Finding Eden(101)

"Is that it, Dad?" Jack asked from the backseat. I looked at him in the rearview mirror as he leaned forward, his dark blue eyes scanning the desert landscape.

I moved my eyes back to the window where the worker cabins were just appearing around the curve in the road. "Yes," I said, "that's it. That's Acadia." My heart pounded hard against my ribs.

I grabbed Eden's hand in the seat next to me and she met my eyes and smiled a small, encouraging smile. In the backseat, our two-year-old daughter, Maya, let out a small whine as she came awake. She'd slept most of the way from the airport.

We had found out a month ago that the land Acadia had been built on was being sold to a developer who was planning a luxury spa. The healing water of the double spring was going to be the draw. It was our last chance to see Acadia before the buildings were torn down. It'd been ten years since we'd been there, but both of us agreed that visiting it one last time would bring us that last piece of closure.

Five minutes later, we were pulling up in front of what had once been the Temple. Eden and I sat there for a minute, breathing, taking in the now old and neglected building in front of us, me picturing a small, beautiful girl walking through the doors and into my heart. There were going to be ghosts everywhere here. I took a cleansing breath and pulled on the door handle.

"Mom! Dad!" Jack said excitedly, bouncing up and down in his seat, eager to get out and explore. To him, this was an adventure.

We all got out of the van, Eden taking Maya in her arms as Maya's thumb went to her mouth and she laid her head down on her mother's shoulder, still tender from sleep. I leaned in and kissed her smooth, still babyish cheek and drew in her sweet scent. "How's my girl?" I asked. "Sleep good?"

She nodded her head, and smiled sleepily around her thumb.

"Dad, look at this!" Jack exclaimed. I looked behind me to see him squatted down, a green lizard staring back at him from a rock. He reached out to touch it and it darted away. Jack stood up, looking disappointed. I chuckled.

"You gotta be real quick to catch a lizard," I said. "Ask your mom for some tips. She used to wrangle snakes when she lived here." I winked at Eden

Jack's eyes got wide as he looked at her, too. "You did?" he asked, incredulously.

Eden laughed. "It's true," she said. "I did."

Eden put Maya down and we all strolled together, Maya toddling in a zigzag as we followed behind her and Jack checked out the things that were interesting to a six-year-old boy.

I took my wife's hand and squeezed it. "How do you feel?" I asked, taking in a big breath of the dry desert air.

Eden tilted her head, considering my question. "Sad, and kind of scared." She looked at our kids and then back at me. "But thankful. So thankful."

I nodded. That about summed it up for me, too.

We walked into the Temple. It was run-down, with glass on the floor and lots of leaves and debris littering the center aisle, but other than that, it still looked the same. Eden picked Maya up so she wouldn't walk over the glass.

"What happened in here?" Jack asked, looking around.

I squatted down in front of him and looked him right in the eye. "In here," I said, "a man told a lot of lies to people who were very vulnerable, people who were looking to belong, people who were desperate to belong."

He seemed to think about that. "Why didn't they already belong somewhere?"

"Well, because life had been really hard on them. Life had taken everything they had, and the man, he promised to return it all, and even more. And to those people, his lies sounded like the truth."

He frowned at me, concentrating hard, seeming to consider his next question. I smiled—the look on his face was all Eden. "Dad? If life is hard on me, how will I know if someone is lying?"

I smiled, and tapped on his chest. "You listen to your heart, Jack. And you listen to the voice that comes to you when you close your eyes. You'll know it because it will be something between a feeling and a whisper. And that voice? Jack, if your heart is good like yours is, that voice never, ever lies." I glanced over at Eden who was listening to us as she swayed Maya in her arms. Her smile was somehow happy and sad at the same time.

Jack glanced at his mother and then back to me. "The voice, Dad, will it always tell me the easiest thing to do?" he asked.

I smiled. "No. But it will always tell you the right thing to do."

He nodded, chewing on his lip.

"You know what else happened in this building?" Eden asked, coming closer to us.

Jack shook his head.

"I first saw your dad in this place," she said, and her voice sounded like it did when she said prayers with our children at night. The locket at her chest glinted in the light coming through the open door—the piece of jewelry that had brought her to Felix, and to her mother, and ultimately back to me. Inside was a photo of our children.