by Carol Cox
She looked at Kate, sadness filling her eyes. “You knew too, didn’t you?”
“I was pretty sure. I’d heard a little about Micah’s background, and when you hurried out of Betty’s like that, I put two and two together. But I do think he’s a nice boy at heart, and I’m glad he decided to own up to his actions.”
Lucy Mae squared her shoulders. “He told me the rest of it too—about what he’d done at the Wilsons’ and the Philpotts’. Then I made him tell Lawton.”
Kate felt a twinge of sympathy for Micah. Three confessions in one day would have been a lot for anyone. “How did Lawton take it?”
Lucy Mae grimaced. “Let’s just say they had a long talk. I really think Micah wants to turn his life around. He knows we’ve forgiven him, but he also understands we can’t just let it go at that. He’s agreed to apologize to the Wilsons, the Philpotts, and Maribeth and work out some sort of restitution. Maybe do some yard work for the Wilsons and wash and wax Lester’s truck. As for Maribeth...” Her voice trailed off.
“There isn’t anything he can do to help poor Mitzi at this point. With a dye job like that, I’m sure it won’t wash out in time for the show. If she tries to bleach it, she’ll ruin the condition of Mitzi’s coat. I’m afraid she’s just going to have to wait until a whole new coat grows back in before it’s gone completely.
“Micah’s talking about finding a part-time job so he can earn enough money to pay for Mitzi to make extra visits to the groomer until a new coat of fur replaces the old.”
Kate nodded her approval. “All of that sounds good, and I’m glad he’s willing to step up and take responsibility for what he’s done. This could be a real turning point for him.”
“That’s what Lawton says.” Lucy Mae pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes. “This whole thing is really my fault, you know.”
“Your fault? Micah said you hadn’t put him up to anything.”
“I’m not so sure.” Lucy Mae sniffled, and two large tears rolled down her cheeks. This time she didn’t bother to wipe them away. “Lawton’s right; all I’ve talked about for weeks is the dog show and how much I want Sir Percival to win. Micah was trying to do something nice for me, even though the way he went about it was totally misguided.”
Tears welled up again. “I wish I could take it all back. It’s so easy to take things too seriously and let them get out of hand.”
Kate gave Lucy Mae a quick hug. “I think we can all fall into that trap. But don’t be too hard on yourself. This may turn out to be a blessing in disguise if it’s the wake-up call Micah needed.”
“Thanks, Kate. It’s nice of you to say so.”
Kate smiled as she patted Lucy Mae’s arm, then turned to leave.
“Oh, wait,” Lucy Mae said. “There’s one more thing.” She drew a deep breath. “Micah isn’t the only one who needs to make amends. Do you remember those things I said about Renee and Kisses at Betty’s a couple weeks ago?”
Kate nodded.
“I didn’t plan to say any of that,” Lucy Mae confided. “The words just popped out of my mouth, and it’s been eating me alive ever since. Especially with little Kisses being stolen.”
Her mouth twisted. “I know I need to do something about it, but I don’t want to cause Renee any more pain than she’s already going through.”
Kate smiled and squeezed Lucy Mae’s arm. “I think Renee would appreciate it if you told her the same thing you’ve told me. It’ll do you both good. Why don’t you stop by her house on your way home? She told me she was going to be making another round of phone calls this morning instead of coming to the meeting.”
“Thanks, Kate. I’ll do that.” Lucy Mae plied her tissue once more, then her lips parted in a wobbly smile. “I’ll collect my things from the meeting room and go see her right now.”
Kate headed downstairs, rejoicing at the knowledge that a reconciliation was in the making.
Kate found Livvy in her office and lightly tapped on the door. Livvy looked up and smiled when she saw Kate.
“Hey, stranger. How are the plans for the dog show coming along?”
“Okay, I think. I just wish I knew more specifics about what I’m supposed to be doing. Making people welcome is one thing, but they tell me I’ll have to help if problems arise. What problems? How am I supposed to help if I don’t know what’s going on myself?”
Livvy laughed. “Poor Kate. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Honestly, I think I just needed a chance to blow off a little steam.” Kate rolled her neck to loosen the tense muscles. “I guess it’s the neat freak in me coming out, wanting everything to be in its place but not sure how to get it there. I’ll just try to roll with the punches and hope everything comes out all right.”
“I’m sure it will. And I hereby volunteer to come help out on show day with whatever it is you wind up doing.” Livvy’s face grew solemn. “By the way, have you seen Renee lately?”
“I stopped by her house yesterday afternoon.” Kate’s throat tightened at the memory. “She started to fill Kisses’ water dish, then she caught herself and went across the room to water one of her plants instead. I don’t think she realized that I noticed.”
Kate leaned her elbows on Livvy’s desk and cradled her chin in her hands. “Do you have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is to go back to the park and nose around again.”
“Don’t ask me. I’m the one who sent us off on that wild-goose chase for the designer tote, remember? Speaking of which, Ardith Bennett came in this morning. While I was checking out her books, she asked if we were still interested in buying the tote.” Livvy chuckled. “I told her no.”
Kate shook her head, weary with the frustration of it all. “I’ve followed several leads, but everything I’ve tracked down has led to a dead end.”
Livvy leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “I saw a show once where an investigator said that the hardest crimes to solve are the random ones where there are no witnesses or obvious suspects, and the trail goes cold within hours.”
Kate’s shoulders slumped. “I’m afraid that’s what we have here. I’m stumped.”
Chapter Eighteen
What do you want?” Lisa Phillips peered out at Paul and Kate through the crack in her front door.
Kate’s stomach tightened. She took a deep breath and said a quick prayer for a loving and grace-filled attitude toward Lisa as she and Paul tried to be peacemakers.
“We’d like to talk to you,” Paul began. “Could we come in for a few minutes? We won’t stay long.”
Lisa wavered, as if she couldn’t decide whether to open the door or slam it in their faces. Then she swung the door wide open, and she stepped back, allowing them to enter.
She waved them toward the couch and sat stiffly on the chair Brenna had occupied during Kate’s previous visit.
Paul crossed his legs and laced his fingers around his knee. “We just wanted to stop by and try to clear the air a bit.”
Kate saw Lisa’s shoulders stiffen and her chin jut forward a fraction. This wasn’t going to be easy.
She decided it was time for her to step in. “First of all, I need to apologize to you.”
Lisa didn’t show any signs of softening, but no angry words came spilling out of her mouth. Kate felt a flicker of hope.
She proceeded with caution. Bigger things were at stake than convincing Lisa that she was sorry for implicating Brenna in Kisses’ disappearance. Lisa had been shouldering a load of pain all by herself for a long time. Lord willing, Kate and Paul could help ease her burden.
“We’ve enjoyed having Brenna in the youth group. She’s a delightful girl and a real tribute to your ability as a mother.”
Lisa’s mouth relaxed, but her eyes remained wary. “But ... ?”
Kate shook her head. “No but’s. She’s a wonderful girl, and that’s the simple truth. The reason Skip and I wanted to talk with Brenna was to find out if she knew anything about something I saw fall into t
he creek during one of my walks. I never meant to accuse her of wrongdoing.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t handle the situation as well as I could have when you arrived. You had every right to be upset when you found me here in your house talking to your daughter with a uniformed deputy. My actions caused you pain, and for that I’m truly sorry.”
Lisa’s chin began to tremble, and she pressed her lips tightly together. She bent forward and buried her face in her hands.
Kate longed to reach out and comfort her but held back, not knowing how Lisa would react to such an overture. She and Paul waited in silence until Lisa pulled herself together enough to raise her head and look at them through tear-soaked eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re saying that. You, the minister’s wife, apologizing to me?”
“I’m the one who was in the wrong,” Kate said simply.
Lisa swiped her cheek with her palm. “I don’t know what to say. You’re not the only one who needs to apologize, though. I was really awful to you at Abby Pippins’ house. I was angry, but I didn’t have any right to say those things in front of all those women. And then you left so I could stay. That just blew me away. I should have told you to come back inside right then. I’m so sorry.”
“Apology accepted.” Kate smiled.
Lisa closed her eyes and let out a long breath. “I haven’t treated either one of you very well. This whole thing with Brenna reminded me of something I went through back when I was her age, and I guess it pushed a lot of the wrong buttons. I thought I was going to see the same thing happen all over again.”
Both Kate and Paul kept still, waiting to see if Lisa would say anything more. Kate watched an inward struggle play out on the other woman’s face.
Finally Lisa spoke. “Brenna doesn’t even know everything that happened. I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. I see so much of me in her, and maybe that’s what scares me the most. Believe it or not, I was a regular in the youth group at the church my parents went to when I was growing up.”
Kate wasn’t able to smother a gasp of surprise.
“Yeah, I guess that does come as a shock, doesn’t it?” Lisa’s smile faded. “My parents thought it was great that I spent most of my time with other kids from church. I guess they figured that would keep me on the straight and narrow.”
Lisa shifted in her chair and stared at a point on the wall above Kate’s head. “Then I told them I was pregnant, and their Christian love went right out the window.”
Tears stung Kate’s eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
Lisa drew a ragged breath. “The whole church turned against me too. My parents didn’t kick me out of the house, but they treated me like they were ashamed that I was part of their family. They went to church every time the doors were open, the same as usual, but I couldn’t go back. I wasn’t welcome there anymore.”
Her voice wavered. “Even the other kids in the youth group turned their backs on me. It was like I was all alone in the world.”
Suddenly Lisa’s face softened. “Then Brenna was born, and suddenly there was someone who belonged to me again. She’s all I have.”
“Did things ever get better between you and your parents?” Paul asked.
Lisa shook her head. “They kept on living their perfect lives and made sure I knew I wasn’t welcome any longer. I stayed with them until I graduated from high school, but I haven’t seen them since I left home.”
“Oh my.” Kate pressed her fingers to her lips.
The sadness in Lisa’s eyes was unmistakable. “They made it clear they’d be much happier if I weren’t around.”
Paul uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “It makes a lot more sense to me now why you haven’t wanted to come to church with Brenna.”
“It’s not just your church,” Lisa corrected. “It’s any church. I’d already seen an example of so-called love in action. I didn’t want to put myself through that again.”
A sob shook her, and she gripped the arms of the chair. “There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to know. Where was that forgiveness they always talked about?”
This time Kate did go over and wrap her arms around the other woman. Lisa leaned against her for a moment, accepting the comfort she offered. Kate felt as though her heart would break at the thought of how much pain this young woman had endured.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered again. “With your background, I’m surprised you even let Brenna walk through the doors of Faith Briar.”
Lisa shrugged and mopped at her face. “A neighbor started taking her to Sunday school when she was little. She seemed to like it, so I let her go. I didn’t think it would do her any harm.”
Her face clouded. “But she’s getting older now and starting to look at boys. I worry about her when she’s there. I worry about her anywhere, for that matter. I don’t want her to make the same mistake I made.”
Kate gave her a final squeeze and returned to the couch. “That’s hard, I know. It isn’t easy for any of us moms.”
Lisa looked from Paul to Kate. “Thank you both. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you to come over and talk to me like this after the things I’ve said.”
“We had to,” Paul said, then he smiled. “We wanted to. We didn’t want to have the rift between us continue. And we wanted to let you know that we care about you and that God loves you very much.”
He stood and held out his hand to help Kate to her feet. Each of them gave Lisa a quick hug, then together they started toward the door.
“I can understand your reluctance to have anything to do with church after what you’ve been through,” Paul said, “but we’ll be praying that God will heal the hurts of the past and that you’ll begin to experience a true reflection of his love through his people.”
Lisa nodded slowly. “I think I’m beginning to see that not all church people are like my parents. Not if you two and Jeff are any example.” A light blush stained her cheeks as soon as she spoke the words.
Kate was reminded of the way Brenna looked every time Micah’s name was mentioned. She reached out and gave Lisa’s arm a quick squeeze. “Call us if you need us. We want you to know that we’re here for you.”
Kate’s cell phone buzzed, and she opened her handbag to dig it out. “I’m sorry. I meant to turn this off before we came.”
She stepped out onto the porch to take the call while Paul said his good-byes to Lisa.
“Missus Hanlon?” Skip’s voice crackled with excitement on the other end. “You have to come down to the office right now. You’ll never believe what’s happening.”
Chapter Nineteen
Skip didn’t give you any idea what’s going on?”
“No.” Kate swayed on the seat of Paul’s pickup as he rounded the corner onto Euclid Road and headed for the deputy’s office at the Town Hall. “All he would say was that we needed to get down there right away.”
“Do you think something’s wrong?”
“I don’t think so. At least I hope not. He sounded excited, but in a good way.”
Paul pulled into a parking spot and circled around the front of the truck to help Kate step down to the sidewalk.
Together they hurried up the walkway of the Town Hall and climbed the concrete stairs that led to the entrance. Once inside the building, they headed straight for the deputy’s office, where they found Skip and two people Kate didn’t recognize huddled around a desk at the far side of the room.
“Hi, Skip,” she said. “What’s going on?”
Skip turned, a wide grin splitting his freckled face. “Thanks for coming down. I wanted you to see this. You guys must have been doing a lot of praying. I think we’re looking at a miracle here.”
He said something to the other couple, who stepped aside to reveal what they’d been huddled around.
Kate gasped, then ran across to the desk, where a little Chihuahua with enormous brown eyes and floppy ears sat. He looked up at Kate with a plaintive expression, and the tip of his tail quivered.
She cuddled him close, and he shivered in her arms. Kate stroked her hand along his back and frowned when she felt his ribs under her fingertips. He must have lost weight during his time away from home. No matter. Renee would have him back to his pampered self in no time. She smiled at the thought of Renee concocting special tidbits for Kisses in her kitchen.
“Where did you find him?” Paul asked Skip.
“Not me. It was those flyers Miz Lambert put up. They actually worked.” Skip pointed to the other couple. “These folks found him. This is Mr. and Mrs. Murphy from Pine Ridge.”
Kate looked at the tall, rawboned man and the ill-groomed blonde woman, and her memory stirred. She had seen them once before when she visited the Country Diner with Paul, shortly after Kisses vanished.
Mrs. Murphy stepped forward and extended her hand to Kate. “We found him runnin’ around the SuperMart parkin’ lot. He looked lost and lonely, and I couldn’t bear to think of him out there loose with all those cars and trucks around.”
She scratched the little dog under the chin and cooed at him. “He’s such a sweet little guy. He came right to me when I called to him. I was all ready to take him in and give him a good home, but Clifford here”—she nodded to indicate her husband—“remembered seeing a flyer with a picture that looked just like him.”
“That’s right,” he said with a broad smile. “I know how much Cissy would have loved to keep him, but it would have been wrong to take him away from his rightful owner.”
Kisses wriggled in Kate’s arms, and she set him back down on the desk.
“I know how attached I felt after just a few minutes with him,” Cissy added. “I can only imagine how heartbroken his real owner must be.”
Paul exchanged glances with Kate. “You have no idea,” he said.
Clifford picked up the story. “We drove over to where I remembered seeing one of the flyers. I wrote down the phone numbers and called the sheriff’s office in Pine Ridge. They told me to bring the dog down here to Deputy Spencer, and here we are.”
