been very confusing for baby Lily with Janette coming in and out of the house. Janette’s goodbyes when she had to leave Lily must have been tearful for everyone involved. “All these visits that ended badly must have been terribly hard on you, baby Lily, and Wally,” she commented.
“Yes, and they were even harder on Janette,” Rosa added. “She would cry when I packed her clothes and Mr. Wally carried her suitcase out to the car. But she knew she had to go back to the hospital.”
“I’m sorry, Rosa. All this must have made you very sad.”
“Oh, yes. It did. I would tell Janette not to worry, that I would take very good care of Lily. I promised Janette that I would treat Lily just like I would treat my own daughter if I had one.”
“Did that make Janette feel any better?”
“I think so. She would smile and then she would hug me and tell me that I should be Lily’s mother while she was gone.”
There were tears in Rosa’s eyes, and Hannah felt like crying, too. “How old was Lily when Janette managed to beat her addiction and come home for good?”
“Lily was just getting ready to go off to junior high when Janette came home to stay. It was a very happy day for all of us. That night, Janette told me that she would always regret that she hadn’t been there to see Lily grow up. She said she wished she could do something to prove to Lily how much she loved her.”
Hannah just shook her head. “What did you tell her, Rosa?”
“I said that Lily knew Janette loved her, but Janette began to cry and said that things could never be the same as if she’d been able to be home for her daughter. She said that someday she’d find something she could do to prove to Lily that she loved her.”
Again, Hannah blinked back tears. “I’d better get going,” she said, hurrying to the bedside table to snatch up her Murder Book. “I promised to meet Mike in Dick’s bar.” She headed for the door and then she stopped, remembering what Rosa had told her. “Don’t worry about Lily, Rosa. When Mike interviews Lily, I will definitely be there.”
Rosa looked a bit relieved, and she managed a shaky smile. “I wouldn’t worry if Lonnie interviewed Lily. I know him and he is a . . . good person. But Mike is sometimes . . . I don’t know the word, but he looks at everyone like he doesn’t believe them and his mind is already made up.”
Chapter Twenty