A Simple Christmas Wish (4 page)

By Thursday, Rachel was relieved that it was the day of the memorial service. Not because she was looking forward to it, but simply because she was longing to move on, to create some sense of normalcy. The service was surprisingly well attended and went relatively smoothly. Both Rachel and Holly had cried so much during the past week that they were somewhat dry-eyed by Thursday, until the photos Rachel had put on a CD were shown up on the big screen—with some of Miri and Michael’s favorite songs playing along. The combination brought most everyone to tears.

When the service and luncheon came to an end, Rachel and Holly went home to the apartment, where Rachel finally felt like she could just relax after having survived one of the longest weeks of her life. Fortunately, Holly was officially on Christmas break now, and they could both just kick back, comfort each other, and do as they pleased until mid-January. Friday, the day after the memorial service, Rachel proclaimed Pajama Day, and they didn’t even get dressed. Instead they
lazed around, watched Disney movies, and ate popcorn and ice cream, but at least they had a nutritious dinner when one of the church ladies dropped off a chicken-and-broccoli casserole.

“I want another Pajama Day,” Holly announced on Saturday morning. Rachel was glad to agree. After all, they were on vacation. However, she insisted they should eat a bit more healthily this time. “And tomorrow we have to get up, get dressed, and go to church,” she reminded her.

During the following week, Rachel added more structure to their lives by planning one Christmas-related event for each day. On Monday, they went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Christmas Around the World display. On Tuesday, they went to Navy Pier for the Winter Wonderfest. On Wednesday, they went to the Lincoln Park Zoo to see Santa’s Safari and the ice carving demonstrations. On Thursday, they waited until dusk and went to the Brookfield Zoo to enjoy the million lights, the laser show, and all the other festivities.

On Friday morning, however, just as they were preparing to set out for a Christmas window-shopping tour along the Magnificent Mile, Walt Swanson called. Walt had been Michael’s boss and mentor and Rachel had already had a conversation with him regarding her responsibilities with Holly, but he’d told her they would meet to go over the legal details of Michael and Miri’s will and estate later. It seemed that later had come.

“I hope you’ve had enough time . . . you know, to rest and recover . . . especially after all you and Holly have been through.” He spoke haltingly, almost as if something was
troubling him. “But I think it’s time to go over some things now. Can you come by my office this afternoon, around two?”

The law office was on Michigan Avenue, not far from the apartment, and so after their window-shopping trip and a lunch of hot dogs from a street vendor, they set out for Swanson, Myers, and Milligan.

“Your daddy always loved walking to work,” Rachel told Holly as she held her hand to cross the street. It felt so natural talking to Holly like this. They had both gotten comfortable talking about things Michael and Miri
used
to do—what they liked and what they didn’t. Rachel felt that speaking openly like this somehow helped to keep them alive, and that seemed important—at least for now. Perhaps the time would come when a whole day would pass and neither of them would mention the dearly departed, but Rachel doubted it would be anytime soon.

“You can wait in here,” Rachel told Holly as they walked into the law office.

“I know.” Holly nodded importantly. “I’ve waited in here before. Lots of times. Sometimes when I came with Daddy. Sometimes when Mommy brought me.” She pointed to the door that still had Michael’s name on it. “That’s Daddy’s office right there. Sometimes I went inside to see him. Sometimes I waited out here while Mommy went in to see him.”

Walt Swanson came out of his office. He gave Holly a sad little smile, grasping her hand in his big one. “How is my favorite little lady?”

She smiled back. “I’m fine, thank you. How are you?”

He grinned. “I’m doing all right.” He nodded to the
reception desk. “I think Donna’s got some Christmas candy over there.” He glanced at Rachel. “If that’s okay?”

“A little won’t hurt,” Rachel told him, looking at Holly. “Just don’t overdo it. Remember we’re trying to cut back on sweets.”

Holly went over to Donna’s desk while Walt led Rachel into his office. Although she’d been in Michael’s office many times, she’d never been in Walt’s. Since Walt was the boss, his office was naturally bigger and more impressive than Michael’s.

“Have a seat.” Walt waved to a pair of leather chairs.

She sat down and waited, curious as to why this face-to-face meeting was necessary. Perhaps there was more paperwork, or something she needed to sign in person.

Walt cleared his throat. “As you know, Michael was like a son to me. I cannot even tell you how sad I am to lose him.”

She nodded. “We all are.”

“Yes . . . I know.”

“But at least I have Holly.” She sighed. “That makes all the difference.”

“Ah yes—that is precisely what we need to talk about today.”

Something about his tone—or was it his words?—felt like an alarm going off inside of her. “What do you mean?” She studied him closely, watching as he folded his hands, then unfolded them.

“There’s no easy way to say this, Rachel. I would’ve told you last week, except that I knew your hands were full. Plus I knew you were still in the midst of your grief. I had hoped . . . I had really hoped . . . there would be another way out of this.”

“Out of what?” Her mouth felt dry.

“I know how much you love Holly, Rachel. I know that you expected to have full custody of her.”

“Of course,” Rachel said quickly. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He grimaced. “Because of Michael and Miriam’s will.”

“What do you mean?”

He pulled a folder to the center of his desk. “At my encouragement, Michael made a new will right after Holly was born.”

“Certainly. That makes sense. I assume everything has been left to Holly. Probably to be held in trust until she’s of—”

“Yes, yes, that’s true, but that’s not the problem.” He drummed his fingers on the top of the folder. “If there was any legal way to change this, I would do so, Rachel.”

“Change what?”

“The guardianship of Holly has been awarded to someone else.”

Rachel felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “What?”

“As I recall you were out of the picture when Holly was born.”

Rachel took in a fast breath to remember that dark era of her life—the only time when she and Michael had been at odds, and all because of Curtis Garmin. “Well, yes . . . I suppose I was sort of out of the picture, in a way.”

“I was honestly quite surprised that Michael hadn’t changed their will in the past several years,” Walt continued. “My assistant and I actually searched everywhere just in case there was a copy of a more recent will. These things do happen, however—especially to younger people. You never think you’re really going to die, and certainly not a couple dying together.”

“I’m still confused.” Rachel could hear the tremor in her voice. “Who would they possibly give Holly to? To you?”

Walt frowned. “I wish they had granted custody to me, Rachel. In that case, you and I could easily work this out.”

“Who, then?”

“To Miriam’s sister.”

“Miri has a sister?” Rachel was shocked. “Are you certain?”

He nodded grimly.

“But she never spoke of her. Never spoke of any family.”

“Because she was estranged.”

“But if she was estranged from her family—why would she give her only child to one of them?”

“Apparently Miriam trusted her sister to properly care for Holly.”

“But Holly doesn’t even know this woman. Who is she? Where does she live?” Rachel stood now, pacing back and forth. “For all we know, Miri’s sister could be some sort of lowlife—a drug addict or a prostitute or a murderer. From what little I knew of Miri’s family, there was something really bad and wrong—something that Miri had run away from—something she never wanted to speak about. She buried it deep.” Rachel stopped pacing and looked helplessly at Walt. “We can’t just hand Holly over to criminals, can we?”

He made an uneasy smile. “They’re not criminals.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’ve been in contact with the sister. Her name is Lydia Miller. And she’s got several children already.”

“If she has several children, why does she need Holly?” Rachel demanded.

“I’m not sure she needs Holly, but according to the law, she will be awarded custody of Holly. The will is watertight.”

“What if Holly doesn’t want to go? Where does this Lydia live anyway? Will Holly have to quit her school to move there?”

“Lydia lives in Ohio. Holmes County.”

“Ohio?”

“In an Amish settlement.”

“Amish?” Rachel suddenly imagined women in bonnets and horse-drawn carriages, but these images didn’t make sense. “Miri’s family is Amish?”

“Miriam grew up Amish,” Walt explained. “To be honest, I was as surprised as you are. Miri always struck me as a very modern sort of girl. I never would’ve guessed she was Amish.”

Now Rachel was remembering some things from when she’d first met Miri. Just little things, but they did seem to make sense. In a crazy, backward sort of way. She sat back down and let out a long sigh, peering hopelessly at Walt. “You’re really going to take her away from me?”

“I don’t want to do this, Rachel—you know I don’t—and it’s hard not being angry at Michael for not planning better.”

“Do you think there’s another will somewhere?” she asked. “In his house, perhaps?”

“It’s a possibility. Do you have access to his safe?”

“No. I didn’t even know he had a safe.”

“Oh, sure, he’s got a safe. An apartment like that? I’m certain of it. Look behind some pictures or in the back of his closet. You’ll find it.”

“How would I get into it?”

“You’d call in an expert. Donna can give you a reliable phone number.”

“Well, that’s it, then.” She stood. “There has to be a safe. And in it, we’ll find a more recently written will. Maybe he wrote it out just before this last trip.”

Walt looked hopeful. “That’s possible, but I would’ve expected him to leave a copy with me. I have copies of everything else pertaining to his estate.”

“Maybe he was in a hurry.”

Walt reached out to shake her hand. “I hope you’re right, Rachel.”

“I’m sure of it.”

“But if you’re wrong—if there is no second will—Holly needs to be delivered to her aunt in Ohio within the week.”

“Within the week?”

“That’s what Lydia told me.”

“You spoke to her?”

He nodded.

“I thought the Amish didn’t have phones or electricity. How did you speak to her? Did you go out there?”

“I sent her a telegram and she called me from someone else’s phone. We spoke at length. If it’s any comfort, she seems like a good person, and she really loved Miriam. She was quite shocked and saddened to hear of her baby sister’s death. She was very glad to hear that Holly is coming to live with her, and she told me they live on a farm with cows and pigs and chickens and all sorts of things. She felt it was best to get Holly settled in during winter break. That way she can start back to school in January with the other children.”

“They have a school?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t they?”

“I don’t know. I guess I really don’t know much about the Amish. I thought maybe they homeschooled or something.”

“Well, Lydia mentioned a school. And, anyway, if you don’t find a more recent will, you can be assured that Holly will be in very good hands.” He made a stiff-looking smile. “And that will allow you to get on with your life, Rachel. I know you’re a flight attendant. Not exactly an easy career for a guardian of a young child, being on the go all the time like that.”

“I quit my job,” she said in a flat tone.

“Oh, well, I’m sure they’d happily take you back.”

She sighed. Maybe they would happily take her back. But would she happily go? “Anyway, I intend to find Michael’s new will. I’ll get back to you as soon as I do.”

“Good luck.”

Rachel kept the emotions from her face and her voice as she and Holly walked back home. As soon as they were in the apartment, her search for the safe began. “What are you looking for?” Holly asked curiously.

“Your daddy had a safe. I need to find it.”

Holly’s brow creased. “What’s a safe?”

“A place where you keep important or valuable things. Sometimes it’s behind a picture on a wall.”

“Oh, you mean the little box inside the wall?”

“Yes,” Rachel said eagerly.

Holly led her to a modern-art painting in the master bedroom that covered “the little box inside the wall.” Rachel peered down at Holly. “You don’t happen to know the combination, do you?”

Holly looked confused. “Huh?”

Rachel laughed. “No, of course not.” She called the number that Donna had given her, and after a few hours, a man came and deftly opened it. After she paid him for his services, she carefully removed the contents of the safe, only to find a nice stash of cash, some of Miri’s jewelry, their marriage license, and a few other pieces. No will.

“Did you find what you wanted?” Holly asked from where she was sitting on the bed.

Setting the contents back into the safe, Rachel just shook her head. She closed the door and replaced the painting. “No, I didn’t.” She sat down next to Holly and thought hard. “Is there any other place Michael kept things?” she wondered out loud.

“Mommy and Daddy keep things in their closet,” Holly told her. “And in drawers.” So they carefully went through every possible space until Rachel was convinced she knew every square inch of the apartment by heart.

“What about storage in the basement?”

Holly just shrugged.

Rachel called down to maintenance, and the guy in charge explained which unit belonged to their apartment. “You’ll need a key to unlock it. The tenants provide their own padlocks.” She thanked him, and remembering where she’d seen some miscellaneous keys, she returned to find one that was marked for the storage unit. Naturally, Holly wanted to go down with her. On their way down, Holly pointed out her dad’s car, still parked in its spot in the garage. Rachel stared longingly at the old red Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, remembering how Michael had taught her to drive in that car—back before it was so beautifully restored. They continued on down
to the storage area and found the right unit. The key worked, but after a long search Rachel knew that no legal documents would be stored down here. They did find the Christmas decorations, however, as well as a couple of boxes of wrapped Christmas presents, which Holly insisted on lugging back to the apartment and arranging beneath the tree.