As she looked at the goodies in front of her, Katie couldn’t help but think of her mother. What would it be like to go back to life without electricity? Life without a dishwasher? Of course, Mamm used bottled gas to operate her stove and refrigerator, but she still washed every dish by hand. Katie shuddered as she thought about that. There would be no going back to some things.
Pausing in front of a stainless steel refrigerator, Katie found herself captivated by its impressive size and appearance. She opened the door on the right and let out a whistle as she saw the space inside. “Man.” She could put a lot of food in there.
On the other hand, living alone meant she rarely kept a lot of food in the house, didn’t it? Why did she need so much space?
She opened the door on the left and gazed inside at the more-than-adequate freezer space. With such a spacious layout, she could almost envision it filled with all sorts of yummy things—ice cream, veggies, french fries, different kinds of meats, and so on.
And why not? The more Katie thought about it, the more she realized—If I had this much space, I could buy in bulk and save even more money.
Her thoughts began to shift, and she imagined herself married to Karl, raising a family. How could looking at a refrigerator stir up such imaginings? Still, she could almost picture herself reaching into this freezer to pull out food for her family.
My family.
Just as she’d done that day with the Morrisons, Katie thought about what it would be like to be married with a houseful of kids. All of the things she’d run away from years ago now held a delicious appeal.
And, ironically, so did this refrigerator.
Had the Lord really used a kitchen appliance to soften her heart? She had to laugh at the idea. Katie stepped back to give the side-by-side unit another once-over.
Just then her cell phone rang, startling her. Katie scrambled around in her purse, trying to locate it. When she saw Karl’s number, her heart began to beat double time. How did he know she’d been thinking about him? Was he somewhere in the store, spying on her perhaps? Looking at appliances of his own—ones that put him in mind of a wife and family?
“Hey, you,” she said, finally catching it on the fifth ring.
“Hi. Do. . .um. . .do you have a few minutes to talk?” Something in his voice sounded. . .off. Wrong.
“I’m in an appliance store. Are you okay?”
“No. I. . .um. . .I’m wondering if you could meet me someplace for a cup of coffee so we can talk.”
“Sure. I can do that.”
“Meet me at the coffee shop near the library.”
She sensed something was wrong and didn’t want to give up that easily. “Do you know something I don’t? Has something happened back home?”
“No, it’s nothing like that. Please just meet me and we can talk things through.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Katie shoved the phone back in her purse and headed for the door, nerves leading the way. She couldn’t begin to imagine what had Karl so upset. Something from work maybe? Regardless, he needed to talk to her, and she wanted to be there for him. Even if it meant interrupting her shopping spree.
Ten minutes later she arrived at P. A. Perk and noticed his car out front. She could see through the driver’s side window that he sat in the front seat, cell phone in hand. The call must be serious from the look on his face and the tightness in his jaw. His wrinkled brow did little to alleviate her concern. If anything, it deepened, particularly when he looked her way and frowned.
“Lord, help me,” Katie whispered. “I don’t have a clue what I’ve done, but I have the strangest feeling I’m about to be taken to the principal’s office.”
With a heavy heart, she took a step in his direction. If she could’ve found an open window, she might very well have jumped through it.
❧
Karl led the way into the coffee shop and took a seat. Katie gave him a curious glance. “You don’t want to order anything?” she asked.
“Not really.” The smell of coffee permeated the air, and he breathed it in, hoping for a few more seconds of peace before he split the room open with his news. “You go ahead and get whatever you like.” He reached for his wallet, but she gestured for him to put it away.
She flashed a dazzling smile, one that nearly caused him to lose sight of why he’d brought her here in the first place. “I’m a twenty-first-century girl. I don’t mind paying for my own coffee.”
After a playful wink, Katie made her way through the crowd up to the counter, where she ordered something with foam on top. Afterward, she joined him at the table, taking the seat across from him. “Now, tell me what’s happened.”
He drew in a deep breath and tried to decide how to begin. “Remember I told you about that situation at my church?”
“The legal problem?” She took a sip of her coffee then made a face. “Ooo. Hot.”
“Yes.” He paused, unsure of how to continue.
“Is there something I can help you with?” She put the cup down on the table and leaned forward to face him eye to eye. “Need some sort of help on my end? From a Realtor, I mean.”
“That would be putting it mildly.”
“Karl, what’s happening?”
He started with great care, guarding every word. “A few months ago one of the older ladies in my church—a Mildred Hamilton—passed away. She was a spitfire in every sense of the word. We’re talking about a really generous woman here, one who stayed involved in a variety of ministries till the very end.”
“Right.” Katie gave him a curious look. “She sounds great.”
“She was. Several months before she died, she drew up a will, leaving her property to the church. It was a godsend, because the congregation had almost outgrown the current facility.”
“That was very generous.” Katie shrugged. “She sounds like a generous lady.”
“Mildred was the best, in every sense of the word.” Karl tried to swallow the growing lump in his throat. Clearly Katie didn’t see where he was headed with all of this. “But the church has run into a problem.”
“What kind of a problem?” She took another sip of her coffee.
“Turns out her son, Brian, has a different copy of her will in his possession.”
The color drained from Katie’s face at once. She put the cup down on the table, nearly toppling it over. “Brian Hamilton?”
Karl nodded.
“My Brian Hamilton?”
Again he nodded. “I just found out today. The will we have is recent, very recent, in fact. But this Hamilton fellow says she wasn’t in her right mind when she signed it. If you knew Mildred, you’d know he’s grasping at straws. I’ve never known a woman of her age to be so levelheaded. She knew exactly what she was doing and involved a great many people to make sure she did it right.”
“Oh, Karl.” Katie leaned her forehead down into her hands and groaned. “This is awful. I pulled the listing immediately when I learned the property was still tied up in probate.”
“You did?” Relief washed over Karl. Maybe this wouldn’t turn out to be as complicated as he thought.
“Yes. I would never have listed it in the first place if Hamilton had been straight with me. And I can assure you, I had no idea this was, in any way, connected to a disputed will. Or a church, for that matter. Especially your church.”
“It’s connected, all right.”
Katie shook her head, and he could see the anger in her eyes. “The worst part is Hamilton led me to believe this would all be settled quickly, that the house could be relisted soon. I have clients waiting to purchase that house the moment it becomes available.”
“If I do my job, it won’t ever become available.”
“This is awful,” Katie said with a groan. “Seventy-two thousand dollars worth of awful. My commission just shot straight out of the window.” She looked up with a stunned expression on her face. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
It took him a minute
for her comment about the window to register. He responded with a simple, “Ah.”
“What am I supposed to do? Lose the sale permanently?” She raked her fingers through her hair. “Brian made it sound like it would just be a matter of time before this situation would be squared away. He told me a good attorney could poke holes in—” Here she put her hand over her mouth, her eyes growing wide. “Oh my goodness.”
“What?”
“When he told me that he needed an attorney, I gave him your contact information.”
Karl let out an exasperated groan. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“I did. But, again, we don’t really know. . .”
“I know one thing.” Karl exhaled loudly. “I know that someone is trying to take advantage of my church, someone who only made an appearance after his mother died, not before. And someone who didn’t think enough of his Realtor to tell her straight up she was listing a property that wasn’t yet available. That’s what I know.”
“Oh, Karl.”
“And I know that I’ve committed to help my pastor see this thing through to the end, which means I’m most assuredly going to end up in court.”
“Facing Brian Hamilton.”
Karl shifted his gaze. “And any Realtor who might try to move forward with a sale before this issue is settled. You can’t sell a house from an unsettled estate.”
Katie’s eyes filled with tears right away, and he wished he could take back his insinuation that she might do the wrong thing. Still, it was better that she understood the worst-case scenario. If she or anyone else from Bucks County Realty tried to force a sale, they could all very well end up in court—on opposite sides of the bench. Better to duke it out here, in a coffee shop, than in front of a county judge.
Hmm. From the look of pain in her eyes, he might stand a better chance in front of the judge.
FIFTEEN
The following afternoon, Katie sat alone in her office with the door closed, trying to collect her thoughts. She’d spent the better part of the morning on the phone with Brian Hamilton in confrontational mode. He admitted flat-out that he’d deliberately avoided telling her about the disputed will in their prior conversation. He also admitted his version of the will was the older one, written nearly ten years before his mother’s death.
Still, he planned to file a motion with the court to stop the church from acquiring the land, claiming they’d coerced his mother into signing the more recent will. He insisted it would just be a matter of time before the true ownership was established, but Katie knew better, based on her earlier conversation with Karl, who had committed to see this thing through to the end. The two opposing sides would be hung up in litigation for months, if not years.
Katie grieved not only the loss of income from the potential sale of the property but the damage this had done to both her reputation and her relationship with Karl.
She thought back to his words about fighting things out in the courtroom. Did he really think it would come to that? Surely he didn’t believe she would try to move forward with the sale of the property now, did he? He could accuse her of a great many things—breaking his heart, for instance—but she would never deliberately do something as unethical as that.
A wave of nausea swept over her as she thought about
Brian Hamilton. Now that she knew the truth, his whole story smelled contrived. Their most recent conversation had made things abundantly clear: he hardly knew his own mother. In fact, he could barely remember the name of her church or her pastor when pressed. He couldn’t remember the date of her death, or even her birthday, for that matter.
Katie contemplated this dilemma from every angle, drawing only one logical conclusion. She had to talk to Hannah, and quickly. Preferably before Madison’s birthday party, which was scheduled to begin in two hours. Picking up the phone, she punched in her cousin’s extension. Hannah agreed to meet with her in half an hour, after taking care of some important paperwork.
During that time, Katie rested her forehead in her hands and prayed. She wasn’t sure which hurt more—the loss of income from the sale or the look in Karl’s eyes last night. Surely he didn’t think the worst of her, not after the days they’d just spent together in Paradise. Still, the pain in his eyes surely reflected some degree of distrust.
And why not? Hadn’t she hurt him before? Maybe he had a right to think the worst of her now.
With a heavy heart, Katie prayed. As the words poured forth, she did her best to release both the anger and the betrayal she felt. She also asked the Lord to guide her future dealings with Karl and to open his eyes to the truth—that she had meant him no harm. After a bit more wrestling on the matter, Katie also released her hold on any monies related to the Hamilton property. Clearly the Lord never intended that commission to come her way in the first place. Letting go of it, at least from a psychological standpoint, was the only answer.
As she wrapped up her prayer time, a knock sounded at the door. “Katie? You in there?” She recognized her cousin’s voice at once.
“I’m here, Hannah. Come on in.”
Her cousin entered with a concerned look on her face. “You wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes.” Katie released a sigh, wishing the burden would ease. “It’s about the Hamilton property.”
“Yes!” Hannah’s face lit up. “I heard you’ve got a potential buyer. Congratulations. A family from California, right?”
Katie shook her head. “It’s not that simple, at least not anymore. I had a potential buyer. Now I’ve got a nightmare.”
“What do you mean?” Hannah dropped into a chair and gave her an inquisitive look.
Katie dove in headfirst. After hearing the opening lines of the story, her cousin’s smile quickly faded. “Oh, Katie. This is awful.” After hearing the rest, Hannah added, “There’s nothing you can do. You certainly can’t move forward. He can’t sell a property that doesn’t rightfully belong to him.”
“I’ve already removed the listing.” Katie shook her head, defeated. “And who knows? Maybe it really will belong to him in a few months, after he pays some savvy probate attorney a hefty fee to tear apart the church’s case. But even then I wouldn’t relist his house. I just couldn’t do that.”
“Because of Karl?”
“No.” Katie shook her head. “I mean, that’s part of it, of course. And I’m heartbroken over what Hamilton is trying to do to the people at this poor church. But primarily, I could never represent someone who didn’t fully disclose something of this magnitude, even if the judge happens to move in his favor.”
“Good for you.” Hannah gave her a concerned look. “But I know this has to hurt, Katie. I can see it in your eyes.”
“I can’t tell you what it’s doing to my confidence to lose a deal this big. I guess I really had my heart set on this one.”
Such an admission was tough but true. “ ‘The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.’” Hannah quoted the familiar scripture, and Katie’s heart jolted. Hadn’t she said the same thing the day Sara’s baby was born? Hadn’t God reminded her that He alone would fill the empty spaces? No commission in the world could fill that spot.
“I think I had all my eggs in one basket,” Katie said with a sigh. “I really can’t do that again. I counted on that money too much. Maybe God is trying to teach me something here.”
Hannah shrugged. “One of life’s tougher lessons, to be sure. But you’re a smart girl, Katie, and a savvy Realtor. This isn’t the end of the world. It’s a disappointment, sure, but at least you caught this before Hamilton accepted the Morrisons’ offer.”
“That’s another thing.” Katie let out a groan. “The Morrisons. They’re such a great family, and they love that house. They were willing to wait as long as it took. But when I heard what Hamilton had done to the people at Karl’s church, I called them back. Told them I wouldn’t be relisting at all. They were devastated.” She shook her head, remembering the disappointment in Debbie Morrison’s voice.
“So, you’ll sell them another house.” Hannah smiled, as if it were just that simple.
“On the lake?” Properties there were limited, to say the least.
“The Chandler place is still available.”
Katie frowned, thinking she’d misunderstood. “I thought Karl made an offer on the Chandler place.”
“He withdrew it today, as well as his offer on the Wilcox property.”
“Oh no. Poor Aimee.”
Hannah shrugged. “It didn’t make sense to me at the time, but I guess I understand it all now. Likely he considered working with anyone in our office a conflict of interest.” A hint of a smile graced her lips. “But hey. . .don’t give up the ship, and never underestimate the power of a mighty God. He can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it to good. And you never know, the Morrisons might just fall in love with the Chandler farm. It’s near the lake, too, and on some of the prettiest acreage in Bucks County.”
“And much less expensive than the Hamilton acreage,” Katie agreed. She was reminded at once of Karl’s reason for wanting to buy that property in the first place. He wanted to see the land preserved. If the California transplants considered the idea, then Mrs. Morrison could have her garden and Karl would get the one thing he wanted most— someone who cared about the land and the home.
“If they go for it, I’ll let Aimee keep the whole commission.”
Hannah laughed. “That’s a generous offer, and one I’m sure she’ll debate, but the purity of your heart is evident, Katie.” She paused and offered a pensive look. “And that’s another thing. . .your motives have always been crystal clear. Anyone who might think less of you because of this situation doesn’t know you like I do.”
Katie shrugged. She wondered if Karl would ever see her as anything other than a money-hungry Realtor, willing to break the rules to get what she wanted.
Red, White and Blue Weddings: Red Like Crimson, White as Snow, Out of the Blue Page 40