Page 7 of Dead Rattled
Ten grinned at Everly before continuing. “This happened in 1972 at the St. Agnes House, here in Salem, which was a home for unwed mothers.”
“What does unwed mean?” Everly asked.
“Unwed means unmarried. The house was for women who got pregnant without having husbands,” Ten said, looking a little uneasy.
“You mean single moms?” Everly asked, sounding incredulous. “There are three kids who have single moms in my class.”
“Right,” Ten agreed. “Back in the olden days, women were looked down on if they got pregnant and didn’t have a husband. Teenage girls were often sent to places like the St. Agnes House to have their babies in secret, so that the neighbors and no one in their family would know how shamefully they had acted. Back in the 1970s having a baby without a husband made the parents of the teenage girl look bad.”
Everly wore a confused look. “People were weird in the olden times.”
Ronan wondered if this was the kind of conversation Everly should be involved in. He was about to say as much when Everly beat him to the punch.
“People need to mind their own business, Dad. That’s what’s shameful, not a daughter having a baby.” Everly rolled her eyes in a perfect imitation of Ronan.
“You’re right, honey,” Ten said, “but that’s not the way things were done back then. A lot of the girls who had babies at these kinds of homes gave them up for adoption and went back home to their old lives.”
“What? Woofie and Aurora were adopted because their parents died. Why would you give your baby away if you were alive to love them?” Everly looked more angry than confused.
“It was so that the girls could go back to school and have a chance to build a life for themselves.” Ten looked as if he was uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.
“A life? Being a mommyishaving a life, Dad.” Everly turned to Ronan. “What do you think?”
At first, Ronan had thought Everly didn’t belong in this conversation, but now, he felt like he didn’t either. “You’re seven years old, honey. Do you think you’d be ready to be a Mommy in eight years?”
“No way!” Everly said, with conviction. “I’ve got too much to do, Daddy! I’m gonna learn how to drive the Mustang and be prom queen with Aurora and go to college and travel!”
Ronan snickered. He’d make sure to remind Everly of this conversation when she was asked out on her first date. “That wasthe point of the St. Agnes House. The babies born there were adopted by good, Catholic families, and the girl gets to go back home and do all the things you just mentioned.”
“Do they get their babies back later on?” Everly asked.
“No, honey. Adoptions are forever.” Ronan’s heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice grip. This was undoubtedly the worst conversation he’d ever had with his daughter.
“So the baby never knows their Mommy?” Everly’s green eyes glittered with unshed tears.
“That’s right,” Ronan said gently.
“That sucks.” Everly swiped her eyes. “People suck.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Ten handed Everly a tissue.
Ronan couldn’t help but think this was just one more instance of Everly’s innocence slipping away. “What does the St. Agnes House have to do with Amanda?” He wanted to get the conversation back on track before Everly thought to ask if he and Ten would ever give her and Ezra away.
“Amanda was the name Natalie had picked out for her baby if it was a girl. She came to see me today to connect with her daughter. Natalie didn’t want to give Amanda up. She had plans to stay in Salem after the baby was born, to raise her daughter and work as a nurse.”
Anger stirred in Ronan’s gut. If the woman came to Ten to speak with her long dead child, why the hell did Everly need to know the backstory of teenage pregnancy and giving babies up for adoption?
“Take a breath, Ronan. I’m getting to why the entire story was necessary.” Ten grinned at his husband. “When I tried to contactAmanda, I couldn’t reach her. Natalie gave me the blanket her daughter had been wrapped in and I still couldn’t connect with her spirit.”
“I don’t understand. There are a lot of spirits you can’t connect with. I’ve asked you to reach out to James Dean a dozen times and you told me you can’t find him.” Ronan had questions for the long-dead hunk. Questions, and a little bit of flirting to do.
“Exactly, I couldn’t reach him,” Ten agreed. “Neither of us are related to James Dean and we don’t have an object that belonged to him. On the other hand, I can reach out and connect with your mother because we’re family.” Ten shot Ronan an expectant look, as if he were waiting for him to figure out something important.
“If Natlie is the mother and you had the baby’s blanket, you should have been able to reach her spirit…” Ronan trailed off, as he figured out what Ten was driving toward. “Holy shit! You think Amanda is alive?”
“Yeah, I do. Carson and Cope couldn’t reach her spirit either.” Ten smiled brightly for the first time in what felt like weeks.
“This is a miracle! We have to find Amanda! Reunite mother and daughter.” Ronan shook his head. He couldn’t believe what Tennyson was telling him. “What are our next steps?”
