Chapter 5 - THE MAID WHO BELONGED TO THE FAMILY
“Hannah Bennett?”
Luca stared at his grandmother.
For a moment, he wondered whether he'd misunderstood her.
“The woman taking care of Lily?”
Sofia nodded.
Luca stood so quickly his chair scraped against the floor.
“No.”
“Luca—”
“No. Hannah is twenty-eight. She can't be the baby born in 1987.”
Sofia closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I am saying Hannah Bennett is connected to the little girl. Not that she is the infant herself.”
Luca looked at her.
“Nonna, you just told me she was.”
“I told you the name Richard gave me when I demanded to know where Elizabeth's daughter had gone.”
The distinction settled heavily between them.
Luca sat back down.
“Richard gave you Hannah's name?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I believe he wanted me to stop searching.”
“Because Hannah wasn't the girl?”
Sofia nodded.
“The dates don't fit. But there was something about her family he desperately wanted me not to discover.”
Luca looked toward the adjoining room.
Through the glass panel, he could see Hannah helping Lily choose a picture book from a shelf.
Hannah was patient.
She waited when Lily needed time to sign.
She never finished the child's sentences.
And she'd risked losing her job to tell him what Lily had seen.
“Why didn't you tell me any of this?” he asked.
Sofia looked ashamed.
“Because I thought I could fix it before you learned how many years we'd wasted.”
“Thirty-two years.”
“I know.”
“That's not something you can repair with another secret.”
Sofia's eyes filled.
“You sound exactly like Elizabeth.”
Luca looked down at the necklace.
“Was Elizabeth my mother?”
Sofia hesitated.
“I don't want to give you another answer that turns out to be incomplete.”
“Then tell me only what you know.”
The elderly woman nodded.
“Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter. Margaret gave birth to a son. Salvatore believed Margaret's boy was his.”
“And me?”
Sofia's lips trembled.
“The hospital records Richard showed us identified you as Elizabeth's son.”
Luca frowned.
“But Elizabeth had a daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Then somebody altered the records.”
“That is what I've suspected for years.”
He looked toward the door.
“And Hannah?”
“Her mother was one of the young nurses working in the maternity ward when the hospital fire occurred.”
Luca stared at her.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Sofia nodded.
“Her maiden name was Clara Ellis.”
Luca felt a new piece of the puzzle slide into place.
Hannah's widowed mother.
The woman Vanessa's foundation had been helping.
The woman whose medical bills made Hannah afraid to lose her job.
“Why didn't you tell Hannah?”
“Because Clara asked me not to.”
Luca leaned forward.
“You spoke to her?”
“Six months ago.”
“About the hospital?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Sofia's eyes lowered.
“She told me she had spent thirty-nine years trying to forget that night.”
Luca looked at the photograph again.
“There must be something Clara knows.”
“She does,” Sofia said.
“But she wouldn't tell me until she knew where the missing girl was.”
Luca felt exhausted.
Every answer led to another locked door.
“Why did you hire Hannah?” he asked.
Sofia's expression softened.
“I recommended her for the position because her references were excellent. Because Lily needed someone who understood her. And because I hoped Clara might finally trust us.”
Luca stared at his grandmother.
“You brought Hannah into this house because of her mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell either of us.”
Sofia nodded.
It was the first time Luca had ever seen his grandmother look truly defeated.
“I thought I was protecting everyone.”
“You were protecting the secret.”
The words hurt her.
He could see that.
But he didn't take them back.
A few minutes later, Luca asked Hannah to join them.
Lily remained in the family room with Marcus, watching a cartoon with captions.
Hannah entered cautiously.
“Is everything all right?”
Luca gestured toward a chair.
“There's something you deserve to know.”
Hannah sat.
Sofia reached for her hand.
“Your mother worked at St. Catherine's Hospital, didn't she?”
Hannah frowned.
“Yes. Before I was born.”
“Has she ever spoken about a fire there?”
Hannah looked surprised.
“Not much. She said it was the worst night of her life.”
Sofia nodded.
“Do you know whether she kept anything from that time?”
“My mother has a cedar trunk in her bedroom. Old uniforms. Letters. Things from before she married my father.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Hannah, do you know a woman named Margaret Whitmore?”
Hannah thought for a moment.
“No.”
“Elizabeth Moretti?”
“Only what I've heard about your mother.”
Sofia's face tightened.
Hannah looked between them.
“What's going on?”
Luca placed the photograph on the table.
“Thirty-nine years ago, there was a fire at the hospital where I was born. Some birth records were changed. We believe your mother may know what happened.”
Hannah studied the picture.
The woman holding the baby looked familiar somehow.
Not because she'd seen her before.
Because of something about the blanket.
She touched the embroidered corner.
“My mother has one of these.”
Luca stared at her.
“What?”
“A blanket with a little blue bird.”
Sofia's eyes widened.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. She keeps it inside the cedar trunk.”
Luca looked at his grandmother.
For the first time, Sofia appeared almost hopeful.
Hannah withdrew her hand.
“Why are you asking about my mother?”
Luca answered carefully.
“Because I think Richard Hale has been keeping your mother quiet.”
Hannah's expression changed.
“My mother has never even met Richard Hale.”
Sofia whispered, “That's what he wants you to believe.”
Hannah stood.
“I need to call her.”
Luca nodded.
But when Hannah reached for her phone, she saw a message from her younger brother, Daniel.
Daniel was twenty-two and deaf.
He lived with their mother in a modest house outside Quincy.
The message contained a photograph.
It showed their front door.
A dark sedan was parked at the curb.
Below the picture, Daniel had written:
Mom says a man came to talk about your job. He knew about the hospital. She's really upset.
Hannah called immediately.
Daniel answered through video.
He was standing in the kitchen.
Hannah signed quickly.
Is Mom okay?
Daniel nodded, but his face was tense.
She's sitting in her room.
Who came?
Old man. Gray hair. Nice coat.
Hannah felt cold.
She held the phone toward Luca.
“Show him the picture of Richard.”
Luca displayed a photograph from his contacts.
Daniel studied it.
Then nodded.
That's him.
Luca turned to Marcus.
“Send someone to the Bennett house immediately. Nobody approaches them without Hannah's permission.”
Hannah continued signing.
Did he hurt Mom?
Daniel shook his head.
No. They argued.
About what?
Daniel hesitated.
Then he disappeared from the screen.
A few seconds later, he returned carrying a folded piece of paper.
Mom told me to hide this.
He held it toward the camera.
It was a ticket stub.
A faded blue boarding pass from a ferry that once traveled between Boston and Provincetown.
Printed across the bottom was a date.
October 15, 1987.
Three days after Luca's birth.
On the reverse, someone had written:
CLARA — TAKE THE GIRL TO THE HARBOR. DON'T TRUST RICHARD.
Hannah stared at the screen.
“Daniel, where did Mom get that?”
He signed:
She said she was supposed to take a baby somewhere.
Hannah swallowed.
Did she?
Daniel looked toward their mother's bedroom.
May you like
Then he signed a sentence that made Hannah's heart pound.
Mom says the baby never got on the ferry.
