She's Not There

“Talk to Peggy,” Hunter said to Caroline. “See if she can speed things up.” He turned to leave, then stopped. “You want to stay at my place in the meantime?” he asked Michelle.

“Nah. Think I’ll stay here.” She glanced at Caroline. “You don’t mind if I stick around, do you, Mom?”

“Of course I don’t mind,” Caroline said, although in truth, there was a part of her that did mind, that had been hoping Michelle would spend the night, maybe even the next few days, at her father’s, thereby allowing Caroline to concentrate on Lili, get to know her better without Michelle’s negative energy hovering.

“Not quite ready to give up my room just yet,” Michelle said.

“Nobody’s asked you to give up your room.”

“Oh, right. She can sleep in her old room.”

“Michelle…”

“It used to be your nursery. Mom insisted on keeping the crib and everything for years, but now it’s a guest room,” she explained to Lili. “It has a foldout sofa. Not that comfortable, but since I doubt you’ll be staying long…”

“I think that’s quite enough, Michelle,” Mary said firmly, holding tight to Lili’s hand.

“Grandma Mary?” The shock in Michelle’s voice bounced off the living room walls.

Mary let go of Lili’s hand and rose to her feet. “Your father is right. There’s no point in further discussion. We need to get some rest and carry on in the morning. Steve, darling, I think it’s time we went home.”

Steve was instantly on his feet. “Your wish, as always, is my command.”

Mary bent down to kiss Lili’s cheek. “Good night, sweetheart.”

“Sweetheart?” Michelle repeated incredulously. “Just like that?”

“Goodnight, Micki,” her grandmother said. “Try to behave.”

“What the hell was that?” Michelle asked after they were gone.

“That was your grandmother,” Caroline told her, recognizing Mary’s ingrained habit of playing one family member off against another. The woman simply could not help herself. “Welcome to my world.”



“What did she say?” Caroline asked Lili as she hung up the phone.

“She was pretty upset.” Lili sat down across from Caroline at the kitchen table. The remains of the cheese omelet Caroline had made for dinner sat congealing on their plates. Michelle, of course, had declined to eat. She’d been holed up in her room with the door closed ever since the others left. “She wants me to come home.”

“You told her no,” Caroline stated, replaying Lili’s end of the conversation in her mind.

I’m in California. I’m fine. Please don’t worry.

“Tell me what she said.”

I’m with Caroline Shipley. You know, the woman whose little girl was stolen out of her crib in Mexico fifteen years ago? I know you think I’m crazy, but I think I might be that girl.

“She said I’m being ridiculous, that she’s my mother.”

I have to know one way or the other. I have to know for sure.

“She said she wants me home immediately or she’ll call the authorities.”

We’ll take a DNA test in the morning. I’ll have the results by the end of the week.

“Do you think she will? Call the authorities, I mean?” Caroline asked.

“I don’t know.”

I’ll call you tomorrow. Please try to understand. I have to do this.

“At least she knows you’re all right.”

I love you.

“She was crying.”

Goodbye, Mommy.

“This can’t be easy for either of you,” Caroline said, the word Mommy echoing in her ears, a word directed at another woman, a word she’d been denied hearing from Samantha’s lips for fifteen years.

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.

“What can’t be easy?” Michelle asked, materializing in the doorway.

Caroline jumped. “You scared me.”

“Forgot I was here, did you?”

“Would you like something to eat?” Caroline said, refusing to take the bait.

“Let me think,” Michelle said, surveying the leftover omelets on their plates. “Greasy fried eggs smothered in processed cheese. How can I resist?” She opened the fridge, withdrew a green apple and took a large bite. “What can’t be easy?” she repeated.

“I phoned Calgary,” Lili told her.

“Your mother give you a hard time?”

“She doesn’t understand why I’m doing this.”

“She’s not the only one.” Michelle pulled out a chair between Caroline and Lili and straddled it, crunching on her apple. “So, what’s she like? Your mother?” she asked pointedly.

“She’s really nice,” Lili answered, tears filling her eyes. “Quiet. A little shy. She likes crossword puzzles and watching cooking shows on TV. She’s a really good cook.”

“Does she have a job?”

“No. We’re pretty much it. She homeschooled my brothers and me, nursed my father when he got sick.”

“She sounds awful,” Michelle deadpanned. “No wonder you’re so anxious to leave.”

“Michelle…”

“So, you want to know what I found out about this whole DNA business?”

Caroline sighed, grateful for the reprieve. “Please.”

Michelle struggled to read her writing. “Well, it appears you have two choices, a private test option and a legal test option.”

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