“Ah, Lilly, I have good news! Our P.I. appears have a lead on your Aunt Pearl. He has located a woman living in North Carolina who may be your Aunt. I don’t want you to get your hopes up too much, but this sounds like a good lead.”
Lilly returned Lucky’s penetrating gaze, “How did he find her? What did he learn? When will we know if it is her?”
“The first thing Benton did was check with utility companies in every state with mountains. He used Pearl’s name and her son’s name. The name P.V. McAllen pops up in Western North Carolina for electricity and gas. He checked with the public libraries. In Asheville NC there is a library card issued from the Haw Creek library to P.V. McAllen. According to Vic this confirms his findings. The utility bills give us the exact address.”
“Vic gave me the phone number he got from the Bell Telephone people in Asheville. He can call her, or you can call her, or we can pay him to go to North Carolina and see if it is her.”
Lilly grabbed the piece of paper Lucky was holding and ran to the phone next to the cash register in the shop. She quickly dialed the number and held her breath as she heard it ringing. It rang ten times and she was about to hang up when a breathless voice answered, “Oh, hello.”
Lilly’s hand shook and dropped the receiver. Lucky, standing next to her, caught it and put it to his ear. The breathless voice repeated, “Hello, hello?”
Lucky took a breath and began, “Mam, I’m sorry to disturb your afternoon, but I have a friend with me who has been looking for her aunt for sometime. Her aunt’s name is Pearl. Do you know her or possibly are you Pearl from Abita Springs, Louisiana.
Dead air from the other end of the line. Lucky heard the phone hit the floor in North Carolina. After a few moments, the breathless voice spoke. “Yes, it is me. What is the young ladies name?”
Lucky smiled, “I’ll let you talk to her and she can tell you herself.”
Lilly spoke through tears, “Aunt Pearl, it’s me, Lilly.”
The phone at Panthea’s Pantry was tied up for a solid hour as Lilly and Pearl caught up on each other’s lives. Exhausting the basic information Lilly exclaimed, “Aunt Pearl, I need you here.”
Without hesitation, Pearl declared, “I’m coming. I will catch the first flight I can. Give me your number so I can let you know my arrival time.”
Lilly hung up the phone shaking her head. “I can’t believe it! After all these years, she is on the phone. She will be here soon, maybe tomorrow or the next day.”
Throwing her arms around Lucky, she thanked him, took his hand and ran up to Claude’s apartment to give him the good news.
Once they had toasted their success with cold bottles of Dixie 45, Lilly called Vic Benton to tell him the good news and thank him. “If it weren’t for your psychic abilities, we would never have found her. The simple fact you saw mountains made all the difference. I am going to spread the word about your talent Mr. Benton. You deserve a much nicer office and I hope to see you get it.”
~
When the shop closed, Lilly joined Lucky, Claude and Madeline for dinner in Lucky’s apartment. After dinner Lucky brought out a bottle of champagne, filled glasses for everyone and raised his glass, “A toast to Vic Benton, Psychic P.I.”
When the champagne glasses were filled for the second time, Lilly raised her glass, “A toast to my friends, I am grateful for your assistance.”
The group clinked their glasses together. Claude spoke up, “We love you Lilly and we were happy to help.” Everyone clinked glasses again.
When the second bottle of champagne was opened, Lilly thanked Lucky for the dinner, hugged her friends and returned to her apartment. She wanted some quiet time to process the wonderful turn her life had taken.
She sat before the altar beside her bed. Lighting a new white candle, she thanked her guardians, guides and ancestors. She knew their assistance had played a part in leading her to Vic Benton and locating Aunt Pearl quickly.
The only heaviness in her heart, as she sat in gratitude, was the missing piece traveling with Roland. She wished he was here to celebrate with her and meet Aunt Pearl when she got off the plane.
Extinguishing the candles on her altar, Lilly climbed into bed, turned off the bedside lamp, curled around her pillow and closed her eyes. The sound of Roland’s mandolin and his loving voice filled her mind as she remembered his song to her, “Moonlight falls on a red heart candle...” She drifted to sleep with his song in her heart.
Chapter 47
A Pearl Beyond Price
The sun was rising, as Lilly awoke to a persistent tapping on her front door. “What the dickens?” she thought, as she tied her pink fuzzy robe around her. Peaking through the fish eye on the front door, she squealed, threw open the door and flew into Roland’s arms. “Now, everything is perfect!” she said.
The phone next to Lilly’s bed rang at 8:30AM. Roland was closest to the phone and grabbed blindly for it. “Hello,” he said sleepily.
“Uh, hello. A reticent voice spoke from the other end of the line, I am calling for my niece, Lilly. Is this her number?”
Roland sat up perfectly straight, shaking Lilly gently, he responded, “Yes, yes it is. Here she is.”
Lilly shook her curls out of her eyes and took the phone. “Hi, this is Lilly,” she said in the most alert voice she could muster.
“Lilly, this is Aunt Pearl. My flight is arriving
