Luellyn waved a hand. “No. It’s all right. That was a long time ago, and although I will never stop feeling the loss, I have learned to live with it. What choice did I have?” She appeared to think a moment about what she wanted to say next. “But to answer your question, for a while Jane and I had secret rendezvous.” A slight smile returned to her lips. “We talked and cried together. It was sad that we had to hide this from Thomas, but it was the only way it seemed. The year after…we, she and I, had a little birthday celebration for Tommy.”
She fell silent for a moment, the memory obviously difficult. “The last time I saw her was right after that celebration. She told me not to worry anymore, that Thomas had come up with a plan that would make everything all right. I tried to question her about it, but she said she couldn’t talk about the details.” She drifted into silence again for a beat, then two. “I never saw her again after that day. I tried going to their house when Thomas was at work, but no one answered the door. I called, but the phone number was changed to an unlisted one.”
“Was Jane also having secret meetings with her father?” Steve asked.
“She would never say, and my husband, of course, wouldn’t tell me anything. But after she went into seclusion, he came to see me and said he was worried about whatever Thomas was doing, so I’m thinking that perhaps he found a way to see her at least once more. Then, the next thing I knew, he’d had a heart attack and was gone.”
“You suffered such losses during that time,” Allie offered. “It must have been difficult for you.”
“No one knows what it’s like to lose a living child unless they’ve experienced it.”
“Do you believe Thomas was somehow working all that time to turn your daughter against you and her father? Perhaps it finally kicked in.” Steve glanced at Allie as he asked this.
“The way I feel about Thomas Madison,” Mrs. Talbert said with a sharp point to her tone, “I would love to say yes, but I believe there was some other reason. I think he was doing something to keep Jane happy and that he felt we wouldn’t understand. I know he loved my daughter. But he eventually isolated her completely.” She gestured to Allie. “Your mother was Jane’s best friend. Not long after Jane shut me out completely, your parents were shut out as well. Alice came to talk to me about how sad it made her. She too mentioned beingconcerned that Thomas was…” She pinched her lips together as if to think a moment. “The term she used was ‘out of control.’ She promised to keep me posted about Jane, but less than a month later, she and Jerry had that horrible, horrible accident.”
The idea that Thomas Madison may have had something to do with the accident caused an uncomfortable twinge to creep up Allie’s spine.
When the silence dragged on a bit too long, Allie said, “Thank God for my grandparents. They took very good care of me.”
She wanted to ask what efforts Mrs. Talbert had made for the next twenty years to try and reach her daughter, but it felt wrong to keep picking at that painful wound.
“You never said—” Allie nodded to the photograph Luellyn still held “—if you recognized the third couple.”
“Aw, yes.” Mrs. Talbert nodded, attempted a smile, then adjusted her glasses and focused on the photo once more. “Hmm. They do look vaguely familiar.” She cocked her head, first one way and then the other. “Wait, I know. They were at Jane’s Christmas party the same year this photo was taken.” She looked to Allie. “A couple of years before your parents had their accident, I believe. Before my grandson died.”
“Do you recall their names?”
Luellyn pursed her lips. “She was Lucille, and I believe her husband was Dennis.” She shook her head. “But for the life of me I can’t recall the last name. The only reason I remember her first name is the red hair. I thought of Lucille Ball when she was introduced to me. You can’t really see her eyes in this photo, but she had the same bright blue eyes too.”
Allie had thought the same thing when she first saw the photo. She’d certainly watched plenty of old Lucy episodes with her grandmother.
“Were they close with Jane and Thomas the way Allie’s parents were?” Steve asked.
“They were new in town when I met them,” Luellyn said. “I think the husband had just been hired by Ledwell.”
“Do you recall if Lucille came to Jane’s funeral?” Allie wasn’t sure if the question would be uncomfortable for Luellyn, but it would certainly clarify whether the mystery couple had still been around as recently as three years ago. And it allowed her to ask if Luellyn had been at the funeral without actually asking. Surely Thomas Madison wouldn’t have kept her from her own daughter’s funeral.
“She was not. All the friends Jane made during her marriage were noticeably absent. It was a very small gathering. Not becoming of my precious daughter, I’ll certainly say that. She would have invited everyone.”
“Thomas must have spoken to you at some point during the service.” Allie hoped this was the case. The idea of him ignoring her would only add to the horror that had been their shared history.
“He allowed me to sit in the front pew with him. He even hugged me when the service ended, but he said virtually nothing to me. He was anxious to get away, it seemed. Perhaps he had someone new already.”
Painful. It happened that way sometimes. But there was nothing in the research Allie had done to suggest he’d had someone in his life even just before his death, three years after his wife’s.
“Do you remember,” Allie ventured, “Jane mentioning anything regarding my parents and the work at Ledwell? Or maybe some other problem with them?”
“Jane adored your mother,” Luellyn said without hesitation. “The two did everything together. Tommy was just a year younger than you.”
Allie hadn’t considered that she and this Tommy were likely close in age. Maybe he was the reason she remembered thehouse with the pavilion and pool. Maybe they had played there together.
How sad it was that their families had been riddled with tragedy.
“I was there once when you and your mother visited. You and Tommy were going round and round outside, the sun trickling over your big smiles. It was such a nice day.”
Allie felt her chest constrict. “Did my mother seem happy?” She put her fingers to her lips. She hadn’t meant to ask the question. What difference did it make really? And yet, even after all these years, it was…still important to Allie. She felt confident her grandmother would have told her if her mother hadn’t been happy, but having an objective observation would be useful.
Luellyn smiled at Allie. “How could she not be? She had a beautiful daughter. Her husband was the kindest man you would ever meet. Even Thomas often said that Jerry was far too kind for his own good. But to answer your question, yes, your mother seemed very happy. As did you. If there were any sort of problems, she gave no indication whatsoever.”
