I Missed My Plane, Helped a Homeless Mother — What Happened After I Gave Her My Key Still Haunts Me
Elias sighed, realizing it was useless to argue. «All right. It’s your house. I just hope you’re right. If only because I don’t want to deal with the police reports if you made a mistake.»
They passed through security and headed to the boarding gate. The waiting area was crowded and noisy. Althea sank into a chair near the gate, feeling a wave of profound fatigue roll over her. The last week had squeezed all the strength out of her.
«You’re doing this because you’re worried about your mother, aren’t you? That’s why you helped that woman?» Elias asked quietly, sitting down next to her.
«I don’t know,» Althea answered honestly, staring at the tarmac. «Maybe. Maybe I just wanted to do something unequivocally good amid all this mess. Maybe it’s some form of atonement.»
«Atonement? For what?»
«For being a bad daughter? For the fact that the last words I said to Mama were cruel and dismissive? For the fact that I’m flying away on a business trip right now instead of staying and searching every street for her myself?»
«You are not a bad daughter, Althea.» Elias shook his head fiercely. «You are doing what you must to save the family legacy. Your father would want this.»
«Must,» Althea chuckled bitterly. «I’ve been doing what I ‘must’ all my life. And here is the result. Mama is missing, possibly gone forever. I have no family of my own, just endless work and a big, empty house.»
Boarding was announced. They stood up and headed to the gate. In line, Althea checked her phone one last time before putting it on airplane mode. No messages from Martha. No missed calls from the detective or the police.
On the plane, she settled into her seat by the window. Elias sat next to her and immediately took out his laptop.
«Let’s go through the presentation one more time before we land,» he suggested, ever the professional.
«Let’s,» Althea nodded, though she absolutely did not want to think about work right now.
For the next hour, as they flew over the Atlantic, they discussed the project that was supposed to take the company to a new international level. Elias showed charts and financial calculations, explained strategy points, and Althea nodded mechanically and made notes in the margins, but her thoughts were far away, back in the city she had left behind.
The plane flew on into the night. Down below remained the city where her mother was. Or wasn’t. With every passing day, the hope of finding her alive melted away like ice.
«Ms. Vance,» Elias called her softly. «Are you listening to me?»
«Sorry, Elias. Got lost in thought for a minute.»
«I asked, when do we contact Dante to confirm? I want to make sure he actually got that woman and child there safely.»
«Good thought.» Althea realized she hadn’t checked. She used the plane’s Wi-Fi to dial the driver’s number via an app. «Dante, can you hear me? How did everything go with Sienna?»
«Everything is great, Ms. Vance. The connection is a bit hazy, but yes, I took Sienna and the baby to the lake house. Helped them get settled in, showed her how the heating works. Then I went to the supermarket as you ordered. Bought a whole trunk full of groceries, clothes for the kid, blankets. The woman was crying with gratitude the whole time.»
«Thank you, Dante. You’re a good man. I’ll authorize the transfer for the purchases immediately.»
«Don’t mention it, ma’am. By the way, my impression… she’s a good woman. Intelligent, speaks well. She told me a little about herself on the drive. She has a college degree, worked as an accountant before, but her husband turned out to be a tyrant. She had to run with the baby to save them.»
«I see.» Althea felt a wave of relief that she hadn’t been mistaken in her impulse. «Dante, do me a favor while I’m gone. Drive up there occasionally to check on them, please. Keep an eye on them. If they need anything else, help out and bill the company.»
«Of course, Ms. Vance. I will.»
Ending the call, Althea leaned back in the wide seat, closing her eyes. Elias looked at her with curiosity.
«Well, satisfied?»
«Yes,» Althea managed a small, tired smile. «You know, even in such a difficult period of my life, it’s nice to realize you could help someone who needed it more.»
«That is noble,» agreed Elias, closing his laptop. «Although still incredibly reckless of you.»
The months abroad were a blur of high-stakes meetings and hollow hotel rooms. Every evening, being at the hotel, Althea called home. Martha always answered on the first ring, as if she sat by the phone waiting.
«Martha, any news today?»
«No, Ms. Vance, none at all. The police haven’t called.»
«Did the detective call?»
«Yes, this morning. He says he is checking some new theory about hospitals in other counties, but nothing concrete yet. He sounds frustrated. Sorry to have no good news, Ms. Vance.»
«You aren’t guilty of anything, Martha,» Althea said wearily, rubbing her temples. «Thank you for keeping me posted and holding down the fort.»
The negotiations went incredibly hard. The investors were shark-like; they nitpicked every number in the reports, demanded additional guarantees for their capital, and set impossible conditions. Althea conducted negotiations on autopilot, a steel mask on her face, mechanically answering questions and putting forward counterarguments. Elias supported her as best he could, covering for her moments of distraction, but even he saw that his boss was holding on with her last bit of strength.
«Ms. Vance, you did great today,» he said one evening after another grueling twelve-hour round of talks. «You managed to convince the lead investor to lower the interest rate significantly.»
«Yes, good,» she answered indifferently, already checking her phone for messages that never came.
The chances that everything was okay with Beatrice decreased daily. Althea was a businesswoman; she knew statistics. The more time passes from the moment of disappearance for an elderly person, the exponentially lower the probability of finding them alive and well. It made her physically sick to think about it. But she had to pull herself together every morning, put on her suit and her armor, smile at investors, discuss contract terms, and pretend everything was under control.
And at night, she lay in the luxurious, empty hotel room and stared at the ceiling, replaying the last conversation with her mother in her head. Every cruel word, every dismissive intonation. And with every passing day, the weight of guilt became heavier, threatening to crush her completely.
Six months passed. Althea spent half a year abroad in negotiations that were supposed to take three months. They became the most complex and important deal in her company’s history. The investors turned out to be so demanding and cautious that every single point of the massive contract was discussed for weeks.
Initially, the plan was three months, but negotiations dragged on, new conditions arose, financing structures changed, and additional meetings with partners in other European cities were required.
Now, finally, six months later, the plane landed back in her home city. Althea and Elias walked through the airport terminal with their carry-on suitcases, exhausted but victorious. The deal was closed. Contracts worth hundreds of millions were signed. The company received investments that would secure its future for decades and allow it to expand internationally. It was a massive victory. But Althea felt absolutely no joy.
«Ms. Vance, you are amazing.» Elias walked beside her toward baggage claim, not hiding his enthusiasm now that they were home. «You handled this incredibly. Honestly, there were moments back in London when I thought they would refuse to sign, but you convinced them.»
«That is your merit too, Elias.» Althea smiled wearily and patted her loyal assistant on the shoulder. «You helped me persuade the investors, especially when it came to the complex return on investment timelines. Without your calculations, we wouldn’t have been able to convince them.»
«Team effort,» Elias answered modestly. «We are a good team. By the way, the car is waiting. Are you going straight home now to rest, or to the lake house first?»
Althea stopped dead in the middle of the terminal. The lake house. In the whirlwind of the last few months of intense negotiations, she had genuinely, completely forgotten about Sienna and the baby living there.
«Right, my God, I forgot I have guests living there.» She smiled, shaking her head at her own forgetfulness. «I wonder how they are doing after all this time. Dante mentioned a couple of times in his reports that everything was fine, but that was months ago.»
«Maybe you should go home first to rest, Ms. Vance? You look exhausted.» Elias suggested gently.
«No,» Althea shook her head decisively, a spark of energy returning. «I’ll go to the lake first. I want to make sure everything is OK and actually get to know Sienna a little better. After all, she’s been living in my family home for half a year and I haven’t really spoken to her since that night at the airport.»
They said goodbye at the exit terminal. Elias took a taxi to his apartment, and Althea called Dante. The driver arrived in twenty minutes with the company car, smiling joyfully to see her.
«Ms. Vance! Welcome back. I am so glad to see you safe and sound. How did the final negotiations go?»
«Successfully, Dante. Very successfully. I’m tired, of course, but the result was worth it. The company is safe. Let’s go to the lake house, please.»
«The lake house? Not home to the city?»
«No, I want to check how things are up there first. By the way, how is Sienna? How is the baby doing?»
«Oh, everything is excellent with them.» Dante perked up as he merged onto the highway. «Sienna is such a wonderful woman. Hardworking, very neat. The house is always in perfect order when I visit. And she found a job at the local store in the village. And little Leo is growing by leaps and bounds. He’s already started walking!»
«Already walking?» Althea was surprised, realizing how much time had passed. «How old was he when I left? Ten, eleven months? Now he must be almost a year and a half.»
«Yes, ma’am. He’s such a sharp little boy, running everywhere.»
They drove onto the highway heading north. Familiar landscapes flashed outside the window, green and lush now compared to the gray autumn when she left. The city gradually gave way to suburbs, then fields and dense forest. Althea looked out the window, her thoughts inevitably returning to her mother.
Over these six months, the trail had gone completely, hopelessly cold. Silas Grange continued working diligently for the first three months, chasing every shadow, but then honestly admitted he had hit a dead end. The police found absolutely nothing either. The missing persons case of Beatrice Vance was gradually, inevitably moving to the cold case archives.
Althea had learned to live with this dull, constant pain. She no longer cried every night into her pillow, didn’t flinch with hope at every phone ring. She simply accepted it as a terrible given in her life. Her mother disappeared, and most likely, she would never see her again. This thought was unbearable, but she had to live with it to survive.
The lake house was located in a picturesque, secluded spot surrounded by tall pines near a large, clear lake. It was a two-story wooden house with a large wraparound veranda and a huge, well-kept garden. Her father had bought this place long ago when Althea was still a teenager. Here they had spent happy summers as a family. Here they celebrated holidays before the work took over everything. After her father’s death, Althea almost never came here. There were too many memories ghosts in these walls.
The car turned onto the familiar gravel country road. A few minutes later, the house appeared through the trees, and Althea immediately noticed that something had changed. It looked vibrant. Flowers bloomed riotously in the beds, the front gate was freshly painted a bright white, and crisp new curtains hung in the open windows. The place looked lived-in, cozy, loved.
«See?» said Dante contentedly as he parked. «Sienna really looks after the house well. Better than the caretakers we used to hire.»
They got out of the car. Althea looked around, taking in the fresh air. Even the gravel paths were freshly swept, the grass neatly trimmed. She headed toward the house when suddenly she heard the distinct sound of a small child’s laughter drifting from the back garden.
Rounding the house toward the lake, Althea came out to the large wooden gazebo that stood at the edge of the property near a small duck pond. What she saw there made her freeze in place, her breath catching in her throat.
In the gazebo, sitting comfortably in a large wicker chair, was an elderly woman in a light, floral dress. On her lap sat a sturdy toddler with dark curls, and the woman was telling him something animatedly, pointing at the ducks swimming in the pond. The child laughed delightedly, clapping his chubby little hands.
Althea felt the ground literally slipping from under her feet. She grabbed a veranda post to steady herself. She knew this woman’s posture, the tilt of her head. She would know her among thousands of others.
«Mama…» The voice sounded hoarse, barely audible, strangled by shock.
The woman heard the sound, raised her head, and looked directly at Althea. The face was painfully familiar—the same warm brown eyes, the same elegant nose, the same thin lips that used to purse in disapproval—but there was absolutely no recognition in those eyes now, only mild, polite curiosity at a stranger’s arrival.
«What did you say, dear?» asked Beatrice, tilting her head pleasantly. «Do we know each other?»
«You said… Mama?» Althea choked out.
Althea took a trembling step forward, then another step onto the grass. Her legs were giving way beneath her, her heart pounding wildly against her ribs.
«Mama, it’s me. Althea. Your daughter.»
Beatrice looked at her closely, squinting slightly as if trying hard to remember something distant, then slowly, politely shook her head with a gentle smile.
«Forgive me, dear, but I don’t know you. You must be mistaken. I don’t have a daughter named Althea.»
Althea sighed heavily, a sound of pure anguish, not understanding what was happening. Six months of desperate searches, six months of despair and fading hope, expensive detectives, sleepless nights—and her mother had been here all this time, safe at their own lake house, fifty miles from home.
At that moment, Sienna came out of the back door of the house carrying a large pot in her hands. Seeing Althea standing by the gazebo, her face lit up.
«Oh, Althea! You’re back finally. Welcome home!» She put the pot on the rustic table in the gazebo. «Will you have lunch with us? I just made fresh vegetable soup.»
«Sienna.» Althea ignored the invitation, pointing at her mother with a violently trembling hand. «This woman… How is she here? Where did you find her?»
«Ah, Mrs. B.» Sienna looked at the elderly woman with obvious tenderness. «She’s been living with us for almost six months now. Why do you ask?»
The baby on Beatrice’s lap waved a chubby hand happily at Althea.
«Sienna, listen to me.» Althea walked closer to them, her whole body shaking. «This is my mother. Beatrice Vance. This is the mother I told you was missing.»
Sienna froze, her eyes going wide. The ladle she was holding clattered onto the table.
«So… this is your mom?» Sienna whispered in shock, shifting her gaze rapidly from Althea’s wrecked face to Beatrice’s calm one. «My God, Althea. I didn’t know. I had no idea.»
«She walked out of her house in the city and disappeared six months ago without a trace.» Althea spoke incoherently, tears finally rolling freely down her cheeks. «Police searched everywhere, I hired private detectives. No one could find her. I thought she was dead. I thought I lost her forever.»
Sienna sank onto the wooden bench opposite Beatrice as if her legs wouldn’t hold her anymore.
«Sienna, please.» Althea grabbed her hands across the table, needing answers. «Tell me how she ended up here. Tell me everything.»
«Okay, okay, calm down.» Sienna nodded, gathering her thoughts. «Sit down, Althea. I’ll tell you everything. B, dear, can you play with little Leo a little longer while we talk?»
«Of course, dear.» Beatrice smiled down at the baby, completely oblivious to the tension. «We will feed the ducks some bread.»
«Yes, sunshine, you do that.»
Althea sat down heavily opposite Sienna. Her hands were shaking so badly she had to clench them into fists on the table to stop the tremors. «Tell me from the beginning.»
«It was a few days after you gave us the keys at the airport,» Sienna began. «I remember exactly, four days had passed. Leo and I went for a walk down to the river. There’s a very beautiful spot near the old stone bridge where you can sit on the bank. And suddenly I saw this woman.»
«Where exactly?» Althea interrupted, needing details.
«Right by the bridge. She was standing in the middle of the dirt road and looked completely lost, confused. I initially wanted to walk past, not get involved, but she looked so scared and frail. I went up to her and asked if she needed help. She looked at me with such lost, frightened eyes and asked, ‘Where is the house? I am looking for the summer house.'»
