Natasha's Legacy (31 page)

“When we’re finished in here, could we go
back to the private cemetery?” Keeghan asked.

“I’m really sorry but that is not open for
public viewing,” Yvette replied. “That was a rule the Venderkemps
insisted upon. Our volunteers do not have access to the entire
property.”

I know but….
“Damn,”
Keeghan mumbled.

Yvette led Keeghan and Will back through the
hallway and into the lobby. They walked as slow as they were able,
examining the structure. Noticing a young man open one of the
adjoining doors, Keeghan quickly glanced inside. The immaculate
room was painted in a soft yellow colour. Keeghan was able to see
two young boys sitting at a table with papers and crayons in front
of them. Their hands and faces were clean. They appeared well fed
and loved. The woman returned to the room, shutting the door behind
her.

“This establishment is well maintained,” Will
acknowledged. “Do you receive government funding?”

Keeghan continued gazing about.

“No sir. We are busy with adoptions and never
decline a donation. We’ve had a very generous donor for years. I’m
told funds arrive regularly.”

Keeghan looked at Will. “The trust fund?” she
whispered.

“Could you tell us who is the donor is?”

“I’m not sure I’m allowed to disclose that
information, sir. I would have to go back and check the
records.”

“I would really appreciate it if you would
look into that for us.” To Will, he used his friendly look, but
Keeghan teased it was his flirty smile.

“I’ll be a few minutes. I have to check the
records on file. I should probably contact the bank as well.”

“We’ll wait,” Will assured her.

Yvette walked into the office.

“Okay.” Keeghan paused for a second. “An
original heir to the family could be administering the fund. Or,
someone has been asked to act as trustee on the family’s behalf, or
the forms at the bank had been adjusted before Alex died. The
transfer occurred automatically. Oh man. Could an heir be
administering the estate after all these years?” Keeghan
questioned.

William shrugged his shoulders. “Possible. If
it isn’t an heir, someone from the family or someone else put a lot
of trust in this person.”

“I hope this name isn’t the equivalent of a
John Smith. We won’t be any further ahead. I’m trying really hard
not to get my hopes up again,” she admitted. “If I had a lot of
money and wanted to donate locally to a worthy cause, I would do it
anonymously. It makes a person feel good to donate time or money
but there is no need to be proud and tell the world about it.”

“Unless it’s an astronomical amount.
Anonymous, but you’d want a receipt. You know I keep all our
charitable receipts within our tax folder. Every little bit counts
to lower taxes.”

“I’m sure it made the local paper the first
time, but they wouldn’t follow it multiple times a year, every
year.”

“True, but it’s good promotion for the
orphanage. Our paper does it all the time,” he reminded her. “A
picture with a cheque. A good reminder for others to donate or
volunteer, whatever. It’s great marketing. Well, hopefully Yvette
is allowed to tell us who the donor is, because tracing Rose is
going to be difficult. I don’t know how long marriage licenses
would be kept and with privacy issues, Yvette won’t be willing to
tell us what bank they use. We are not walking into every bank
around here and asking whether ‘Richard’ ever worked for them.”

Keeghan chuckled, appreciating his wit. “It’s
too bad we lost the Venderkemp connection. Stay tuned for my next
dream and pray the twins grow up and begin their own lives. We need
another surname. I don’t even know Alisha’s brother’s name.”

“It’s too bad the women weren’t as
independent as you are today.” Will winked at his wife. “I have my
doubts Alisha kept her maiden name if she married.”

Keeghan muffled another chuckle. “Thanks for
making me laugh.” She reached up and kissed his cheek.

Hearing the main door open, they turned to
see a very pregnant young woman. A young man helped her into the
building. Within seconds, a woman in a white lab coat rushed down
the steps from the second floor.

“I’ll wait outside,” the young man told the
volunteer.

It seemed to take forever before Yvette
opened the office door and walked into the lobby. Keeghan and Will
rose from their chairs.

“There have been a number of articles over
the years in the local paper. The donor is Mr. Victor
Hetherington.”

Keeghan turned and stared at Will. Neither
uttered a sound for a moment. Will turned his attention back to
Yvette. “I apologize for the reaction. We were expecting to hear
another name.” Will extended his hand to Keeghan. “Thank you so
much for being so generous with your time. You have been more than
helpful.”

Keeghan opened her purse, reached into her
wallet, and pulled out some cash.

“Please accept our donation for the children.
We appreciate your time and the work being done in this
building.”

She handed Yvette the cash. Yvette’s eyes
bulged.

“It is possible to get a receipt?” Will
asked.

“Certainly. Give me just a moment.” Yvette
disappeared into the next room.

“Can we use that in Canada?” Keeghan
asked.

“Doubt it, but it keeps them honest. That's a
healthy donation and it’s too easy to put cash into a pocket.”

With the receipt in his hand, Keeghan
followed Will out of the building and to the car. Once sitting,
Keeghan stared out the window. A million miles away, the pictures
on the wall and the entire conversation were on her mind.

“Keegh! Do you want to talk about this?”

“No,” she responded, jolted back to reality.
“I don’t want to speculate. We’ll wait until we get home. In the
meantime, we’ll go back to the hotel, change, and go for a long
walk. Then we’ll go out for dinner. It will be a long day tomorrow
sitting on the plane, unless of course you want to go to the
library and search more archives?”

William didn’t respond. Apparently, he didn’t
think the comment deserved one.

Keeghan was hoping for another dream, but
instead she had a restless night. She crawled out of bed as the sun
began to rise, removed her sleeping attire, and stepped into the
shower. With the towel wrapped around her body, she looked around
the corner to see her drowsy husband crawling out of bed. She had
the suitcases organized when he finished getting dressed.

Once on the plane, Keeghan closed her eyes
and rested.

Keeghan and Will got through customs and sat
in Will’s red sports car. Keeghan reached into her purse for her
cell and made a call. It rang and rang. “Ugh. No answer. He needs
voice mail.”

“Yup. Wait a few minutes and try again. It’s
possible he just stepped out for a few minutes.”

“Still no answer,” she groaned three minutes
later. “We might as well head over to your parents’ place and pick
up Constable. I’ve missed her.”

“Me too. Give Mom and Dad a call and tell
them we’re on the way. You should call your mom as well, Keegh. I
know she will be happy to hear we are on solid ground.”

“I think I’ll wait until I see them to tell
them about our trip.”

“Good idea. I plan to talk to my parents
about the sightseeing this afternoon. Your dream will make a good
dinner conversation on Sunday.”

Three quarters of an hour later, Will and
Keeghan thanked his parents for looking after the dog. With
Constable settled on the back seat, Keeghan sat behind the steering
wheel, did up her seatbelt, and backed out of the driveway. Will
removed his cell from its case on his belt buckle, turned off the
bluetooth and pushed the memory buttons.

“Hi. Glad you’re home. Keeghan and I are back
from our little holiday. How would you like some company?”

Keeghan glanced toward Will as he extended
his arm, allowing her to speak into the phone. “Hi, Papa.”

Will put the phone to his ear. “Constable is
with us and I don’t want to leave her alone in the car after being
away for a week. Is it okay if we bring her up with us?” Will
smiled. “Great. Unless we get into traffic, we will be there in
about a half hour.”

Ending the call, Will shifted his body toward
the back seat to look at his pet.

“We are going for another visit, Constable.
You have to be a good girl with no barking. Just curl up by my feet
and have a little nap. I’ve been told you had a long walk this
morning and you ran in the park so I’m sure you could use the
sleep.”

Stopping by their home, Will set the luggage
inside the door, picked up a box, and returned to the car while
Keeghan waited with their dog.

At the condominium, William pushed the
buzzer, waited for the door to open, and followed Keeghan and
Constable to the elevator. Reaching the sixth floor, they looked
down the hall to see a familiar face. Will’s papa stood in his
slippers with one hand on the door, the other tucked between his
shirt and his suspenders. Constable’s tail began to wag the moment
she saw him. Will released the leash and the dog rushed to greet
him.

“My gosh, you’d think you hadn’t seen me in
months. Lucas brought you over yesterday, Constable.” He gave the
dog a scrunch on the head before turning his attention to them. “I
was happy to get your phone call,” Papa remarked. “Lucas bookmarked
your flight information for me so I knew you had landed on
schedule, but I always appreciate hearing your voice.”

Both Keeghan and Will gave his grandfather a
hug and walked into his home. Will’s papa owned a large,
one-bedroom condo with an open-concept kitchen that looked toward
the living room and the eating area. The living room was dominated
by a three cushion sofa, two wing chairs, and a reclining chair
facing his forty-two inch flat screen television. A stereo and a
digital video recorder were on the shelf below. His corner
apartment had a multitude of windows giving him a beautiful view of
the Pacific Ocean. From his balcony, they could see the Rockies in
the distance. To Keeghan, it was a little piece of heaven. Between
the door to his bedroom and the door to the washroom, stood a small
desk with a laptop computer that Will and Keeghan gave him when
they upgraded. Will had bookmarked the stock market exchange and a
news home page so he could follow the movement of his favourite
stocks. Keeghan walked over to the stereo and turned down the jazz
music. Will sat on the sofa.

“Stay,” Will instructed the dog, pointing at
his feet.

“Would you like wine, juice, or beer?” Papa
asked. He opened the fridge door.

“I’ll have cranberry juice,” Keeghan
responded.

“I’d love a cold beer,” Will replied.

“Good. I always appreciate company when I
enjoy a beer.”

Papa handed Will his bottle and sat on his
burgundy leather reclining chair, taking his first sip.

“I’m hoping you’re planning to tell me you’re
expecting a little one.”

“Not yet, Papa,” Keeghan admitted.

“I’m not getting any younger. Can you tell me
before you tell William?” he teased.

“No-o-,” Will snarled. It quickly turned to a
chuckle as Papa winked at her. “I plan to be with Keegh when she
finds out.”

“But I will tell you a secret.” Keeghan
leaned forward. “We’re not trying to avoid it anymore.”

His face lit up. “That’s the best news I’ve
heard in a while.”

“Papa, would you tell me the story of my
heritage?” Will asked.

Papa’s body shifted back. There were times
Keeghan appreciated his blunt, straightforward statements, but this
wasn’t one of them. She loved Papa’s wit, not seeing him
defensive.

“You’ve never been interested in this before.
Why now?”

“I need to know.”

Will’s grandfather’s eyes shifted from Will
to Keeghan and back to Will. “Nana and I—”

“Ugh,” William groaned. He glanced at Keeghan
and then back to his papa. “Further back. Tell me about Natasha and
Stewart.”

Papa Victor slumped in his chair. The bottle
slipped through his hands, landing upright on his lap. Constable
sat up and looked between the adults. The smile disappeared from
Papa's face. You could cut the tension with a knife. Keeghan glared
at Will.

“That was far too blunt and forceful.”

Will rubbed the dog’s head. “Papa, please. I
need to know,” Will begged, ignoring Keeghan’s glaring plea.

“Where did you come up with names like
that?”

“Papa!”

“Your father isn’t aware of his heritage. How
did you find out?”

“Keeghan has been having dreams. Alexander
has been telling her an interesting story.”

“Alexander? Uncle Alex?”

Keeghan's jaw dropped. Could it be true?
Papa. Will’s grandfather, Victor Hetherington is administering the
trust fund for the orphanage. Is it possible that Papa is a
descendent of Stewart and Natasha Donovan? That Will is a
descendent?

“We think so, Papa,” Will responded. “We just
got back from a trip to Kassima. We went through some archived
school books from Picton University and we went to the Venderkemp
Orphanage.”

“Oh my God,” his papa exclaimed. “I’m
shocked. You went to see the orphanage? How does it look?”

“Amazing,” Keeghan announced. “Just the way I
saw it in my dream. It’s a beautiful story. Why keep it a secret
from Will and his dad?”

Papa Victor smiled, but then his eyes teared
up. “Nana Hope turned that story into something beautiful. Their
lives would have been very different had she not fallen in love
with Papa Adam.”

Keeghan's eyes filled with tears. This family
she had dreamed about, grown to love, was Will’s family, their
family. There were so many questions she’d wanted to ask Alex. So
many things she wanted to say.

Now she could. She could speak with Papa.
“Alex told me a detailed story, but when I tried to talk to him in
my dream, he didn’t respond very often. He never voiced his opinion
as the story unfolded. I’m hoping you can fill in some of the
gaps.”