Looking for Miracles (20 page)

“I did, when I got in there this morning. All of them that I could,” Gloria said. “There was one that wasn’t related to work, from a man who left a number. He said his name was Carl Brenner and he needed to talk to you as soon as possible.”

Although the name meant nothing to his mother, Mike could see it meant something to Lori. She turned pale, standing still for a moment, then
seemed to shake things off just as quickly. “Great. I’ll call him back when I can. Let me get us both something to drink while we talk. That grand jury stuff is thirsty work. And I know the baby will want to eat the moment she wakes up. So if I’m going to put my feet up and have a cold drink, it better be soon.”

Mike wished Tyler had been home. That would have given him something to do while the women talked. As it was, he felt like a third wheel during the conversation. “When do we need to pick Tyler up from school?” he asked, pretty sure he knew the answer already.

“Not until four. He’s staying with the day care kids just for today. Unless you want to go get him and bring him back for me. That would be wonderful,” Lori said with a smile.

“I’ll do it. If they’ll let me pick him up.”

“You and your mom are the only ones they’ll release him to besides me. If anybody gives you any trouble, you can give them Tyler’s password.”

“I don’t even have to ask what that is,” Mike said. “It has to be fire engine.”

“You know us way too well.” Lori shook her head.

Not always, Mike thought, wondering who the strange man in Lori’s life was that made her heart miss a beat just by the mention of his name in
conversation. Until today he would have said that his name was the only one that could make her falter like that. It bore thinking about.

A week later Mike was even more confused. Lori came to work at the office every day now, instead of doing most of her work from the apartment where she could hide out. And she came to work whistling and humming and went home that way. But there seemed to be something contained, almost distant about her in an odd way.

The strangest part was that she was radiantly happy. At first he thought that was just because the weight of the grand jury testimony was off her shoulders. When he brought that up, she seemed glad that it was over, but not ecstatic. She and Gloria had several conversations behind closed doors, which he wondered about.

The strangest thing was that his mother accepted an invitation to dinner at Lori’s apartment without ever once suggesting that she cook at the house instead, and have the Harpers over. That was so odd that Mike had to remark on it, even though he was invited along. For all the satisfaction he got asking his mother questions about the whole event, he might as well have talked to his computer screen.

It wasn’t about Hank and his mom. That much
he knew, because the older couple had “gone public” as they put it, and lunched together several times a week, even at the Town Hall. Everybody in Friedens probably knew they were an item by now.

This was something different, and Mike felt more clueless than usual. He finally just stopped arguing and wondering and agreed to drive his mother to the apartment on the designated night. Lori seemed as excited as Tyler might be, almost hugging herself with happiness.

Meanwhile, Mike worked through a few plans of his own, keeping much more silent about what he was doing than the women did. If he were going to be rejected, he would do it quietly. And if he was accepted after all his planning was done, he could be happy about it then. No sense in investing too much into things before they happened.

So Mike found himself driving his truck over to Union with Gloria in the passenger seat, dressed better than she had been for work that day. What was that about? And why did she insist that he wear a shirt and tie to dinner at Lori’s? He was going to be a wreck by the time the kids got done with him.

They parked outside and Mike noticed at least one unfamiliar vehicle. A pickup truck much like his own, it wasn’t one of the things he was used to seeing around the neighborhood. He’d gotten good
at scouting out strange vehicles after all this mess with Hughes. “Hank could make me a deputy,” he muttered under his breath.

“What?” his mother asked.

“Nothing.” Better to just get to the door and find out what these two women had planned for him. He rang the outside bell and heard Tyler thunder down the hall.

“It’s them, Mom. I can see Mike,” he heard the boy call behind the door.

There was much more commotion behind the door. Behind him, Mike could hear his mother shifting nervously. They hadn’t planned some kind of goofy surprise party, had they? His birthday wasn’t for a month yet. Of course, that would make things much more surprising.

The door opened and Mike found himself facing a man he’d never seen before, but who looked oddly familiar. His dark hair was wavy, and his gray eyes wide. “Hi. I’m Carl Brenner. You don’t know me yet.”

Brenner. It was the name from Lori’s message. What was this about? At first Mike felt hot under the collar, but then he paused. Lori wouldn’t do anything to hurt him, so this had to be something unusual, but right. “Okay.” Mike stood his ground, still wondering what this was about.

The man broke into tears right in front of him.
“This is crazy. I promised myself I would be cool. But I’ve been looking for you for twenty-five years.” He came through the doorway, reaching for Mike. “I think—no, after seeing you, let me change that. I
know
I’m your brother.”

Chapter Eighteen

“T
ell him how this all worked out,” Gloria urged Lori as they all settled in the living room of the apartment. She looked more animated than Lori expected. True, she seemed nervous. And she welcomed the interruptions the children caused during the evening. But she honestly seemed proud of all of this.

Nobody had eaten a lot of dinner. Lori wasn’t surprised by that. She wasn’t all that hungry herself, with the anticipation of everything traveling through her like butterfly wings. She was glad when they opted for conversation instead of dessert.

“Your mom really got me started on it. She suggested that since I was so good on the computer, I
might try searching sites where people look for lost relatives.”

“And she found mine right away. That’s what I mostly do for a living, or a calling, I guess you could say. Find people. Until this week, you’re the only one I never had any success with.” Carl was sitting on the apartment’s battered couch, with Mike on the other end. To Lori they looked like bookends.

They were definitely a matched pair. Both handsome men, tall with similar features. What surprised Lori was that for two brothers who hadn’t been raised together, their gestures and movements were similar. There were positions Carl took when sitting and speaking that looked just like Mike.

He was doing it now, using a sweeping hand gesture she’d seen dozens of times when Mike was on the phone trying to elaborate a point. “Do you know what she sent me that convinced me? This woman faxed me a crayon drawing you had made in the hospital. I knew as soon as I saw it that you were my brother Danny.”

“You said that to me on the phone,” Lori said. “Explain it for us.”

Carl moved forward, and Mike leaned in to listen to him. They were, without a doubt, a fine-looking pair of men. That wasn’t what made Lori’s heart sing. It was the smile on Mike’s face as he listened,
the sparkle in his eyes that gave him a look of peace she’d never seen before.

“You couldn’t really remember that. But you drew it. That’s how we lost our parents, in that fire in the trailer where we all lived. You and I were the only ones who got out all right. I was terrified that you were going to bolt back in there.”

“And you yelled at me to stay put. But I didn’t want to.”

Carl sat back, looking stunned. “Right. Do you remember that? How could you? You were only two.”

“I don’t remember it consciously. But after getting Tyler out of the fire I had all kinds of nightmares. Most of them faded in and out, but that one kept coming back. And it was so very real. It’s good to know that it was real. Thanks for what you did, Carl.”

Both men had a suspicious shine to their eyes. Lori was so choked up that she could barely hold back tears. She wasn’t sure she wanted to keep them in much longer. Maybe it was the right thing to let them out.

It was Carl’s response that started her weeping in earnest. “I’ve probably waited twenty-five years to hear you say those words. For so long, I concentrated on what I didn’t do that day, and the days after. I got you out of the fire, Mike, but I wasn’t
able to stay with you. For years I felt like a failure because of that.”

Mike’s brow wrinkled. “How? You did get me out, and we lived. Carl, this little guy running around here is five. That’s the age you said you were. Do you honestly think he would be capable of looking after a baby?”

Carl smiled, a rueful smile. “No, not really. And I haven’t felt that way in a while, either. Grace convinced me of that. You’ll love my wife, Grace, and the kids. I can hardly wait to get together.”

“I’d like that, too.” Mike looked over at Gloria. “If that’s okay with you, Mom. I can’t tell you how excited I am to find a brother, to know what happened to me before. But no one could ever replace my mother.”

“I have no intention of doing that.” Carl waved a hand, and Lori was struck by the elegance of the gesture, and the similarity to the way Mike did it. Did these two see how alike they were? “I owe you the greatest debt, ma’am. Sometimes when I was a kid, the only thing that kept me sane was knowing that somewhere there were people who were very good to my brother. I am so happy to see that my dreams for him didn’t even come close to the reality. I’d be honored if you could consider yourself part of our family somehow.”

Gloria was in worse shape than Lori was herself.
And that speech put her over the edge. Lori went over to the chair where Gloria sat and put an arm around her shoulders while she cried. The men looked at each other, both shifting uncomfortably in their seats.

“You handle this as well as I do, I see,” Mike said. “I know you meant that in the best possible way. It’s just that, well, they’re women, aren’t they?”

“And we do not speak the same language. Grace is always reminding me,” Carl said. “She and her aunt, who is basically my mother-in-law, are always reminding me. So is my daughter, Maria. I guess I ought to say she’s Grace’s daughter, technically. She’s only been mine since she was six, but I tend to forget that part. She’s reached that magical age where she’s part woman, part child and the looks I get sometimes…”

“Say no more. But if you have pictures of all these people, it might stop the waterworks,” Mike said.

His mother looked up. “I hate to admit it, but he’s right. And you’re welcome, Carl. This is all so surprising to me, though. I was afraid that since we waited this long, somehow God was going to be angry with me for not letting Mike know sooner. That there would be no possible way that his first
family would ever accept me or do anything but resent me.”

“And nothing could be farther from the truth,” Lori said. “Isn’t that—”

“A miracle,” Mike finished for her. They smiled across the room as Carl reached for his wallet and a stack of pictures inside.

“Speaking of miracles, let me show you our newest one,” he said. “His name is Daniel and yes, he was named for you. I promised Grace before he was born that our first child together would bear your name in some form. If he had been a girl, he would have been Danielle. I never forgot you.”

Lori went over to where Mike looked at the picture. “Isn’t this fantastic? You have two namesakes, Mike. One for each name. And both beautiful babies if I do say so myself.”

“You’re allowed,” Mike said. “As the mother of one and the future aunt to the other, it makes perfect sense for you to admire them.”

“Future aunt?” Carl quirked an eyebrow in a gesture that made Lori shiver, it was so like Mike. “You didn’t tell me that part on the phone.”

“Maybe because it’s the first I’ve heard about it myself,” Lori said, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

Mike looked over at his brother. “I guess you got all the finesse in the family, huh? Somebody
had to, because I’m hopeless. Shall I get down on one knee and make it official, Lori?”

She stood in front of him, fighting tears. Of all the things she expected tonight, this wasn’t one of them. But it felt so right. “No, please, don’t. Where you are is just fine. If you really mean this, Mike…”

“I’ve never meant anything more. Lori Harper, you have been precious to me since the moment you walked into my life. You have filled empty spots in my heart I didn’t even know
existed
before you came. Because of you I am a different person. Will you take that person into your heart? For good?”

“Forever.” She couldn’t hold the tears back. They trickled down her cheeks and she smiled, not bothering to wipe them away. Mike would do that for her soon enough. “Are you sure you want a widow with two kids? And no money?”

“The money part doesn’t bother me at all. What you’ve already given me is so much dearer than money. And that includes the opportunity to know your children. I can’t imagine anything better than getting to live with them every day, unless it’s getting to live with you.”

Lori didn’t have enough strength in her knees to keep standing. Mike could see her shaking, and
opened his arms. “Come on down here, girl. Want to start making some plans?”

“Yes. Yes, I believe I do, Mike.” And she fell into his lap gratefully and kissed him, totally in awe of the way things were working out.

Epilogue

“I
still think you’re making a mistake,” Tyler said, small fists bunched on his hips.

Lori looked past him into the crowded church. “I hope you don’t mean about marrying Mike. Because I am going to do that, no matter what, Tyler.” She couldn’t imagine what had gotten into her son, now of all times.

He shook his head, rearranging the careful combing Gloria had done just moments previous, before Mike had escorted her up the aisle to her place as the mother of the groom, then gotten to the front of the church himself to wait. “No. I want you to marry Mike. That will make him my dad, and that’s cool. I mean about the bear stuff. Dogg can growl. And I can, too. We could still be ring bears.”