Spells of the Heart by Ellen Dugan

Author:Ellen Dugan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Ellen Dugan
Published: 2017-06-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

We stared at each other silently, for a long moment.

“Let’s take this upstairs,” Duncan suggested.

I nodded, and Duncan scooped up the last of the nails from the floor, dumping them in a trash bag. I started up to the kitchen and he followed me. I set the box down on the table and while Duncan went outside to dump the garbage from the basement clean-up, I dampened a paper towel at the sink and wiped down the outside of the metal box.

“I have to admit,” I said after wiping off my hands. “This makes me a little nervous.” I sat at the table and waited for Duncan.

“Maybe it’s a time capsule.” Duncan finished washing up at the sink and sat beside me. “It’s not even locked.”

“Well, here goes.” I flipped up the clasp and lifted the lid.

Inside the metal box were papers, documents and old photos. The top photo showed two women standing arm in arm. They wore summer dresses, sunglasses and huge smiles. I recognized one of the women in the photo immediately. It was Irene Bishop.

In seconds, that photo changed everything. “Oh my goddess.” I flipped the photo over and saw the words, ‘Taylor and Irene 1968’ had been written in pencil on the back. I turned it back over and took in the details of the snapshot.

“What?” Duncan asked.

I held the photo up for Duncan to see. “The woman on the right? That is Irene Bishop in 1968.”

“Wow, she was a stunner.”

“That’s not what is shocking to me,” I said.

Duncan frowned over the photo. “She’s on a beach, Florida maybe.”

“And she’s heavily pregnant!” When Duncan stared at me, I rushed to explain. “According to the family tree and history, Irene Bishop never married and never had any children!”

I passed him the picture and gently began to go through the contents of the box. What I found next had me gasping again. “These are adoption papers.” I gently unfolded the documents and we studied them together.

“So Irene gave up her child for adoption?” Duncan ran a finger down the page. “Says here that the adoptive parents are Vance and Taylor Sutton.”

I grabbed the photo, flipped it over. “Taylor and Irene.” I read.

“Which means that Irene knew the couple who adopted her child,” Duncan decided.

I reached in and pulled out another official looking, smaller document. “This is a birth certificate.” I began to read. “The baby was a girl. Born August 21, 1968. Six pounds, eleven ounces, twenty inches long.” I scanned the parental information next. “Mother: Irene Catherine Bishop.”

“Who was the father?” Duncan asked.

I skimmed my finger down the certificate, and what I saw had my jaw dropping. “Father: Phillip Samuel Drake.”

“That would have been my great-uncle.” Duncan blew out a long breath. “What else is in the box?”

We meticulously went through the rest of the contents. We found a black and white photo of Irene and Phillip together that was dated 1966. I recognized Phillip from the picture Olivia had given me, and the newspaper photo I had found during my internet search.

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