know whether to laugh or slap him at moments like this. Why neither of them thought I could read was a question I couldn’t answer. Nevertheless, I kept my mouth shut and handed Michael my handwritten birth and death timeline, along with the certificates and the website page on Ceely Rose. He looked over each one carefully.
“I’d say, without a doubt, you’re onto something,” he murmured, still looking at the pages, hesitating at Mary Jane’s birth certificate. “This gives old Walter’s story a little more credibility.” He put the pages down. “I’m trying to figure out why they changed the age of death. Her obituary reads that she died of cancer and dropsy at age seventy-three.”
“Affirmative,” I cracked.
He stared straight ahead, and I knew his wheels were in motion. Michael was thinking, and he was thinking hard.
“Find out how obituaries were obtained back then,” he finally said. “See if people just filled out forms, wrote letters or what. There should be a local historian who could tell you that. You easily obtained the obituary, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the rest. It looks to me like the newspapers back then didn’t verify much, so you need to find out who wrote her obituary and lied about her age. And good luck, because without that information, you’re nowhere.”
C HAPTER F OURTEEN
I lay awake in bed for a long time thinking about what Michael had said and what I had learned that day. I even got up a few times to check my notes for things I wasn’t sure of. Eventually, I fell asleep and when I woke up I was surprised to see that it was almost noon. Michael, the sweetie, had let me sleep in.
After getting dressed and cleaned up, I spent the rest of the afternoon playing outdoors with the kids. It was a warm fall day, and the girls had gone into the backyard to jump on the trampoline. I was throwing a baseball back and forth with Sean while we waited for Vanessa to pick him up.
Normally, I don’t have any contact with Michael’s ex. In fact, we’ve never even been face- to- face with each other. However, after the incident with Sean the other night and knowing her not-so- hidden agenda, I decided not to hide, as usual, but to stand in my own front yard and let the chips fall where they may.
Michael had just gone inside to answer the phone when Vanessa pulled into the driveway. She must have been waiting for this moment to confront me because when she got out of the car, she opened her mouth and the verbal abuse streamed out.
“Well, well, well,” she began. “How nice to finally see you, CeeCee. I see you’ve got yourself set up nicely here with my husband and son.” She leaned back against her car, her arms crossed in front of her. Talk about body language. “Then again, I would expect nothing less from a home- wrecking whore.”
Unfortunately for her, that was a bad move. I used every bit of self-control to keep from lighting into her. My eyes instantly went to Sean, whose face held a look of horror. His chin was quivering as he tried to hold back his tears.
“Sean, honey, why don’t you run out back and say bye to the girls, okay?” I sent a big, comforting smile his way, and it seemed to soothe him a little. He looked back at me and then at his mother, and then he sprinted to-ward the front door.
I knew he was heading for Michael, which was exactly what I wanted. Vanessa maintained her position by the car, her dark eyes fastened coldly on mine. I stared right back. She was just a few years older than I was and a little taller, her light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Before today, I had only seen her from a distance through her window; now, this close to her, I saw that she was quite attractive.
I wasn’t about to let her comment go unanswered. “Vanessa,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, “if you don’t like me, fine. I really don’t care, but I would appreciate you not creating a scene in front of the children. As you can see,
“I’d say, without a doubt, you’re onto something,” he murmured, still looking at the pages, hesitating at Mary Jane’s birth certificate. “This gives old Walter’s story a little more credibility.” He put the pages down. “I’m trying to figure out why they changed the age of death. Her obituary reads that she died of cancer and dropsy at age seventy-three.”
“Affirmative,” I cracked.
He stared straight ahead, and I knew his wheels were in motion. Michael was thinking, and he was thinking hard.
“Find out how obituaries were obtained back then,” he finally said. “See if people just filled out forms, wrote letters or what. There should be a local historian who could tell you that. You easily obtained the obituary, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find the rest. It looks to me like the newspapers back then didn’t verify much, so you need to find out who wrote her obituary and lied about her age. And good luck, because without that information, you’re nowhere.”
C HAPTER F OURTEEN
I lay awake in bed for a long time thinking about what Michael had said and what I had learned that day. I even got up a few times to check my notes for things I wasn’t sure of. Eventually, I fell asleep and when I woke up I was surprised to see that it was almost noon. Michael, the sweetie, had let me sleep in.
After getting dressed and cleaned up, I spent the rest of the afternoon playing outdoors with the kids. It was a warm fall day, and the girls had gone into the backyard to jump on the trampoline. I was throwing a baseball back and forth with Sean while we waited for Vanessa to pick him up.
Normally, I don’t have any contact with Michael’s ex. In fact, we’ve never even been face- to- face with each other. However, after the incident with Sean the other night and knowing her not-so- hidden agenda, I decided not to hide, as usual, but to stand in my own front yard and let the chips fall where they may.
Michael had just gone inside to answer the phone when Vanessa pulled into the driveway. She must have been waiting for this moment to confront me because when she got out of the car, she opened her mouth and the verbal abuse streamed out.
“Well, well, well,” she began. “How nice to finally see you, CeeCee. I see you’ve got yourself set up nicely here with my husband and son.” She leaned back against her car, her arms crossed in front of her. Talk about body language. “Then again, I would expect nothing less from a home- wrecking whore.”
Unfortunately for her, that was a bad move. I used every bit of self-control to keep from lighting into her. My eyes instantly went to Sean, whose face held a look of horror. His chin was quivering as he tried to hold back his tears.
“Sean, honey, why don’t you run out back and say bye to the girls, okay?” I sent a big, comforting smile his way, and it seemed to soothe him a little. He looked back at me and then at his mother, and then he sprinted to-ward the front door.
I knew he was heading for Michael, which was exactly what I wanted. Vanessa maintained her position by the car, her dark eyes fastened coldly on mine. I stared right back. She was just a few years older than I was and a little taller, her light brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Before today, I had only seen her from a distance through her window; now, this close to her, I saw that she was quite attractive.
I wasn’t about to let her comment go unanswered. “Vanessa,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, “if you don’t like me, fine. I really don’t care, but I would appreciate you not creating a scene in front of the children. As you can see,
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