Chapter 4: The Woman Who Knew My Mother
Elizabeth Hayes didn't sit down immediately.
She placed her leather briefcase on Grandpa's desk, removed a pair of reading glasses, and studied my father.
“Richard,” she said calmly.
“It's been a long time.””
My father looked as though he'd seen a ghost.
“Elizabeth. This isn't the place.””
“Actually, Harold specifically chose this place.””
Diane folded her arms.
“You have no authority to come into this house and start making accusations.””
Elizabeth turned toward her.
“I haven't made a single accusation yet.””
“Then perhaps you should leave.””
Elizabeth opened her briefcase.
“I would be happy to leave after I deliver what Harold entrusted to me.””
She removed a thick brown envelope and placed it beside the blue folder.
My father immediately stepped forward.
“Don't.””
It was the first time I'd heard him sound genuinely frightened.
Elizabeth didn't look at him.
“Maya, your grandfather asked me to explain something about your mother.””
My hands went cold.
My mother.
I hadn't heard anyone mention her properly in years.
She died when I was four. That's what my father always told me.
He said she had been sick, that she loved me very much, and that I should remember her as someone who smiled a lot.
There were only three photographs of her in the house.
Diane had removed the others shortly after marrying my father.
Whenever I asked why, she said looking at old pictures would make it harder for everyone to move on.
I had eventually stopped asking.
Now Elizabeth was standing in front of me, holding a file about her.
“Did you know my mom?”” I asked.
Elizabeth's expression softened.
“Yes, sweetheart. I did.””
“Was she really sick?””
My father closed his eyes.
Diane looked toward the door.
Elizabeth pulled out a chair and sat beside me.
“Your mother was named Laura. She was intelligent, stubborn, and incredibly protective of you.””
I swallowed.
“What happened to her?””
Elizabeth glanced at Richard.
“Your father should explain that.””
My father shook his head.
“Not now.””
Elizabeth opened the envelope.
“Harold left instructions that Maya should hear the truth when the time came. He believed she deserved to know why her mother disappeared from her life.””
Diane suddenly slammed her handbag onto the desk.
“This is disgusting. You're using a dead woman's memory to manipulate a child.””
Elizabeth remained calm.
“No. I'm correcting a lie that has lasted twelve years.””
I looked at my father.
“Dad?””
He didn't look at me.
“Please don't make this harder.””
“Make what harder?””
He rubbed his face.
“Your mother and I had problems. She wasn't happy. She wanted to leave.””
Elizabeth shook her head.
“That's not what the documents say.””
She removed a photocopy of a letter.
The handwriting was delicate and familiar, although I'd never seen it before.
At the bottom was a signature.
Laura Collins.
Elizabeth read the first lines.
Harold,
If anything happens to me, please don't allow Richard to convince Maya that I abandoned her. I have never wanted anything more than to raise my daughter somewhere safe.
My knees felt weak.
“Why would Mom write that?””
Elizabeth placed the letter in front of me.
“Because she was afraid.””
“Of Dad?””
Nobody answered.
My father finally spoke.
“Your mother was going through a difficult period. She wasn't thinking clearly.””
Elizabeth removed another document.
“This is a hospital record from the week Laura died.””
I stared at the paper.
It listed a date, a hospital name, and several medical notes.
Elizabeth explained that my mother had been admitted after a serious car accident.
She survived the initial injuries.
But she had suffered complications.
The hospital record showed that she had requested a family lawyer and had specifically asked for Grandpa Harold to be contacted.
“Was Grandpa there?”” I whispered.
“Yes,” Elizabeth said.
“He arrived within an hour.””
“What about Dad?””
Richard looked away.
Elizabeth paused.
“Your father was contacted too.””
I turned toward him.
“Were you there?””
He stared at the floor.
“I was working.””
“Mom was dying.””
“I didn't know how serious it was.””
Elizabeth's voice became sharper.
“The hospital called you three times.””
Diane interrupted.
“This is enough.””
But Elizabeth continued.
“Laura was conscious for several hours. She signed a document naming Harold as the person she wanted to care for Maya if she didn't survive.””
I felt tears gathering in my eyes.
“Grandpa wanted to take care of me?””
“He already was taking care of you,” Elizabeth said gently.
“Your mother trusted him completely.””
My father finally looked at me.
“Maya, you need to understand that things were different back then.””
I shook my head.
“Why did you tell me Mom abandoned me?””
He didn't answer.
Elizabeth opened the brown envelope again.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed my mother holding me as a baby.
She was smiling.
Behind her stood Grandpa, looking younger, with one arm around her shoulder.
On the back, in blue ink, were the words:
My two favorite girls. Nothing will ever change that.
I touched the photograph.
“Did Grandpa keep this?””
“Every year,” Elizabeth replied.
“He had it restored because he was afraid the original would fade.””
I began crying.
Not quietly.
Not politely.
I cried the way I'd wanted to cry at the funeral.
Elizabeth put an arm around my shoulders.
My father stood motionless.
Then Diane said something that made my blood run cold.
“Harold was obsessed with Laura. He never accepted that she was gone. That's why he kept interfering with our marriage.””
Elizabeth slowly turned toward her.
“Diane, you should be very careful.””
Diane laughed.
“What? Are you going to threaten me?””
“No. I'm going to ask you why your signature appears on a document authorizing the transfer of Laura's personal belongings to your possession three days after her death.””
Diane's smile vanished.
Elizabeth placed the document on the desk.
It contained an inventory of my mother's belongings.
Jewelry.
Photographs.
A small savings account.
And a sealed letter addressed to me.
I looked at the bottom.
There was Diane's signature.
“Why did you take Mom's things?”” I asked.
Diane's face hardened.
“Your mother had no use for them anymore.””
I felt something break inside me.
Elizabeth opened another section of her briefcase.
“And there's something else.””
She placed a small photograph on the desk.
It showed Diane standing outside the hospital.
The date was printed beneath it.
Three days before my mother's death.
My father stared at it.
“Where did you get that?””
Elizabeth looked directly at him.
“Harold had it recovered from the hospital's archived security records.””
Diane stepped backward.
Then Elizabeth spoke the words that changed everything.
“Your mother didn't simply die before she could explain what happened.””
She pointed to Diane's photograph.
“She tried to tell Harold that someone had been pressuring her to sign away her daughter's inheritance.””
I looked at Diane.
“Who?””
Elizabeth didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she slid the final page across the desk.
At the bottom were two signatures.
My mother's.
May you like
And the witness signature.
Diane Collins.
