Chapter Twenty-Four

Kate had just hung up her coat when the phone rang. She went in the kitchen to answer it.

“Hello,” she said.

“Kate Hanlon?” a male voice asked. She didn’t recognize it.

“Yes.”

“This is Art Franklin from Charlottesville, Virginia. I got a message that you wanted to talk to me about Trace Jackson.”

“Yes.” Kate was so excited, her hands began to shake as she grabbed a pencil and paper. “Thank you for calling. I’m so sorry about your son,” she said.

“Oh, thank you. Did you”—he cleared his throat—“did you mention anything to Trace?”

“No. I wanted to speak to you first. I’d better explain why I was trying to find you.”

Kate explained about Trace and Jessica and their upcoming wedding, the suspicion about Trace because of the incident at Appomattox Commercial Bank and his recent access into Jessica’s bank information, and the strife it was causing with Trace’s future family.

Art was silent for several long moments. Finally, with a quiet but steady voice, he spoke. “Trace is innocent of all wrongdoing in that bank mess,” Art said. His voice was heavy. “See, he took the heat from the encoding error to protect me.”

“You?” Kate hadn’t expected that revelation.

“Yes.” There was a long pause. For a moment Kate thought she’d lost the connection, but then she heard a deep sigh. “I messed up big time. I had a family, and my son had special needs, and I couldn’t keep up with the medical bills.” There was something almost like fear in his voice. “I set up the encoding error to redirect the money to a nonexistent account, then I sort of borrowed the money to pay the medical bills. I thought...I hoped, since it was a relatively small amount of money, it might not be noticed until I could pay it back.”

He breathed shakily into the phone. “When the error was discovered, I panicked. I didn’t have any money to cover the error. They hadn’t found my account—only that the money was missing—but I lost my nerve. I didn’t know what to do. Trace is so smart, I confided in him that I’d screwed up, but I didn’t tell him where the funds had gone. I told him that I had no idea.” There was a pause.

“Trace is a good man. A great man. He took the blame for the error. I didn’t want him to do it, but he insisted. He said he was single, so it didn’t matter. And I let him. I think we both knew he would get fired, but at the time, it seemed better than losing my job and not being able to take care of Tim...of my family. If they’d tracked the money, I’d have confessed, but they didn’t.” He was silent for a moment. “I never should have let him do it.” His voice was full of regret.

Kate couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The man sounded contrite, but how could he have let Trace take the blame for his own crime?

“So what’s your situation now?” Kate said, trying to keep her voice calm.

“I work for a different bank. I completed college and got my CPA certification, then I took a job in Charlottesville. I’m the director of risk management. Ironic, isn’t it?” The man sighed. “Trace shouldn’t have to pay for a stupid and costly decision I made three years ago. I want to help him. What can I do?”

“Clearing Trace will put your job and career in jeopardy, not to mention that you’ll likely face criminal charges...”

“Yes.”

Kate had to admire the man’s courage to right his wrong. “Do you have any other children?”

“A little girl. She’s seven months old and beautiful. But I need to clear this up, no matter what happens to me. This lie has been eating at me for three years.” Art sounded almost determined. “I need to tell Trace about this. And I’d love for him to meet my baby girl, if he’ll even talk to me after he finds out. He needs to know about Tim too. They were pals.”

“I think he would love that,” Kate said quietly. “Art, thank you for being willing to come forward, especially on behalf of Trace. I know that God is eager to forgive if we confess our wrongdoings to him. I think you’ll gain as much from your confession as Trace will, even if it means hardship as a result.”

“Thank you, Kate. I can’t tell you how relieved I feel to get this secret out in the open.”

“I can imagine,” Kate said. She knew it was easier for people to confess to a perfect stranger, like a pastor or a pastor’s wife, especially when he wasn’t face-to-face with her, but it was a step in the right direction. “Art, can I have your phone number? I’ll leave it up to you to contact Trace”—she gave Trace’s phone number to Art—“but I’d like to be able to get in touch with you should something come up.”

“Sure thing.” He gave her two phone numbers and his new address.

“Thanks for getting in touch, Art. I promise I’ll be praying for you and your family. God is faithful.” He still had to tell Trace. Would he? Did he have that much courage?

She hung up, relieved that her belief in Trace’s innocence proved true, but saddened by Art’s dismaying situation. Still, she was hopeful that Art’s confession would help Trace’s relationship with Gordon.

Yet there was still the matter of Trace’s recent attempts at gathering information on Jessica’s funds. How could Kate make sense of it all?

She sat at the oak table to think. Trace had never made any encoding error or taken money from the bank. He was wrongly fired. To Kate, that confirmed her theory about the recent inquiry into Jessica’s bank records. Trace had the best of motives—Jessica’s happiness—at stake.

SUNDAY MORNING, the Mackenzie crew took up two full pews at Faith Briar. Some of Jessica’s bridesmaids, including Kristin, and Trace’s groomsmen had arrived. Monica and Brian were there too. Only Gordon was missing.

After the service, Trace and Jessica introduced their friends to Paul and Kate. Surrounded by her wedding party and holding hands with her fiancé, Jessica looked happy. With a busy schedule, a shrunken wedding budget, and nearly half a million dollars yet to be recouped, Jessica still seemed content and excited about her future.

Kate knew that Jessica treasured love and relationships above possessions. Amazing that this girl who’d grown up with limitless wealth and provisions cared so little about material things. She had her priorities right, and Kate felt assured that Jessica and Trace would find happiness whatever their circumstances.

Kate was especially relieved to know that soon enough, the suspicion about Trace as a banking criminal would be lifted.

Kate thought about the upcoming week as she watched the large group exit the church. She knew the time would fly by. The rush of activity would carry them all along to Saturday, with little time to think about trust funds or second thoughts. She said a silent prayer that peace would reign in the midst of all the activity and that somehow Jessica and her father would come together.

Monica hung back until most of the parishioners had left.

“Can you imagine? All of Jessica’s friends are staying at the house,” Monica said to Kate. “Breakfast was a zoo. It’s been too long since I was around so many young women.”

“Let wedding week begin!” Kate said with a laugh.

“Exactly...It’s madness! Trace’s family comes in Tuesday. We offered our guesthouse, but they wanted to be near Trace, so they’re staying in Pine Ridge.”

“They’re probably concerned that you have enough extra people staying with you already,” Kate said. “I’m sure you and Trace’s parents will have plenty of time to get to know each other though.”

“I hope so,” Monica said. “Getting to know the groom’s mother will surely help me understand the groom better.”

The pair talked a bit more about wedding plans while Paul greeted the few remaining parishioners. After Monica walked out, Kate turned to Paul. “The wedding is on the fast track now.”

“It’ll be a busy week for you. Trace asked if we could have another session on Tuesday night. His family arrives that day, and he wanted us to get together with them. Is that all right?”

“That’s fine.” Kate sighed. “Speaking of...I got an interesting call from an old co-worker of Trace’s, Art Franklin, the other day.” Kate quietly filled Paul in on the details of Art’s call.

“Wow,” Paul said, looking out as Monica’s car pulled out of the parking lot. “I’m glad to hear that we have proof of Trace’s innocence, but it’s going to be a long road for Art and his family.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Kate said, nodding. “So how is your sermonette for the ceremony coming along?”

Paul shook his head. “Not well. I’ve written and deleted several drafts. It still hasn’t come together in my mind.”

“It will,” Kate said. She was hoping a lot more would come together than just Paul’s message.

TRACE AND HIS FATHER helped Paul crowd extra chairs into his office Tuesday night. Trace’s father and older brother stood well over six feet tall and looked like Norse giants with their thick blond hair, broad shoulders, and large builds. His mother was medium height, a few inches shorter than Trace, but she looked petite next to her husband. Trace’s sister and sister-in-law leaned against the wall looking very tired and uncomfortable. They were both in their last trimesters of pregnancy.

Kate wheeled in Millie’s chair, which was padded, and brought Paul’s padded desk chair around for the pregnant sisters. With Trace’s brother-in-law, Jessica, and Paul and Kate, they had a crowd.

After introductions, Jessica and Kate went through the plans for the rehearsal and wedding day and checked to make sure the men had rented their tuxedos. Trace’s brother and sister treated the prospective groom to a lot of good-natured teasing, and the meeting became more of a social time than a premarital counseling session. As the guests got tired, the party wound down.

“Four more days, Katie girl. Then it will all be over,” Paul said, draping his arm around her shoulder as they walked to the truck.

“I feel nearly as frazzled as if it were Rebecca’s wedding,” Kate said, speaking of their youngest daughter. Kate thought she would love to orchestrate her wedding someday, but for now, Jessica’s wedding would satisfy the wedding bug.

“You weren’t frazzled before Melissa’s wedding,” Paul said.

“Oh yes, I was. You were just too distracted to notice.”

Kate was confident that Jessica and Trace’s wedding would go smoothly. Every wedding had a glitch or two, but those usually added to the wealth of memories. She regretted that one issue remained unresolved: Jessica’s trust fund. If only she could solve that mystery before the wedding, perhaps it would heal the rift between Gordon and Trace and help bring Trace into the family. Kate couldn’t think of a more perfect wedding present.