Jacqui tilted her head and regarded him. She finally nodded, more slowly this time.
The old man smiled at her again. “Be good for your new parents, and be happy.”
Jacqui thought about that. “That’s two things.”
He laughed. “So it is. But I hope you’ll be both.”
He patted her on the head, his hand lingering for just a moment. “And whatever else happens, take care of that bear, Jacqui.”
Jacqui squeezed the bear again and nodded, quickly because she was done talking and wanted to go play with her new friends again. She ran off, looking over her shoulder once to see the old man walking away.
Chapter 12
Jacqui
Jacqui woke up slowly, half remembering her dream. It was her birthday and an old man gave her a present…a stuffed animal?
Resting on her side, Khizar’s arm wrapped around her stomach, fingers lightly resting on her skin, Jacqui was so happy. She knew she’d found the man she’d always hoped to find. All her doubts had been erased with his proposal—marrying Khizar was what she wanted more than anything.
But something about her dream kept poking at her memory, mixed with something Khizar had mentioned last night. She had a great-uncle. Or, rather, she’d had a great-uncle.
Losing another family member felt normal to Jacqui, but the weird thing was that she hadn’t known she had another family member. It was hard to miss someone she hadn’t been acquainted with, but she keenly felt the loss of another connection to her parents.
Who was Bill Bauer? An image flashed in Jacqui’s mind of a sad-eyed bear who looked like a sad-eyed man.
She slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake Khizar up just yet, as the sun was only just up. She threw on a robe, picked up her phone, and went into the kitchen to start coffee. Needing answers, she decided to call her adoptive mother; maybe Michelle would remember something about the old man.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mom answered, her voice thick with sleep.
“Hi, Mom. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Oh no, I just got up, actually. Is everything okay, hon?”
“Do you remember my eighth birthday? There was a party, with a bunch of kids, and a trampoline? I think?” Jacqui asked, trying to think of all the details from her dream.
Her mom thought about it.
“That was your first birthday with us, wasn’t it? I do remember. You were so excited, and so happy.”
“Do you remember an older man? I think he came to see me.”
“And he gave you a stuffed bear, right?”
Jacqui felt vindicated. “Yes! Who was he?”
“Err…I don’t remember his name. It’s a long time ago now,” Michelle said. Jacqui’s elation melted away, but then her mother said, “Hang on, sweetie. Let me ask your father.”
Jacqui heard her mother yell, “Alan?” and then her father answer, much closer, “What is it, Michelle?”
“Do you remember the man who came to visit Jacqui on her eighth birthday? He showed up during her party, but he didn’t stay.”
Her mom put the phone on speaker, and her dad said, “Hi, darlin’. I do remember him, yeah.”
“Did he say who he was? Or why he was there?”
“Uh…well, he mentioned he was related to your family, but that he didn’t want to intrude. He didn’t say how he was related to you, but it sounded like he was a very distant relation. Your mom and I invited him to stay.”
“That’s right,” Jacqui heard her mom jump in. “We asked him to stay for the party and for dinner. We thought you might like to get to know him, but he said he couldn’t.”
“Do you remember his name?” Jacqui asked.
“I don’t know if he ever gave us his full name…or maybe I just can’t remember. Sorry, sweetheart,” Alan said. “It seemed like he really didn’t want to interfere.”
Jacqui tried to hide her disappointment. “Okay, thanks you guys.”
“What’s brought this on, honey?” Michelle asked.
“Khizar mentioned that he ran into a business partner; they were talking about another man in the mining business who passed away recently. The gentleman’s name was William Bauer. Khizar’s colleague mentioned that he’d just learned Bill Bauer had a relative. Khizar wondered, and I just thought…I don’t know, maybe. Then, I dreamt about the party and didn’t know if it was something or not.”