Another Homecoming Read online

  Kyle gave Joel silent space to grow accustomed to the idea of a sister. She spent time inspecting his face. There was the same shape to his eyes, his forehead, and his chin, as she saw when she looked in her mirror. On him it looked good, she decided. He was a nice-looking young man. A bit too thin and pale, but nonetheless attractive—and pleasant, especially his eyes.

  “You’re sure?” he said at last.

  “Yes. I’m sure.”

  Silence. Absolute silence. He picked up his spoon and began to stir his coffee. Round and round—his eyes staring into a past only he could see. “The guest room,” he murmured as though answering a question.

  Kyle frowned. “Pardon?”

  But Joel did not explain. He lifted his head and studied her closely. At length he nodded. “I guess it explains a lot of things. Sort of.” The spoon continued round and round. “My sister. I can’t get over this.”

  “Dr. Austin delivered us both.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “No. . . . He’s the tie that got me to your—our parents.” Kyle watched a range of expressions cross her brother’s face.

  “So where have you been hiding?”

  “A family in D.C. adopted me.”

  He appraised her. “And they are well-off, by the looks of things.”

  Kyle nodded. There was no use denying it.

  “Did the folks decide to look for you?”

  “No, I began to look for them.”

  “And you found them. How?”

  “It wasn’t easy. I’ve had a friend looking for months. The adoption records were sealed. We had to gather hints here and there. I finally found Dr. Austin. He decided to break some rules and contacted . . . contacted Martha.”

  “Why didn’t Mom tell me?”

  “She just found out, and she’s writing you a letter. They said it’s not possible to contact you by phone. I suppose you could call them, though . . .”

  “Already she’s trying to boss me around,” he said to the world at large, and they both laughed. “I have been busy.”

  “Well, they sure would love to hear from you, especially with—”

  His gaze swung around to her. “With what?”

  “You know.” She paused for a breath. “They just miss you, that’s all,” she finished lamely.

  But he understood her deeper meaning. “So you’ve been told everything, is that what I’m hearing?”

  “I’m your sister, Joel. They felt—they thought I should know.”

  Joel looked away. Clearly, having a stranger know about his illness had unsettled him. Kyle wondered if she should have first warned him. Maybe a letter would have been better. Perhaps he could not understand her longing for family. Maybe she would never be able to explain.

  But she had to try. She needed to be open and honest and risk his rejection. “I want to know my family. I really do,” she began slowly.

  He raised his eyebrows, a small smile tilting the corners of his mouth. “Was there ever anything you wanted in your entire life that you couldn’t have?”

  She stared at him, wondering if he was dismissing her as merely frivolous and empty-headed. How could she explain her life in just a few words? Kyle was tempted to give up the attempt with some pleasantries and hope for a better opportunity in the future.

  But something in his eyes made her take a deep breath and speak the truth. “I used to wish to be accepted . . . loved for who I was. Spoken with, rather than ordered to sit up straighter or hold my teacup properly. My father . . . he loved me . . . just as I was, but he’s—I lost him. Mother . . .” There was no use trying to explain to him about her mother. “I was lonely,” she finished in a whisper.

  It took a moment for her halting words to sink in. She watched it happen, watched as her simple explanation settled down deep, wiping away his doubts.

  A sense of rightness came between them, and Joel nodded slowly and said, “Then we have a lot in common, after all. More than I thought.”

  And to her surprise he reached across to take her hand and give it a little squeeze. He looked at her evenly, the questions now gone from his eyes and replaced by a soft, genuine smile. “I’m very glad you were determined enough—brave enough—to find us. To come find me. I really am.”

  23

  THAT EVENING, SHE CALLED KENNETH. “I miss you more than I thought could be possible.”

  He was silent long enough for her to wonder if she should have spoken. Then he murmured, “Oh, Kyle.”

  “Everything I see, all that’s happening, I want to tell you about, describe to you,” she said in a rush. The doors that had been opened in their last conversation were not to be shut again. Not ever. “I wish you were with me.”

  “Your words sound,” he said quietly “as though you had looked right inside my mind and knew what I longed to hear.”

  “I have so much else I want to tell you,” she confessed. “I need your perspective and experience, Kenneth.”

  “How are things going?”

  “Good, I think.” She recounted the events, her visit with the Millers, and the meeting with her brother. She finished with, “Now I feel, well, I feel like we’re all just beginning to know each other, learning how to communicate. I look into Joel’s face, which seems so familiar to me. And yet it’s so strange to feel like we know each other, yet really to know so little—we have so many years to catch up on. . . .”

  “Give it time,” Kenneth assured her after a moment. “Remember, he’s not even known about you, and you’ve been searching for months. All of you need time to adjust to this discovery.”

  “Yes,” she said, still sounding pensive.

  “Where are you now?”

  “I’ve taken a room in the Lansdale Hotel.” She gripped the phone tightly. “I wish I could see you.”

  “Would you like me to come up?”

  “Could you? Oh, Kenneth, that would be wonderful. But I thought—”

  “Things have changed around here,” he said, a chuckle in his voice. “I have some news of my own.”

  “What is it?”

  “Randolf and Abigail,” he announced, “are dropping the court case.”

  “What?” She leapt to her feet.

  “Apparently their lawyers have advised them against attempting to disinherit you. That is what our own people think. Bad publicity, risking loss of whatever clout they still have, and a case they don’t have a hope of winning—whatever the reasons, the case has been dropped, Kyle.”

  “You mean, it’s over? Really and truly finished?”

  “We will have to work out a number of details, but you can leave those to me. Yes, if you want my opinion, I would say we are home free.”

  “Dear Kenneth,” she said softly. “Thank you. Thank you for helping me.”

  “I would like to keep doing that,” he said, his tone matching her own. “For the rest of my life.”

  The next morning, Joel once again rode the bus to Lansdale alone. Simon was still busy helping his father with farm work. Joel found himself glad for the chance to travel in solitude. The day before had left him very unsettled. All night he had relived the encounter with his sister, trying to come to grips with what it all meant.

  He stared out the bus window at the bright blue sky of a country autumn morning, and all around him the world was painted in colors of fire. Each bend and rise brought a new scene into view, but Joel scarcely noticed. He reflected that it was not just this newfound sister that had left him so unnerved.

  As the bus wound its way into Lansdale, Joel felt a tugging at his heart, as though his parents were reaching out across the distance through Kyle. He stepped from the bus, waved to the driver, and started down the street to the mission. He spotted Kyle walking toward him, leading a tall young man by the hand. Joel had a pang of envy over the man’s obvious strength and vitality.

  Kyle halted in front of him and said shyly, “Joel, I’d like you to meet Kenneth Adams. This is my brother, Joel.”

  Kenneth shook
his hand, a calm, compassionate light in his eyes. “This is a true honor, Joel. You are doing great work here.”

  “Thanks.” Joel heard the warmth and concern in the young man’s voice and immediately felt ashamed at his first response. “Why do you say that?”

  “Because of what your parents told us. I think we’re seeing just the beginning here.” Kenneth’s voice held the same quiet power as his face and his grip. “Everywhere I go these days, I’m hearing about a new restlessness among young people. New challenges to the established order of things. We may not be able to stop or redirect the rebellion, yet someone needs to remind them that the ultimate authority is God. But that His is an authority based on love.”

  The three walked into the building, and Kyle said, “I’ll let you two get acquainted.” She backed away and asked, “How about coffee?”

  At Joel’s nod, Kenneth said, “Make that two, please.” He then motioned toward nearby chairs. “Do you want to sit down?”

  Gratefully Joel accepted the invitation and moved toward a seat. “It sounds like you’re a Christian.”

  “Yes.” Kenneth looked around the vast hall. “When I come to a place like this, it challenges me to make my faith a living, breathing part of everything I am, everything I do.”

  The honest humility touched Joel, and he sank into the chair with a long sigh. When he looked up, Kenneth was watching him with an expression of grave concern. “Kyle tells me you are not well.”

  “It’s a heart condition,” Joel admitted.

  “Kyle told me. I’m sorry.” The silence fell between them for several minutes before Kenneth spoke again. “Kyle and I both wonder if perhaps there is something more that can be done. There are some amazing discoveries about the heart recently—but I’m sure you are aware of this.”

  “I’ve lost count of all the tests I’ve had. If there had been something—anything—that could be done, I’m sure Doc Austin would have seen to it.”

  “Would you—and your doctor—be willing to undergo further testing?”

  “I’m not sure.” Joel offered a small smile, not just to the question, but also to the fact that he was talking so comfortably with a stranger. “Maybe I’m just a coward,” he admitted slowly. “Any thought—any faint hope—and I’m afraid I would grasp at it.”

  “That’s natural. God created us to fight for survival.”

  “It’s not just for me. Though I’ve had hopes and dreams that I would love to see fulfilled. It’s more than that. It’s my work here. I feel that with these young people I am finally doing something important. Something lasting. And the irony is that it’s about to end.”

  Both pairs of eyes drifted over the room where ministry for body and soul took place daily. “Sometimes it seems so unfair,” Joel said.

  Kenneth nodded slowly. “I understand.”

  The bonding between the two young men was something beyond the mere words they were exchanging. Joel realized this was no stranger. Kenneth was a brother. A brother in heart. “Sometimes, when I’m alone, I feel like death is standing in the corner of my room, watching and waiting—taunting me.” He lowered his head and his voice. “There’s so much I want to do. So much left to learn.”

  Kenneth was quiet for a long moment. His gaze filled with a sorrow that mirrored the anguish spilling from Joel’s heart. “The Lord’s hand is truly at work in your life, Joel. Whatever happens, He is still at work.”

  Joel nodded slowly. He already knew this, but had not wanted to accept it. He now realized that the reason he had fought against the truth of God’s hand, even in this, was because he had seen it as a defeat. Yet who was he to question God? His love, His will, or His timing.

  At Joel’s slow nod, Kenneth continued, the warmth in his voice removing any hint of a lecture. “Perhaps you have been seeing this as your ministry. Not His ministry. If it is truly His—and truly important—don’t you think He will care for it? Perhaps the Lord is asking you to prepare yourself for handing over your responsibilities here to someone else.” He stopped and searched Joel’s face. “But I can’t say that for certain. I’m not sure I should be saying anything at all.”

  Joel struggled to find words. “I feel like you are saying what my heart has been trying to tell me for weeks.”

  “Then I’m glad I spoke,” Kenneth replied quietly.

  Joel straightened his shoulders and looked directly at Kenneth. For the first time in a long while he felt at peace. “I’m afraid I have been taking myself far too seriously. It is God’s program, after all, isn’t it?”

  Light footsteps signaled Kyle’s return. Joel raised his head to see Kyle a few paces away, steaming coffees in both hands. She glanced from one face to the other. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting?”

  The two smiled at each other. “No,” Joel said. “Not at all.”

  Kyle handed over the coffees and settled onto a chair. She hesitated a long moment, then said, “I called your home this morning. They said to tell you . . .” There was a hesitancy, as though she was uncertain how to continue. “They miss you, Joel.”

  He nodded, both at the words and at what was unsaid. That he was nearing his own end, and his parents needed time with him. “I need to go home,” he acknowledged. “But I don’t like the thought of leaving here”—he looked around—“and the Millers. They have been such a strength to me.”

  “That reminds me.” Kyle hesitated, then said carefully, “Ruthie said to tell you, ‘Don’t leave now, leave next time.’ ”

  “Yeah,” Joel said quietly. “If only I could.”

  Kenneth quietly offered, “You know, you could take your mission work home with you.”

  Joel looked up, his question unspoken.

  “My own church has an outreach program, trying to help young runaways in the Washington area,” Kenneth went on. “They could always use experienced help.”

  Joel felt a newfound surge of hope. “You really think so?”

  “I’ll take you over and introduce you myself.” Kenneth set aside his coffee cup, looked for a moment at Joel, then said, “I would consider it an honor if we could pray together.”

  Joel found hope rising still, a gift that gave strength he could not receive through words. He nodded his acceptance and said quietly, “I’m so glad my sister found you.”

  Kyle did not miss the words. Tears formed in her eyes at the acceptance and the open affection they carried. “So am I,” she agreed, reaching for Kenneth’s hand, then Joel’s. “So am I.”

  That night Kyle lay in her hotel bed and thought back over the events of the last few days. She had never felt so happy, so filled with a sense of anticipation. God is at work, she exulted. She felt His very presence with her, deep in her heart. She never wanted to lose this, not ever. She wanted it to grow inside her, getting bigger and stronger every single day. Please, God, stay with me and let this . . . this feeling of knowing you are here never leave me. Not ever.

  She reached out to touch the wall between her room and Kenneth’s. He was part of all this—God’s plan for her life, she realized. He had somehow brought peace and a new sense of direction to Joel. Joel had even agreed to further medical opinion. Perhaps the diagnosis would be the same. They all had to face that fact. But at least they would have the comfort of knowing they had done all they could. It was important for her to do anything that she could, anything that her resources could arrange for, to ease their parents’ hearts.

  She no longer had to worry about the will that her father had left, about repercussions from those who had tried to contest it. Kenneth possessed the business expertise to give direction to the company; his faith would help her mold Rothmore Insurance into an organization operating in a way that honored God. He shared her sense of calling—to God, to her father’s wishes, and now to her new family.

  In the search for her roots, she had knocked on many doors. She had been searching for herself and began to realize it really was a search for God. For the first time in her life, she was coming to see who s
he truly was. Not the proper society lady Abigial wanted. Not even the girl Lawrence had loved. No, it was something far deeper, far richer than that. She was a child of God. And the realization was another door through which she would enter and continue traveling.

  Nor would she go through this journey alone. She knew it. No matter that her beloved father had died or that Joel might leave her just as she was coming to know and love him. There was a new vision that calmed her heart and filled the void of loneliness that had been so much a part of her life.

  For her earthly family—families—had been joined to an eternal one. The heavenly family was a part of her now. Nothing could ever take that away. She belonged.

  Martha held Joel for a long time when he first arrived home. Joel could feel the tremble of her body as she fought against tears, but bravely she tried for a smile as she pushed back and placed her hands on his arms. “I think you’ve put on some weight,” she said. “Maybe you like Mrs. Miller’s cooking better than your mother’s.” Joel could tell she was teasing, and they both laughed.

  It was Harry’s turn then. Joel had never been hugged by his dad before, as far as he could remember. Mr. Miller gave him an occasional bear hug, but this was different. Harry drew him close and held him snug against his chest. “We’ve missed you, son,” he said with a husky voice that hinted at all the lost years.

  Kyle had traveled with Joel and was welcomed by loving embraces, too, and soon the bittersweet emotions turned to joyous reunion. Almost without realizing it they fell into easy conversation.

  “I made your favorite dessert, apple crisp,” Martha informed Joel as she led them to the little kitchen where the table had been carefully set with the best they had. She turned to Kyle. “Had I known your favorite, dear, I would have made it, too.” The words touched Kyle’s heart in a strange but warm way.