A Place of Refuge

by Janet Lee Barton

  “I didn’t know you’d be needing a photograph. I’m not much on having mine taken.”

  Kathleen wondered if she were going to refuse to have her picture taken. “Neither am I, so I understand. But—”

  Reba’s hand came up and sliced the air—in almost the exact same way Kathleen had seen Mrs. Heaton do on numerous occasions. The breath caught in her throat as she waited to hear what Reba had to say.

  “But since it’s necessary... I’ll have time to freshen up a bit before you take it.”

  Kathleen released a silent sigh of relief as Reba poured them both a cup of tea. “I’ll need one of you and Jenny, if it’s all right.”

  “I guess so, if you must have them for the record, I suppose I don’t really have a choice. I’ll go get her from Mrs. Connor’s when you’re ready.”

  “You know it never hurts to have a picture or two of yourself and your loved ones. We never know what might happen that we might need it.”

  The color drained from Reba’s face and Kathleen quickly tried to explain. “My parents passed away before my sister and I came here. If not for their photographs, I think I would have forgotten what they looked like.”

  Kathleen was almost sure that there were tears in Reba’s eyes as she quickly turned to get a plate of cookies and bring them to the table.

  “I’m sorry for your loss, Kathleen. And you are right. Photographs would be good to have.”

  Glad that was settled, Kathleen pulled out the forms she needed filled out and they began to go over them. She let Reba fill them out, hoping that it would give her and Luke the information they needed to find out if she was Mrs. Heaton’s daughter. She wasn’t familiar with feeling deceitful to anyone and didn’t like it, but they had to find out the truth.

  Reba was from Virginia and she was twenty-one—younger than Kathleen—and on her own with a child to raise alone. “Does your family still live in Virginia?”

  “As far as I know.” Reba’s head was bent over the paper as she filled it out.

  Evidently she hadn’t kept contact with them after she left. Kathleen opened her mouth to ask why, but that question was not on the form and she really didn’t know Reba well enough to ask something that personal. At least not now. But her heart went out to the younger woman and she prayed that she might be Mrs. Heaton’s daughter—and that if she were, it would bring joy and not heartache to both women.

  Reba had finished filling out the paperwork and they were enjoying another cup of tea and getting to know each other a little better when Luke came back.

  “Oh, my, time went by fast,” Reba said. “I’d best run down to Mrs. Connor’s and get Jenny so we can get ready for that picture-taking. Please, Mr. Patterson, have a seat and some tea. I’m sure Kathleen will be glad to fix you a cup. I’ll be right back.” With that she hurried out the door, leaving Luke and Kathleen waiting for her.

  “We get to take a picture of her daughter, too?”

  “Yes. I came up with that one on my own, thank you.” Kathleen grinned at him.

  “It’s a good idea.” He crossed the room in a hurry and pulled out his camera from its bag. “Have you used one of these before?”

  “No.”

  “Well, this is a Number 2 Bulls-Eye Kodak and it’s easy to use.” He pointed out the features to her. “This is where you look through the lens and this is the key you use to advance the film. And this is the shutter to take the picture.”

  “And I just slide this to take the picture?” She touched the small slide.

  “That’s all you have to do.” He handed it to her. “Here, get the feel of it before she gets back.” He handed it to her and she looked through the lens at him, and he smiled. She quickly slid the slide and heard a click. “I think I got you.”

  “I think you did, too.” He smiled and the look in his eyes had her pulse racing as he approached her. “Now just turn the key to advance the film. And now it’s my turn.”

  He took the camera from her and stood back a ways. “You can’t exactly refuse to let me take your picture when you took mine without even asking.”

  “I’m sorry, Luke.” She laughed as he took aim through the lens. “But please don’t take—” Kathleen heard the click.

  He grinned. “Looks like I got you, too.”

  “Yes. And probably with my eyes closed and my mouth wide open.”

  “Nope. I don’t take those kinds of pictures.”

  “Humph.” She sighed. “But I suppose I really don’t have the right to complain.”

  “You’re right about—”

  The door opened and Reba and Jenny entered. “It won’t take but a minute for us to freshen up. We’ll be right back.” She smiled as she hurried her daughter into their bedroom.

  “So, what do you think?” Kathleen whispered. “Do you think she could be Rebecca?”

  “I think it’s a good possibility, but I’m just not sure.” He leaned close to her ear. “The photos will help. I’ll have them developed as soon as I can. But what do you think?”

  “Oh, I think it is a real possibility. She has this hand movement that is just like Mrs. Heaton’s. You know the one. Like this.” Kathleen mimicked the movement and Luke nodded. “I know it could just be coincidence, but I think it might be her. I really do.”

  The bedroom door opened and out came Reba and Jenny. “Well, I suppose we’d best get to this. I hope you take good pictures.”

  “You know, Luke is really better at taking them than I am. Let’s let him do it. He says he doesn’t take bad ones.”

  “If that’s the case, then all right. I’d like it to be a good one.”

  Luke took several photos, near the windows where there was light, and Reba and Jenny posed for each shot.

  “We’ll make sure you get the extra photos for your own album.”

  “Thank you, that’s very nice, Kathleen.”

  “It’s the least we can do.” And maybe she wouldn’t feel so bad for taking them when as yet, they really weren’t part of the application. She grabbed her bag and the papers Reba had filled out. “Tomorrow I’ll take you to meet Colleen and the other children she’s watching, if you’d like.”

  “Oh, yes, I would. That way Jenny will feel better when I drop her off. Thank you for thinking of it.”

  “Would around ten in the morning be all right?”

  “It will be fine.”

  “I’ll see you then.”

  Jenny smiled shyly at Luke and he tweaked her nose on the way out. She giggled and rubbed her nose. She was a delightful child. After Reba shut the door behind them and they were down the hall, Kathleen turned to Luke. “If Reba turns out to be Mrs. Heaton’s daughter, can you imagine how she’s going to feel finding out she not only has her daughter back but a granddaughter, too?”

  * * *

  After dropping the film off to a developer, Luke took Kathleen to lunch at a small café not too far from her office. After the waiter took their order they began to discuss the magnitude of what they might be on the brink of discovering.

  “I really feel we should tell Michael about our suspicions, but I don’t want to see him or Mrs. Heaton heartbroken if it’s not her,” he said.

  “I know. Neither do I. But aren’t they from Virginia?”

  “Yes. Is Reba from there, too?”

  Kathleen nodded and pulled out some papers from her bag. “She’s from Ashland.”

  Luke blew out a huge sigh. “Mrs. Heaton is from Ashland.”

  “It’s got to be her, Luke.”

  “Not necessarily, Kathleen. There are a lot of people who live in Ashland. We can’t jump to conclusions. I’ll get the photos late this afternoon and we’ll look at them. If we are sure, then we’ll have to at least tell Michael.”

  Kathleen nodded. “I agree.”

/>   “You know he’s thought for a while that there might be a possibility that Reba might be living in the tenements.”

  “Why would he think that?”

  “He thinks she might have—” How did he say it delicately? “—gotten into trouble...and was too ashamed to come home.”

  Kathleen blushed and Luke felt sure she knew what he was talking about. He shrugged.

  “It’s possible, I suppose. And it would explain why she wouldn’t go home. When I asked if her family still lived in Virginia, she said ‘as far as I know.’ I thought that an odd answer at the time, but...” Kathleen’s voice faded away and neither of them seemed to know what to say next.

  Luke was relieved when the waiter brought their lunch. “Don’t worry about it now. We don’t know much more than we did this morning. Let’s just pray for the Lord to guide us the rest of the way.”

  At Kathleen’s nod, they bowed their heads and Luke did just that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kathleen could barely look at Mrs. Heaton at dinnertime for fear of giving away what she and Luke now believed to be true.

  When she’d arrived back at Heaton House after work, it was to find Luke waiting for her in the parlor. He’d motioned to her to come in and after making sure no one else was around, she hurried to his side. He had several photographs he’d taken of Reba and Jenny and quickly held them up to the photo of Rebecca.

  To Kathleen’s eye, they had to be one and the same person. She was almost positive that they were. “What do you think?”

  He’d taken another look at the photos before slipping them back into his jacket pocket. “I think Reba is indeed Rebecca. But now we have to prove it. Maybe we should go to Michael’s after dinner and let him know?”

  Kathleen had nodded. “I don’t think we should put it off.”

  “No, neither do I. We’ll go for a walk and end up at Michael and Violet’s.”

  “All right.”

  And now she made herself take a bite of the roast chicken on her plate when she really wasn’t hungry—too afraid Mrs. Heaton would ask what was wrong with her if she didn’t eat.

  “Kathleen, dear,” Mrs. Heaton called from the head of the table.

  Her heart jumped. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “I just wanted to tell you that I think it’s a wonderful idea to take photographs of the mothers and children who will be using the day care homes. If anything should happen to one of the children while in our care or even out of it, there would be a photo to help identify them.”

  Kathleen breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn’t asked what she was hiding. “I’m glad you think it is a good idea.”

  But she could see the pain in her sweet landlady’s eyes and was sure she was thinking of her own daughter. Oh, dear Lord, please let Reba be her, if for no other reason than that Mrs. Heaton will know she is alive and well. But if it is her, please let it bring joy and not heartache.

  “Oh, and Luke, did you get the letter from your publisher that came today?”

  “I did.” Luke’s eyes lit with excitement. “He wants to see the complete manuscript as soon as I have it done and I’m not that far from it. But he liked what I’d sent him.”

  “I knew he would.”

  “That is wonderful, Luke.” Kathleen was glad that he at least seemed to be getting his writing done even with all the time he’d been spending with her. He must require much less sleep than she did.

  Once the meal was over and everyone began leaving the dining room, Luke turned to her. “Want to go for that walk?”

  “I’d like that, yes.”

  “It’s nice out tonight,” Mrs. Heaton said. “You two enjoy yourselves.”

  “Thank you.” Again Kathleen felt bad for keeping so much from Mrs. Heaton, but they simply couldn’t tell her until they were certain about her daughter.

  She didn’t know whose sigh of relief was the loudest when they got outside—hers or Luke’s.

  Luke took hold of her elbow as they started down the walk. “I hope we get this settled soon. It is one thing to investigate for people you barely know, but this involves so many people I care about. I pray it turns out well for all of them.”

  “I know. That is my biggest fear—that if Reba is Rebecca, she might not want her mother and brother to know where she is.”

  “Let’s don’t even think that way.”

  “No. Let’s don’t.” But she knew it was there in the back of both their minds as they made their way over to Michael and Violet’s.

  Hilda answered the door and showed them into the parlor where Violet sat reading a book. She jumped up when she saw them and hurried to greet them.

  “Luke, Kathleen, how wonderful to see you. What brings you out tonight?”

  “Well, we came to see you and Michael,” Kathleen said, “but I suppose I should have telephoned first.”

  “Oh, nonsense, you know we don’t hold to social protocol with you all. But Michael is out of town, so I hope it isn’t a wasted trip for you.” She motioned to the couch. “Please have a seat and I’ll have Hilda bring us some refreshment.”

  “Oh, please, don’t trouble yourself. We just got up from the dinner table.”

  Violet laughed. “Say no more. I know Mother Heaton takes care of her boarders very well.” She took her seat on the couch and Luke and Kathleen sat down across from her. “Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

  Kathleen and Luke exchanged glances and Luke nodded. “Actually, it might be best that we talk to you, first.”

  “Now you have my curiosity up. Whatever is it?”

  Luke nodded to Kathleen. “It’s your story.”

  She took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say it. “I think I may have found Mrs. Heaton’s daughter.”

  Violet gasped, stood up and sat back down. “Rebecca? You know where she is?”

  “I believe so.” Kathleen explained about Reba and how she’d come to think she might be Mrs. Heaton’s daughter.

  “And her last name?”

  “Is Dickerson.”

  Violet’s face paled. “Mother Heaton’s maiden name is Dickerson. What does she look like?”

  Kathleen turned to Luke, and he pulled the photographs out of his pocket and handed them to her. Kathleen looked down at them, more certain than ever that this was Mrs. Heaton’s daughter and granddaughter. She handed the photos to Violet. “She has a little girl.”

  Violet reached out and took the photos with trembling fingers. She looked at each one, placed a hand over her mouth and looked at Kathleen with tears in her eyes. “I think it might be. But I’d need to see her, hear her voice to know for sure. And I’m glad Michael isn’t here. He’ll be home tomorrow, but I don’t want him to know anything until we are positive. Is there any way I can see her for myself?”

  “I’m taking her and Jenny—”

  “That’s the little girl’s name?” Violet released a little sob. “Rebecca always said if she had a little girl, she wanted to name her Jennifer.”

  Kathleen wiped at her own tears as she went to sit beside Violet and gave her a hug. “I know this must be so much to take in and I don’t in any way want to bring pain to Mrs. Heaton or Michael and you, but I do believe this is Rebecca. I am taking them to meet Colleen and the other children tomorrow around ten. If you could be there visiting Colleen—”

  “I’ll arrange to take some time off. I’ll be there. Oh, I pray this is her. But what if she still doesn’t want Michael or his mother to know where she is?”

  “I don’t know what we’ll do then. But if it is Rebecca, I will do all I can to bring them together unless you tell me different.”

  “All right. Thank you so much for coming to me with this. And I know it’s hard, but I think it’s wise not to let Michael and his mother know
just yet. They’ve been through so much heartache with Rebecca—and I’m sure she’s gone through her own. I know she was close to both of them and loves them. Oh, please pray that it turns out good for all of them.”

  * * *

  By the time they left Violet’s they had a plan in place. Violet was sure she would know if Reba was Rebecca once she saw her, and if she was, she’d let Michael know.

  If that was the case, Kathleen would talk to Reba and tell her she had a mother and brother right here in the city. And they all prayed they’d be able to get them together again where their love for each other would be obvious.

  But Kathleen was awfully quiet as they left Violet, and Luke was pretty sure he knew why. He remembered the small park in Michael’s neighborhood right around the corner from their house.

  He took hold of Kathleen’s arm and led her there. It wasn’t gated and just as he thought, no one was there this time of night. It would be the perfect place to talk.

  “We need to talk where no one will overhear anything about this. Want to sit for a few minutes?”

  “Yes, that would be nice. I feel anyone who sees me will know something is going on. I need to get my thoughts together.”

  They found a bench that was just far enough inside that no one walking by would hear what they were saying. Once they were both seated he turned to Kathleen.

  “You know, if this doesn’t turn out well, it’s not going to be your fault. No one is going to blame you.”

  “Oh, Luke, I don’t want to bring heartache to any of them, especially after all they’ve done for me and my family.”

  “I know and I understand. I feel the same way. And remember you aren’t in this alone.”

  “Oh, no. I probably shouldn’t have dragged you into all this. I don’t want them upset with you, either. I’ll take all the blame—”

  Luke stopped her words by lightly touching her lips with his fingertips. “Kathleen, shush. This is not your doing. The Lord brought Reba into your life through Mrs. Connor, who wanted to help her. You want to help her and Mrs. Heaton. Perhaps this is all the Lord’s will and His timing.” He moved his hand to her cheek.