She retrieved her mom’s battered copy ofSparrow Islandand held it out to him. “This was my mom’s prized possession. A first edition.”
He took it tentatively. “How did she get it?”
“I don’t know. She was carrying it in a pillowcase when the police found her in 1943, right around the time that Olivia vanished.”
“Where did they find her?”
“In a wooded area near Lititz. She was much too young to explain how she got there, and the orphanage didn’t record many details in her file.”
“Her family must have searched for her.”
“If they were still alive,” Harper said. She’d never been able to reconcile the possibility that someone might have abandoned her. “The newspaper in Lancaster ran an article about a lost girl, but no one responded. My mom kept asking for her papa, but without more info, no one could help her find her way home.” She tapped the book’s cover. “Read the inscription.”
“Izzy, May the light of your life continue to shine. Via Belle.”Finn looked up at her, surprised. “Did your mom go by Izzy?”
“The orphanage recorded her name as Angeline.” Harper hugged the book to her chest, remembering the many times she’d held it by her mom’s bed, reading the story one more time about a woman who’d been lost and then found. “She always wondered how Via’s book made it into her bag.”
“And that’s why you want to find out what happened to Olivia...”
“In part,” she said. “I know her story doesn’t belong to me, but it feels personal. My mom was found wandering alone around the same time Olivia disappeared. And thenSparrow Islandchanged her life.”
“What do you mean, changed her life?”
“She read the story when she was younger, and at the time, she thought the story was impossibly sweet.” She glanced at him. “I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Lots of people thought Olivia’s books were impossible to read. I’m glad your mom addedsweet.”
“She dreamed of living in Hollywood and left for California the day after her high school graduation, thinking she’d find herself in LA but it’s a wretched place for a lost soul. Instead of finding herself, some pretty awful people found her.
“It wasn’t until she turned forty that she readSparrow Islandagain,” Harper said. “She was expecting me at the time—a surprise baby, as you can imagine—and she felt like the sparrow in the story, desperate for a place to land. Instead of tossing the book away as frivolous, she began collecting and reading as many Via Belle books as she could find.
“And God used those stories, Finn. To give her answers to some of her tough questions. She embraced the redemption and stepped far away from those who’d used her. Found a church with people who loved each other and helped her heal. As I grew older, she taught me that stories are powerful. A good story is strong enough to save a life.”
“I want to show you Haven House,” he said as if separating this desire from his grandmother’s request.
“I would like to see it.”
He rinsed out his coffee mug and loaded it in the dishwasher. “Are you free tonight?”
“I think I can make time.”
He checked his watch. “How about we meet right after dinner?”
“I guess it depends what time you eat dinner.”
“Or—” He spooned the rest of the oatmeal into a clean bowl andpicked up the pan. “I could give you a tour of the house and then we could eat in Catawba?”
She studied him for a moment. Was Finn Sterling asking her on a date? Seemed unlikely. It was only another meal. Nothing else.
But as he waited for her answer, his gaze flitting from her to the floor, it felt like something more.
“You brought me breakfast,” she said. “How about I make dinner after we tour?”
“It’s a—” He cleared his throat. “I could pick you up at six.”
She smiled. “You’ll whisk me past the gatekeeper?”
“Exactly.”
