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  Jill was only slightly shorter than Ken. Her hair had gone white and she wore it in a short bob. She was a slender woman who was aging well. She looked much younger than her years.

  Jill’s hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes locked with Kate’s. Kate couldn’t figure out how Jill knew her, but it appeared there was no question as to which of the women walking into her son’s house was the one who had once been her foster daughter.

  Kate found herself engulfed in not one but two sets of arms at the same time. Her own arms slowly came up around them. Oddly, she didn’t feel the urge to pull away. Instead, she found herself leaning into the hugs. They even felt familiar.

  “Oh, my sweet Katie. We couldn’t believe it when Peter told us he had found you. Here! In Haven, no less,” Jill began. Stepping back, she had to stop and gather herself.

  Kate swallowed hard as she saw the emotions on Jill and Ken’s faces. She realized where Peter had inherited his wide grin. There was a similar one stretching across Jill’s face as she stared at Kate.

  She continued, smiling and crying all at the same time, “God is so good! We finally have an answer to our prayers! It’s been so long in coming and it’s been so hard to wait for the answer. I can’t… I just…” Her voice trailed off as she succumbed to the sobs she had been trying to hold back. She tugged Kate back into another embrace and held on tightly.

  Kate closed her eyes. She was feeling emotions she hadn’t felt in years. She swallowed hard in order to keep hers in check. Jill pulled back again and cradled Kate’s face in her hands. She stared at her, drinking in all the changes, as she smiled through her tears.

  Kate felt another pull on her arm as she was turned around and enveloped in a strong masculine hug. This time it was Ken drawing her close. He was no longer content to wait or share her with his wife.

  He spoke into the top of her head tucked under his chin, “Katie, I am thankful the Lord has returned you to us. I have spent so many sleepless nights praying for you. I would be sound asleep, and suddenly wake up with thoughts of you on my mind. I always knew it was the Lord speaking to me, telling me to pray for you right then. I would sometimes wake up Jill and often I would just lay there and pray for your safety. Other times I would have a strong feeling to pray for you during the daytime as well. The Lord always seemed to know when to nudge me, to let me know you needed some heavenly help.”

  Ken had prayed for her? Kate couldn’t understand this. Her mind was spinning as she tried to reason it out. Why would he have prayed for her? It didn’t make sense. There was no way he could have known when she was in trouble, was there?

  Ken pulled back and stared at her just as his wife had done moments before. Kate squirmed a bit under the scrutiny. Did he find her wanting? Would he change his mind? Kate couldn’t fathom why they wouldn’t have just forgotten about her. Why would they have continued searching and praying for her? They had so many other kids coming through their doors. What made her so memorable?

  Kate shot a quick glance to where Fiona was standing off to the side. Fee had both hands over her mouth and tears were coursing down her friend’s face. At this, Ken pulled her once more into a tight embrace.

  Peter cleared his throat, “Um, Dad, do you want to let her come up for air there? Maybe we could all sit on the couch and talk?”

  Breaking away, Ken heartily laughed. “Of course! First, I think we should all give thanks to the Lord for this day. Our Katie has been returned to us. What a blessed day this is!”

  Jill and Ken sat together on the couch. Peter and Fiona sat in the two wingback chairs off to the side. This left the large ottoman in front of the couch for Kate to sit on.

  As soon as everyone was settled, Ken began to thank God, “Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today with great thanksgiving. We cannot even begin to express our thanks to you for returning Katie to not only our embraces, but to our family as well. We have spent many years asking for this to happen. In your perfect timing, you have done as we asked. Lord, help us as we become reacquainted. Give us help as we heal and reestablish our relationship. Thank you, Lord, for being so good to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

  Lifting her head, Kate looked at where the Grants were sitting side by side on the sofa. She knew she should say something but couldn’t quite figure out what. She didn’t want to talk about her life with her father but knew she couldn’t avoid it. They would want to know. She was still trying to understand how they could have continued looking for her! Who does that? She was just a foster kid. Why would they care what happened to her once she left their house?

  Jill began to speak, “Katie, I know this must be hard for you. And I know we haven’t seen each other in so long, but know this, we never, ever stopped thinking about you. It broke our hearts when your caseworker arrived to take you away. Even though we knew they had found your father, we had always thought of you as our daughter. Letting you go was the most painful thing we ever had to do.

  Kate swallowed hard. She was still struggling with the fact that the Grants were here, in front of her. Memories were rushing in from her time with them. Good memories. Memories of laughing and playing. Memories of when she felt safe.

  “When you arrived, you were such a quiet and sick little girl. We needed time to nurse you back to health. You were such a fighter. Soon you were enmeshed in our lives and it was almost like you had always been there. I thought of you as my daughter after only the first two months. In fact, within that time you even started to call me ‘Mama.’ I was so glad God had blessed us with you.”

  As Jill spoke, Kate continued to remember. They had always been there, the memories of living with the Grants. She had called Jill “Mama” and Ken “Papa.” The memories kept flooding back.

  Kate began to do her deep breathing exercises once more and feared she was on the verge of losing it. She didn’t want to lose control right now. She wanted to learn more about what had happened before she’d left. Maybe it would help her put her past behind her finally. She was tired of the control it seemed to continue to have on her emotions and her life.

  Jill continued, “You had been with us so long, years instead of months. That was quite unusual for us at the time. They had given up looking for your father and the court had deemed your mother unfit to care for you. We began praying about the possibility of adopting you and we let your caseworker know. We wanted the state to know you had found a forever home if they would allow us to keep you.”

  Kate looked across at where Fiona and Peter were sitting. What did they think of this story? Fiona had always had such a stable life and so had Peter. They both had parents who had loved them. Kate felt a stab of jealousy as a small “what if” tried to take root. She pushed it aside.

  Life hadn’t given her a happily ever after. She wasn’t a Grant and never would be. She couldn’t dwell on that though. She knew if she started to focus on what might have been, she might lose control. It was why she hadn’t focused on the memories of life with the Grants. She returned her attention to Jill as she continued with the story.

  “When you were nine, we found out your mother had died of an accidental overdose while in the state hospital. It seemed it was the time to begin pursuing our plans for making you our child, so we began the application process to adopt you.”

  Kate broke in, “How come I didn’t know any of this? This is the first time I’ve heard how my mother died. My father always told me it was my fault.” She broke off and swallowed a sob trying to rise in her throat. She refused to cry.

  “Kate, it was never your fault. You were only a child. We never said anything because we didn’t want to burden you with any of this when you lived with us. We would have told you one day if you had stayed. You had the right to know.”

  Kate allowed the words to sink in for a moment. Was it true? Could she believe it? She wasn’t sure. She had lived with the lie so long that it felt like it was true. “What about my father?”

  Jill continued, “Halfway through the process we found o
ut the state was making a new attempt to find him. In all the years you lived with us, he never contacted them. I’m not sure he even knew where you were until he heard from your caseworker.”

  “Or he just didn’t care,” Kate muttered.

  “I think he did, honey. In his own way. Within just a few months, he was there. We were so close to finalizing everything when he came forward to tell the court he wanted to be your father again. He wanted to raise you himself. He wasn’t willing to give up his parental rights.”

  Jill began to tear up at this point. Her husband picked up the story where she had left off, “We fought to keep you, Katie. I think it’s important you know that. We petitioned the court. Your caseworker worked hard for us as well. We feared if you went back to him, he wouldn’t take care of you properly. The court seemed to take forever to finally reach a decision.”

  He heaved a great sigh of distress and his face seemed to crumble a bit as he continued, “Our hearts broke into a thousand pieces the day we found out the court had ruled against us and you were being given back to your father. He had been going to various twelve step programs for six months. He had sponsors who testified he was following the programs and staying sober. He even had a job. His employer said he had been an exemplary employee.”

  Kate knew she had gone pale. She had been ten years old when she was taken from the Grants and placed back with her father. How different her life would have been had the court ruled against him.

  Fee leaned towards her friend. “Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

  Taking a gulping breath, Kate looked at Peter, “I need a minute. Can I use your bathroom?”

  “Sure, it’s right down the hall. Second door on the right.” He pointed the way.

  Everyone watched as Kate escaped the room.

  Chapter 24

  Drew knew his parents were in town. Peter had called him last night to let him know. He also had told Drew they were going to meet with Kate today. He prayed as he walked that the meeting was going okay.

  He had been praying even more lately than normal. Every time he found himself concerned with how Kate would react to his parents, he prayed. Every time he started to dwell on what life had been like before he had lived with the Grants, he prayed. He was praying a lot.

  The café was just up ahead. He was taking a break from a job he was working on nearby. Victoria Rivers, a new mom, had hired him to put shelves up in her laundry room. He was looking forward to a pastry, coffee, and maybe some conversation. Anything to take his mind off Kate. He had been avoiding her lately and he knew it.

  Until she decided to make a commitment to the Lord, he couldn’t make a commitment to her. He was wrestling with the Lord about it right now. Why would God have brought her into his life if he didn’t want more for them?

  His mind was still on his problem as he pushed open the door to the café. He muttered under his breath when he saw Lucy sitting at a table alone. As he was trying to decide how much he needed the coffee and baked good, Lucy looked up and spotted him.

  “Drew!” Lucy rose and rushed over to where he was standing. “How are you? I’ve missed you. Why don’t you come sit with me? We can talk.”

  Drew tried not to wince at her voice. How had he ever thought it adorable? It made her sound like a little girl. Looking back on his time with her, he also saw how she had acted like a little girl.

  “Thanks, but I have to get back to work. I’m just here to grab a quick snack and some coffee. I can’t stay.”

  Lucy poked her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Oh, come on. Just a few minutes. You know you want to.”

  She actually batted her eyes at him. He couldn’t believe it. She always hated being told no. Nothing used to irk her more. Now he didn’t care about annoying her.

  “I said no, Lucy. I’ll catch you later.” Drew strode up to the counter and placed his order, forcing himself not to look back over his shoulder to see how well his refusal had gone over. He knew it wouldn’t be good.

  One of the three sisters who ran the Three Cat Café handed him his donut and coffee without saying a word but did give him one raised eyebrow. He shrugged his shoulders as he placed the money on the counter with a nod of thanks and turned on his heel to leave. Haven was too small of a town for everyone not to know the situation between Lucy and himself.

  Sure enough, Lucy was still standing where he had left her. If looks could kill, he wouldn’t have been able to take another step. Since they didn’t, he continued on his way and added a prayer up to God asking that his ex-girlfriend would start leaving him alone.

  ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊

  Kate looked at herself in the mirror. Staring at her reflection, she thought about her past. Why had she come today? Wouldn’t it have been better to never know? To just always think the Grants hadn’t wanted to keep her?

  Running water, she splashed some on her face. The coolness eased the heat and helped with the pain in her eyes. She was tempted to rummage through Peter’s medicine cabinet to see if he had a mild pain reliever. Her head had begun to pound.

  There was a tap on the door, and she heard Fiona’s voice. “Anything I can do, Kate?”

  Kate walked to the door and cracked it open enough to see her friend. “I’m okay. I could use a drink and some Tylenol or something though. My head is killing me.”

  Fee slipped inside and shut the door behind her. “I snagged my purse before coming to check on you. I think I have something. Let me look.”

  Fiona began pawing through her bag. She found a small bottle of tablets and shook out two into Kate’s hand. Not seeing a cup, she swallowed the pills and used her hand to scoop some water into her mouth.

  “Thanks. Think I can hide out until they all leave?” She gave Fiona a shaky smile. “I guess that won’t work since they are all staying here, huh?”

  Fiona hugged Kate quickly. “It’s going to be okay. It’s obvious they love you. But what do you want to do? Do you want to stay some more or go home? I can get you out of here, no problem. Just say the word.”

  Kate knew Fiona would do whatever she asked. She would run interference for her if needed. She just wasn’t sure what she wanted. While Ken and Jill seemed great, she was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all the emotions facing the past was bringing up.

  “I think I want to go home for now. I need a break to process what they’ve told me so far.”

  “I’m on it. Just follow me,” Fee said as she grabbed Kate’s hand and headed back to the living room.

  Three heads snapped up as the two women entered. Kate could see that Jill had been crying again and it looked like Ken was watery eyed as well. She didn’t want to hurt them, but she didn’t think she could stand to listen to more right now. She always believed no one really wanted her. To learn there was a family who did was breaking her heart and she swore she’d never let that happen again.

  “We’ve got to get back to the store. We have a shipment coming in that we need to be there to sign for. Um, both of us,” Fee said with a straight face.

  Kate knew she was trying her best, but she wasn’t a great liar. That was one thing Kate loved about her friend. She never wondered about what Fee intended when she said something, she always said exactly what she meant.

  Jill’s head snapped up. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer? We’d love to talk some more and see what you’ve been up to. Peter told us about your store. We thought we could walk over with you after.”

  Kate squeezed Fee’s hand and then let go. She knew Fiona would understand what she was asking of her. Better to have Fee do it, she thought. Maybe they’d believe it more. Maybe.

  “Um, well, you see, we have a lot of inventory to do and things to get up on the shelves. Now isn’t a great time for a tour.” Fiona was starting to blush, which was the telltale sign she was fibbing.

  Kate shot a look at Fiona and then turned to the room. “I’m sorry, I just need some time to process what you’ve told me so far. Please understan
d, but I just really need to go now.”

  With that, Kate headed to the door. She couldn’t stand there anymore and watch Fiona flounder and feel like she had to stay and talk. She needed to get some fresh air to clear her head. Did what they shared change things? She wasn’t sure, but she knew she needed to leave and leave now.

  “So, yeah, what she said,” Fiona trailed off as she quickly followed Kate.

  Peter joined his mother and father who were all now standing. “How about we come by the store tomorrow? We could come by at lunchtime and go to the café afterward.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Kate said as she shrugged into her jacket. Pulling open the door she looked back, “I know this sounds trite but it’s not you, it’s me.”

  She kept walking out the door and hoped Fiona was right behind her. She didn’t stop to check but continued moving down the sidewalk. Her foster parents had loved her. They had wanted to keep her. What was she going to do with that information?

  Chapter 25

  Kate had spent the night going over what the Grants had told her yesterday. She still wasn’t quite sure she believed them. No one had ever wanted her. Her own mother had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. It was obvious she hadn’t wanted Kate. Her father had disappeared and reappeared in her life, just like he was trying to do now, more times than she could count.

  She hurried down the sidewalk towards her store. She had overslept this morning. After tossing and turning all night, she had shut off her alarm and went back to sleep by mistake. She couldn’t remember the last time she had done that. As a result, she was now thirty minutes behind her usual time. Kate hated being late.

  As she rounded the corner of the block to her store, she slowed in her tracks. She knew it was silly, but she hadn’t been using the front door like she typically did. Not since the two jewelry boxes had shown up. She had started using the back door. So far, there hadn’t been any more unexpected deliveries.