After ten minutes of greeting others, Delilah’s eyes fell upon Mother Abigail. She was stunning in her winter white. Mother Abigail wore all of her family jewels for the occasion. Her fox fur stole around her shoulders was pinned to the front of her by a diamond family broach she once promised to pass down to her granddaughter if Delilah could ever conceive a Montgomery heir again. What a joke. Mother Abigail said a few parting words to several of the ladies on the board and started toward her.
The stares from the other women she once called friends weren’t all due to Delilah’s scandal. It wasn’t even because of her appearance. It was because of what she revealed when she shed her winter white coat. Delilah broke tradition. She was the only woman in the room in a scarlet red dress. The Women’s League Brunch was always a winter white affair. A nod to the approaching spring and refined dignity of the ladies. It had been a tradition for over 100 years.
“What are you doing here dressed like that?” Mother Abigail grabbed Delilah by the elbow and yanked her away from listening ears. “Have you no shame!”
“Let go of me,” Delilah snatched her arm away. “Touch me again, and I will give you shame. The same kind of shame you’ve been given me with your lies.”
“This is not the place or the time for you to embarrass yourself,” Mother Abigail said. She smiled at the arriving guests. She had a way of speaking without moving her lips whenever she was angry. “I thought you knew better than to make a spectacle of yourself by showing up this evening.”
“I’m not here to embarrass myself,” Delilah said.
“Oh no, that dress is quite embarrassing,” Mother Abigail smirked.
“I have been Mistress of Ceremonies for the past five years. I have a seat on the council for charitable donations and a paid position on the board. Have I been fired?”
“Trust me, honey, it’s coming,” Mother Abigail said.
“Well, if I’m fired, then I’m sure everyone will be interested in hearing what I have to say. Like your lies!” Delilah said. Mother Abigail’s eyes stretched in horror and then swept the faces of everyone staring. She turned her hate-filled gaze back on Delilah.
“Follow me,” said Mother Abigail.
Delilah followed her mother-in-law out of the reception area to a more discreet location. But the night would not end discreetly. She had every intention of making sure of it.
Chapter Fourteen
SECRETS & LIES I DO Despise
“You were born with brains. I’ll give you that. God, he blessed you there, but he sure did overlook common sense.” Mother Abigail said in a weary, almost mockingly gentle tone. She marched into the bathroom to continue her dignified performance. The assistant, who trailed Abigail everywhere, positioned herself outside the bathroom door like the Queen’s guard. She ensured the ladies would not be heard or disturbed.
“I’m glad you came,” Abigail glanced back over her shoulder at Delilah. “I’m done tolerating your disrespect. Say what you came to say to me, and then leave before you embarrass yourself and Charles any further.”
“Charles? You think this is about Charles?” Delilah asked.
“Forgive me, I forget you’ve moved on. Charles is gone, and you want everything the Montgomery name gave you when he was alive. It’s not enough to take our family home. You want it all. The tradition and respectability.”
Delilah chuckled.
“You think I’m a comedian, dear?” Mother Abigail asked with the cross of her arms.
“No. Nothing you say is funny.” Delilah sighed and locked eyes with her nemesis to make sure her intention in her warning was clear. “One more insult, and I’ll take what I have to say to you to the microphone out there and share it in front of everyone.” She set her purse down on the sink. Mother Abigail unpinned her fur stole from around her shoulders and placed it on the vanity. She acted as if she were ready to go to war. Delilah knew that wasn’t her mother in-law’s style. The verbal assault would be far worse and harmful. To think at one time, she admired the woman, wanted to become her, did everything to seek her approval. What a fool she had been.
“Tyson has left the Senate. Have you heard? My son. The first black man to be elected to the Senate in this state has been disgraced because of you. Do you understand what that means?”
“The question, is do I care?” Delilah replied.
Mother Abigail seethed. “Oh, you will care. Trust me, sweetheart. Because now, the federal investigation has moved into the Montgomery Trust. I have all kinds of audits being conducted, and you’re trapped in that web too. But you’re nowhere to be found to clean up the mess you created. The only way to keep this family’s legacy alive is through our philanthropy. You know that. I taught you that. It is rare to have a dynasty for African Americans as rich and prosperous as the Montgomerys? Over a century of prosperity! Freeman. No slaves. This family built it all!” Mother Abigail shouted so loud she had to catch herself. She turned the mirror and fixed her curls before she spoke again. “I know you don’t respect me. I understand, but what about what Charles, his brothers, his father, and the men before him built? You owe them all more respect than this.”
“What about what he owed me? I didn’t believe you when you said he told you that my fertility issues were my fault. But I should have. I didn’t believe you when you said he told you that Noah didn’t look like me because we used another egg donor. But I should have. Because Charles was the King of Lies, except when it came to the Queen.”
“Oh, please! He saved you!” Mother Abigail sputtered out the words.
“We saved each other. That’s what I was taught in my marriage. Charles groomed me. Molded me. Saved me, and I saved him from you. All of it was a game for him. He was a master manipulator. He started working me when I was seventeen. And you and him both used me, my family, my childhood trauma. Didn’t you? Your interest in me didn’t start when I was twelve. It started when three little girls brought scandal to Falcon Cove.”
“Not this again,” Abigail rolled her eyes.
“Ten years old. We didn’t understand the coverup the adults wanted to do. Who pushed for Goodiva’s parents to drop the charges after the police arrested her father for attacking Mr. Collins? And who was it that pushed for Queen’s mother to take that measly payoff and not press charges against the man who molested her? Who came across the tracks and met the black church leaders and said that we as a community should bury the secret. It was you. Wasn’t it?”
Mother Abigail chuckled. “You three little girls started a chain of events that would have ripped this town apart. We don’t have racial tensions here. No other children accused Collins of touching them. Even you said he never touched you. Queen was a broken child from a broken home, and Goodiva had only just moved into this town. Very impressionable. You all were lying. I did you a favor.”
“What happened to us wasn’t because of our race. It was simply because we were children. He was a monster, and don’t fool yourself into thinking we were the only ones. Monsters like him have many victims.”
“How is that my fault?” Abigail asked.