Not by Sight (5 page)

Jesse slid off the bed and faced her. “So you don’t think He’s mean for letting Daddy and Riley Jo disappear?”

“I wish they hadn’t disappeared. But I don’t blame God. People—good and bad—make their own choices. Sometimes those choices hurt other people. But if God controlled every move we make, we would all be puppets. I wouldn’t like that. Would you?”

Jesse pushed his hands deeper into the pockets of his khaki shorts. “Do you think Mama would be mad if I went to church with you and Grandpa?”

“I doubt it. I think she wishes she could trust God again.”

“Do
you
trust Him?”

Abby paused to think, feeling totally unprepared for Jesse’s probing questions. “I’m learning. The Bible says we should live by faith and not by sight. I think that means when we’re in the dark, we have to take a step forward and trust that there will be light on the path in front of us.”

Jesse cocked his head, his eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“Okay, imagine God holding a flashlight so the beam shines on the ground in front of us. We can only see so far, but we keeping walking, trusting Him to move the light in front of us with each step we take. We get as much light as we need to keep moving, but we still can’t see down the road.”

“I get it.”

“I’m thrilled you want to go to church with us.”

Jesse flashed a toothy grin that would soon keep another orthodontist in business. “I was in the attic and found the Bible storybook Daddy used to read to me and Riley Jo. I took it to my room and read the whole thing. Did you know there was a donkey that
talked
? And water that turned into wine? My favorite story is the one about three guys with weird names who got thrown into a fiery furnace and didn’t burn up because they trusted God. So cool!”

Abby nodded. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I love that story too. What’s also amazing is that they told the king they would trust God even if He
didn’t
save them. I’d love to have that kind of faith. I don’t yet.”

“It only has to be the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain.” Jesse smiled proudly. “Told you I read the book.”

Abby stood and hugged her brother. “Go tell Grandpa what you just told me. I’m excited.” And she was scared. She knew her faith might impact Jesse for the rest of his life. Had she said the right thing? Was she prepared to be an example? What if she failed?

Jesse raced to the door, then turned and looked at her, his eyes twinkling with trust and admiration. “Thanks, Abby.”

He went out the door and pulled it closed behind him.

Kate glanced at the framed family portrait on her dresser, reality sending pain to every nerve in her soul. How different life had been back then, when Micah and Riley Jo were home and the Cummings family was whole and happy. It was hard enough dealing with the unknowns of the disappearance without Abby coming home again with a random photo of some little girl she imagined could be her baby sister.

Would this nightmare ever be over? Each time Kate thought she had moved forward, something would happen to drag her back into the grief and the aching loss that was almost paralyzing.

There had been no closure. No coffins. No headstones. No explanation. Her life was on hold—indefinitely. She couldn’t go forward or backward. She was stuck somewhere in the middle.

She held out her hand and looked at her wedding ring. Was she still married—or widowed? Not that she could ever love another man the way she loved Micah. But if he was dead, she wanted to know, wanted to give him a proper burial and move on with her life. As much as she wished to believe her husband and daughter would come home one day, it hurt too much to cling to such hope.

Maybe they
were
in heaven with God—though she wasn’t sure anymore if God existed. At least not the God she had once loved. The God she had walked with. Had worshipped and adored. If He was real, then He had repaid her devotion with cruelty. Kate sighed. Or was it possible that all things holy were mythical? And that evil was no respecter of persons? She didn’t have the energy to figure it out. Her father had encouraged her to get into a support group. To what avail? The last thing she wanted to do was talk about the uncertainty she lived with every moment of every day. Either Micah and Riley Jo had fallen prey to some vile murderer or wild animal—or Micah had voluntarily taken their youngest child and chosen to vanish. Either truth was intolerable.

Her mind flashed back to that last time she had been with Micah …

Kate heard a knock on the open door and looked up from her desk.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Micah said. “I’m taking Riley Jo down to the pier so she can catch some perch.”

“Did you put sunscreen on her?” Kate asked.

“Total sunblock. No chance of sunburn on that delicate skin.” Micah walked over and stood next to her desk. “Kate, I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. But I think this potential investment deserves a closer look before you just slam the door shut on it.”

“You know I’m not comfortable with
anything
risky.”

“Chad’s the one who brought it up,” Micah said. “He’s done a pretty sound job of putting together our portfolio up to now. Why so much resistance? He feels this is something we should do. We’re only talking about moving fifteen percent for the short term.”

“I don’t feel good about it.”

“And you base this on …?”

Kate felt her face get hot. “Call it women’s intuition. Discernment. Gut feeling. Opinion. Fear. Common sense. Whatever name you want to put to it. I just don’t think we should put that much money in a risky investment.”

“Chad will watch it carefully. He’s not going to mislead us. The lodge is barely breaking even, and we can’t keep putting off making improvements. This is our chance to give the operation a shot in the arm
without
having to borrow.”

Kate shook her head. “We’ve worked too long and too hard, just getting Angel View in the black. I don’t want to take that much out of bonds.”

“Even if we could double our investment?”

“What if we lose?”

“Chad feels this is practically a sure thing.”

“
Practically
isn’t good enough.”

Micah came over to her and sat on the side of the desk. “No investment is totally safe, but when our financial adviser is telling us this is a timely opportunity, we should listen. Is there nothing I can say to get you to at least consider all the facts before you dig in your heels and turn into the Wicked Witch of the West?” He flashed a crooked grin and put his hands in front of his face.

Kate wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him. “I hate it when you don’t take me seriously.”

“I take you very seriously. I just think you’re casting your vote without fair consideration.”

“You made that clear.”

“We’re running out of options, babe. We need working capital. It doesn’t make sense to pay interest on a loan when we could be drawing dividends on an investment. And unless you have a better idea, those are the choices.” Micah stood. “How about you think it over this afternoon, and we’ll talk again after dinner? If you still don’t want to do it, after you take an honest look at what Chad faxed to us, I’ll stop pressing the issue.”

“But it won’t change your opinion that I’m playing it too safe.”

Micah folded his arms and flapped them like wings, clucking like a chicken as he left her office …

That was the last time she saw him. No kiss good-bye. No “I love you.” No “Be safe.” How she wished her last memory of her beloved was different. That her last moments with him had better reflected the deep love they shared instead of a disagreement they would surely have resolved.

Kate exhaled and felt as if her spirit deflated. She regretted being so harsh with Abby. But her daughter’s naïveté could only bring more pain. Something Kate wasn’t willing to risk.

Chapter 6

Abby clocked out at Flutter’s. Maybe everyone else in the family thought she was wrong about the girl. But she had to find out. And she had a plan.

She slipped out the side door and skipped down the back steps. When she reached the bottom, she almost ran headlong into Hawk.

“Where are
you
going in such a hurry?” Hawk said.

“None of your business.” He would only laugh if he knew. And there was no way she’d set herself up for that again.

Abby brushed past him and ran across the street to the house. She changed into shorts and a tank top, grabbed the bag she had prepared the night before, slung her purse strap over her shoulder, car keys in hand, and hurried outside to Mama’s car. She drove it down the winding road into Foggy Ridge.

Traffic on Main Street had slowed to a crawl, and she looked for any available parking space along the street and didn’t find one. She pulled into the parking lot behind Murchison’s Feed Store, glad to find a spot, even if it was in the back row.

She sat in the car for a moment, thinking through what she planned to do and say. This was her chance to step out in faith—walk her talk—even though she had no idea where it would lead. She decided to trust God.

Abby got out of the car, the bag under her arm, and walked across the parking lot and into the side entrance at Murchison’s. She walked nonchalantly past the customer service desk and down the hallway and stopped at the door marked Office, her heart racing. The worst that could happen was they would say no. What did she have to lose? She knocked, then turned the handle and went inside.

A woman with bleach-blonde hair and wearing a badge with the name
Maggie
looked up from her computer. “Can I help you?”

“Yes, my name’s Abby Cummings. I found an expensive doll that I think belongs to a little girl I saw yesterday.” Abby held up the cell phone picture. “I’m going around to businesses in the area, trying to locate her so I can return it.” Misleading, but not really a lie.

“Beautiful child,” Maggie said. “I can’t say that I’ve ever seen her before.”

“I was wondering if you would mind my asking your staff if anyone recognizes her.”

“Our employees are not allowed to give out any customer information due to privacy issues.”

“I understand. I just thought someone might know who she is and could have one of her parents call me. This looks like a very expensive doll.” Abby removed Riley Jo’s favorite baby doll—a gift from Grandma Becca and Grandpa Buck—from the bag.

“How lifelike.” Maggie smiled warmly. “My girls loved their dolls growing up. I guess it couldn’t hurt if you left your name and phone number with the staff. I hope you get this back to the little girl.”

“Me, too. Thanks for letting me do this.”

Abby went down the hallway and out to the sales floor. She waited until each clerk was free and then showed them the girl’s picture one-by-one. No one remembered seeing her until she got to the last clerk, Henry Lawgins, who said he had waited on the parents.

“Yep, I seen her in here with her folks,” Henry said. “Don’t know who they are, though. I remember they paid cash. I doubt they’re tourists, since they bought chicken feed.”

“Can you describe her parents?” Abby managed to ask, relieved that her pounding heart didn’t make her voice shake.

“Dad was tall and muscular. Had a beard. Looked like he works out. I’m guessin’ he was mid to late forties. Mom was a lot younger, maybe thirty. Average height. Wore glasses and a dress down to her ankles. Had really long hair—plain brown—tied back in a rubber band. Oh, they also had twin boys—little, maybe two or three years old.”

This was great information! “Anything else you can remember about them?”

Henry smiled. “The little girl’s name was Ella.”

Abby’s heart sank clear down to her toes. “You heard them call her that? Are you sure?”

“Yep. I perked right up ’cause that’s my granny’s name.”

“Have you seen them in here before?”

“Not that I remember. I hope this helps you find little Ella and she gets her doll back.”

“Me, too,” Abby said, not ready to put a period to the conversation. “Did she seem like a happy kid to you?”

Henry shot her a puzzled look and shrugged. “I didn’t pay her much mind. Had my eye on the twins. I was afraid they was gonna knock over a display.”

“Do you, by any chance, remember the twins’ names?”

“Seems like one of ’em was Ronny, but I ain’t sure about that.” Henry glanced over his shoulder. “Look, miss, I probably told you more than I’m supposed to. I really need to get back to work.”

“Of course.” Abby reached in her purse and took out one of several cards she had made up. “Here’s my name and cell number. If you see these people again, would you ask them to call me?”

“Sure thing.”

Abby walked out the side door, her head reeling. The description the clerk gave of the dad fit the man she had seen come outside Murchison’s, swat Ella’s behind, and take her back inside. But a mom? Twin brothers? It was starting to feel less and less likely that Ella was Riley Jo.

Abby walked back to Mama’s car, feeling as if a meteor had fallen on her heart, leaving a deep hole and dashing her hope to pieces. She sat for a few minutes, staring at Ella’s picture. Why couldn’t she just let it go? No matter how hard she tried, the connection she felt with this child was real. And magnetic. How could she just drop it before she knew why?