“I don’t believe anything is left uncovered,” Clover said, thoughtful. “This information does not change Kari’s ability to inherit since she is Michael Granger’s daughter, whether that is his real name or not. It will complicate the probate process while identities are sorted out and delay its closure a little, but it can be overcome.”
Clover stood to his feet. “Detective. We owe you a debt of gratitude for Kari’s sake, and I wonder if you would allow me a great favor?”
“What is that, Mr. Brunell?”
“Would you allow me to be present when Kari is told? I think she trusts me. At this time she knows me better than she yet knows her own family. I may be of help assuring her of the truth when it is revealed.”
Alannah returned to her hotel exhausted and elated at the same time. She thought how helpful it would be to have Clover Brunell present when they revealed the truth to Kari on the following Friday.
Who names their kid Clover, for heaven’s sake! Alannah chuckled.
Clover had assured Alannah that he and possibly his wife would attend. Owen Washington had also asked if he could come.
Putting all these people up in RiverBend presented a logistical problem—as they knew from past family reunions. A few of the Thoresens had extra bedrooms, but Matthew was asking as many attendees as could manage it to bring their campers, fifth wheels, or trailers. When the clans were gathered, Søren and Ilsa’s pasture would resemble an RV park.
It was going on six o’clock in Louisiana, but was not yet five o’clock in Denver. Alannah dialed Quan’s number from memory.
Alannah’s voice was shaking. “Uncle Quan? I met with Kari’s attorneys and it is true—all of it. Kari’s ‘Great-Uncle Peter’ was Dean Morgan, and her father, Michael Granger, was baby Edmund.”
She heard Quan’s long sigh of relief over the long-distance line. “You are certain?” Emotion roughened his words.
“Yes. I’m positive. Kari’s attorney knew Peter Granger personally and identified him from the old mug shots I have.”
“It is all so . . . incredible! After all these years . . .” His voice trailed off as he tried to absorb her news.
“And guess what?” Alannah added. “This attorney even knew Edmund! They were friends as boys and young men. You won’t believe what he told me . . .”
When they finished talking and hung up, Quan immediately called Matthew. “Alannah has confirmed it—Kari is Edmund’s daughter! And there is more . . .”
Kari was in the lobby at six that evening when Quan said he would pick her up. An-Shing and Fen-Bai were in the car also.
“Hello, Fen-Bai!” Kari was happy to see the woman again. “Hello, An-Shing.”
“Good evening, Ms. Hillyer,” he answered.
“I hope everyone will just call me Kari,” she replied. “I am done with the Hillyer name anyway. Kari is just fine.”
They met Sean Carmichael at the restaurant. “Oh! Isn’t Alannah joining us?” Kari’s disappointment was visible.
“She had to leave town for a few days,” was all Sean said on that score. “She did, before she left, tell me what a blessed time she had with you at Palmer House.”
“She did?” Kari wondered if the “blessed time” Alannah had related to Sean included a rendering of what Kari was now calling her “God Encounter.” That experience was so precious to her that she didn’t know if she wanted it spoken of lightly or shared with everyone.
“She merely said that you toured the house, had some good conversation, and that you were deeply touched.”
Alannah had not spoken to anyone about what she’d witnessed on the second floor of Palmer House. She, too, felt it such a sacred experience that she was still reflecting on what she had seen and what Kari had experienced.
As dinner progressed, Quan often found himself studying Kari. Armed with Alannah’s news, he could scarcely keep himself from blurting it to Kari.
Lord, help us to reveal this secret to Kari with compassion, he prayed. What we tell her this weekend will turn her life upside down—for good, I believe. Nevertheless, it will be a shock to her. Please help us to be tenderhearted as we reveal this truth to her.
When Quan returned Kari to her hotel he gave her scrawled driving directions to RiverBend and to Søren and Ilsa Thoresen’s farm. “Their farm is a few miles from town but the roads aren’t too bad.”
Kari frowned. “Gravel roads?”
Quan smiled. He clearly saw the wheels turning in Kari’s mind as she considered the information and its impact on her car. “Keep your speed way down. The roads will be dusty, but if you drive reasonably there will be less of a likelihood of chipping the paint on your car.”
“All right. So these Thoresens? They are really expecting me tomorrow?”
“Yes; they said they have a room ready for you and they hoped you would stay for a few days on the farm, just relaxing and getting the feel of the place.”
What Søren had said was, “This is a working farm, Uncle Quan! What am I supposed to do with a city woman for a week and two days? Yes, I’m so glad we’ve solved the mystery of Edmund’s kidnapping and I’ll be happy to meet another cousin and all, but you know how we’re struggling to stay afloat here.”
“I know, Søren, I know. She may surprise you, though. I think she will chip in and end up being a help. Just do whatever you need to do to keep her there until we arrive next Friday ahead of the family gathering. Whatever happens—don’t let her leave before then!”
~~**~~
Chapter 20
The bellboy finished putting Kari’s bags in the trunk of her Caddy and Kari thanked him, handing him a five dollar bill, something she’d seen others do.
This tipping generously is a little hard to get used to, Kari reflected, glad she had thought to have a little cash in her wallet. David was too stingy to tip except when he was trying to impress someone, and I never had the money—or much opportunity. Being wealthy is going to be an adjustment in more ways than one.
Kari tipped the valet, too—the same valet who had complimented her on her car yesterday. He grinned and saluted; Kari laughed out loud, slipped on her sunglasses, and pulled away from the hotel. She had tucked her large handbag, with Rose’s journal safe within, under the passenger seat.
Kari drove north toward a ramp that would put her on I-76. It would lead, eventually, to I-80 eastbound. According to Quan’s directions, she would leave the interstate somewhere in the middle of Nebraska and find her way to her destination on smaller roads.
I’m on my way now, going to RiverBend where Rose and Jan married, where Joy was born, where they lived on a homestead, for heaven’s sake! She was excited for the trip and the opportunity to see Rose’s old homestead, but she was less than enthusiastic about meeting more total strangers just so she could talk to them about Rose.
Particularly after my odd experience with the Liáng family! she thought with a laugh.
She would do it, though, because Quan had already made the arrangements and, as he had said, the Thoresens would be disappointed if she did not come.
It will be all right, she assured herself. But it was that glow down in her belly, the warmth that seemed to overspread her, even calming her normal anxieties, that was truly reassuring. It seemed as though her new relationship with God was already impacting so many things in her life.
She thought about what she’d read in her hotel room’s Bible last evening. Some of it was astonishing; some of it was wonderful. Some of it just confused her, but Quan said not to worry too much about the confusing parts, to just keep reading and that clarity would come over time.
This bit, though, had thrilled Kari to the marrow of her bones:
Marvel not at this:
for the hour is coming,
in the which
all that are in the graves
shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth;
they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life;
and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection
of damnation.
This is like what Rose wrote about, Kari breathed, amazed. The resurrection of life! And for the first time she realized that her surrender to Jesus had saved her from hell and had made her a candidate for the resurrection. For seeing her parents again.
When her mind had grasped this sea change for her future, she could not help it: She burst into joyful, grateful tears, crying again and again, “O, thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Jesus!”
Then, after breakfast this morning, at the last instant of her packing, she realized that she would have to leave the hotel’s Bible behind—and she had almost panicked. She called down to the front desk in a dither.
“Hello? Yes. Kari Hillyer in 207. Can you tell me if there is somewhere nearby to buy a Bible?”
A muddled silence greeted her.
“Hello?”
The woman at the desk had likely not been asked that before and floundered a moment. “Uh, Ms. Hillyer, let me just ask the assistant manager. He’s right across the hall.”
As it turned out, the assistant manager knew of a bookstore that was down the street and around the corner; however, it would not open until 10 a.m. Kari needed to be on the road much sooner than that.
“I’ll just buy one the next time I see a bookstore,” she told herself, but she worried a little about it because she didn’t want to go a night without dipping her heart into the words that were stirring her so.
Kari drove out of the mountains of Colorado, marveling at the vast land spread before her in the morning light. The foothills gave way to the plains, bathed in purples and gold and a vast land stretching into the distance.
The sun grew too warm on her head by eleven in the morning, so she pulled off the road and put the roof of the Caddy up. She kept driving; an hour later she stopped in a small town and got a bite to eat for lunch.
Still hours later Kari left the highway by means of a lonely exit ramp and overpass that put her on the other side of the interstate. She began to drive along a dusty but paved road that fronted the highway on one side and low, undulating hills on the other. Following Quan’s directions, she drove over railroad tracks and turned north into a land spread with wheat and corn fields with the occasional glimpse of farmhouse and barn.
Kari crossed over some old, disused tracks and, caught by surprise, found herself in the town of RiverBend. The “town” was not much more than a main street with a line of buildings on both sides, a few of which were closed up.
She noted a small grocery, hardware store, post office, library, and café open for business. She drove through a blinking yellow light and stopped at the café to get a soft drink to go and to use their facilities.
The café’s inside door was propped open and Kari caught the flow of cool air blowing through the screen door. As Kari reached for the screen door’s handle she stopped short, astounded and in awe. Just to the left of the door was an aging metal sign.
Kari’s fingers traced the words: Lost Are Found. She was amazed to see the sign here in RiverBend, but beyond her surprise, the sight of the three words etched new meaning in Kari’s heart. I was lost . . . and you found me, Lord! she marveled. You truly are an awesome God!
A young woman, maybe just a girl, spoke from within the cool shadows of the café. “It’s a hot one. Can I get you something cool to drink?”
The girl opened the screen door for Kari and saw that she still touched the sign nailed to the building’s outside wall. She seemed to study Kari before saying, “Do you know what that sign means?”
Kari’s smile was half amusement, half chagrin. “I’m learning it means more than just one thing.”
“Oh?”
Kari’s hand dropped from the sign and she stepped into the welcome coolness of the little restaurant. “Yes. And I was surprised to see one here. I saw my first one on Monday. In Denver.”
“Palmer House, right?” The girl, her blonde hair cut short in a manner that reminded Kari of Mixxie, was still appraising Kari as she stepped behind the old-fashioned wooden lunch counter.
The café was empty except for the two of them. Kari took a seat on one of the bar stools at the counter. “That’s right. How do you know about Palmer House?”
The girl smiled. She picked up a blender jar and started adding ice, frothy juice, syrups, and ice cream to it. “I’m Sunny. My great-grandmother Esther owned this place. It was a clothing store back in the day. It’s been passed down, four generations now.”
She stirred the ingredients before screwing on the blender’s bottom. “In fact, I practically teethed on this counter when I was a kid. From what my grandmother told me, Esther and a good friend of hers moved here from Denver and had quite a number of tales to tell about Palmer House and . . . how they owed their lives to Rose and Joy Thoresen.”
“Esther? No kidding!” Kari leaned her elbows on the counter. “I’ve read about Esther. So she’s your great-grandmother, huh?”
Sunny grinned. “Yup. The skeleton in the family closet. Except she never shied away from talking about her past.”
“And Rose Thoresen! I’m in RiverBend sort of researching her life.” Kari looked around. “I mean, what are the odds I’d just run into someone else whose ancestor knew her? I can’t believe how much she impacted the lives of others.”
Sunny ran the blender without saying anything and poured the contents into a tall glass. She added a straw and a maraschino cherry, set the glass on a napkin, and slid it in front of Kari. “Here you go. On the house.”
“What? I mean, you didn’t have to—”
“It’s my pleasure, Kari. It’s my own little concoction; I call it my ‘Summer Sizzle Solution.’”
Kari stared at her and did not reach for the drink. “How did you know my name?”
Sunny wiped the counter where a little condensation dripped from the glass. “Mixxie called me. Said I’d see you rolling into town shortly.” Sunny jerked her head toward the door. “Said I’d know you by your ride. Hard to miss a classic red Cadillac.”
“Mixxie.” The name fell from Kari’s mouth dripping with derision.
“Yeah, that’s our Mixxie. Some folks don’t have a suspicious bone in their body. Mixxie and I have been friends a long time, but I’d say Mixxie hasn’t a bone in her body that isn’t suspicious. What do you think?” Sunny’s eyes twinkled with suppressed mirth.
“I’d be hard-pressed not to agree with you, Sunny. Mixxie and I didn’t exactly . . . hit it off.”
Sunny laughed aloud and Kari joined her. “Yup. Now I know you’ve met our Mixxie,” Sunny grinned.
Still laughing, Kari took a sip of the drink Sunny had made for her. “Wow. This is fabulous.”
“Thanks.”
Kari sipped on the frosty drink and thought about what Sunny had told her. “So, I’m still a little hazy about the whole ‘Lost Are Found’ movement. Alannah and Shan-Rose said Joy started it. Isn’t it about finding lost children? Is that why you have a sign out front?”
Sunny nodded. “Yes, but as you said, the term has more than one meaning.” Her eyes glinted as she bent another examining look on Kari. “To the women Rose and Joy rescued from prostitution, it meant redemption.”
But, that’s like me! Kari realized. “So is that why you have a ‘Lost Are Found’ sign next to your door? Because your great-grandmother was one of the women Rose and Joy rescued?”
Sunny looked away. “Yes, she was, even though she came here to RiverBend instead of living at Palmer House. But ‘Lost Are Found’ meant more than that. To Joy and her husband the words had a deeply personal meaning.”
Sunny slanted a peek at Kari. “The phrase became a talisman of sorts among the Thoresens and their many friends, so Billy and Mr. Wheatley made the ‘Lost Are Found’ signs. A lot of the families put them next to their doors. Parents to children, down through the years, the signs remained as symbols. To remind them . . . and, later, us.”
“Remin
d them of what?”
Sunny shrugged. “That God would be faithful to his promises . . . and return something that had gotten . . . lost.”
Kari looked up from her straw. “Huh. So what got lost?”
Sunny shrugged again. “You’re going on to Søren and Ilsa’s, aren’t you?”
Kari faltered a moment before answering. I’m sure getting tired of everyone knowing my every move, she grumbled within herself. “Yes. I’ll be staying with them a few days.”
“Well, the Thoresens can fill you in on all the details. It’s a family thing, after all.” Sunny clamped her lips together, turned her back on Kari, and started cleaning the blender. “You know, some of us younger ones stopped believing in the whole ‘Lost Are Found’ myth.”
With her back still to Kari, Sunny muttered, but loud enough for Kari to hear, “We may have to reconsider that decision.”
Kari finished her drink in silence. She thanked Sunny again and walked outside. Up and down the street she saw only a few cars parked at the curbs and two individuals walking.
As she put the car roof down and climbed into it, she was pondering the uncomfortable and intrusive fact that Mixxie had called ahead to alert Sunny of Kari’s arrival. When Kari turned the key, she was thinking on all Sunny had told her about the ‘Lost Are Found’ signs and chewing on Sunny’s last, cryptic words.
When she drove north out of town she was still puzzled. This is—by far—the strangest bunch of people I have ever met, she decided. Nice, yes. But strange.
Kari drove out of the little town and onto an endless prairie sea. This land goes on forever! she marveled in fearful awe. How in the world did the settlers who came here ever find their way? Even with roads, if I didn’t have directions I would be terrified of getting lost!
The pavement had ended at the edge of town and turned to dirt and gravel. As Quan had suggested, she drove slowly. For what seemed like miles and miles.
At each marked and unmarked “intersection” she checked the directions Quan had given her and made the appropriate turns. The road started to rise and, abruptly, the Caddy crested a hill. Kari found herself driving along the edge of a bluff and spotted a lazy stream rolling along below her. From the bluff she could see the prairie for far around and she was spellbound. Feeling ‘on top of the world,’ she even picked up her speed.
Lost Are Found (A Prairie Heritage, Book 6) Page 24