Page 1 of My Heart Will Find You

1

March 2020

Henrietta Wilmont was sitting in the Kansas City airport when she first heard of the lockdown.

She had a while before her connecting flight, so she’d bought a couple of magazines, both about cooking, and she was absorbed in them. She was thinking she’d like to visit Portugal and find out how they makepastel de nata.

Since her phone was on airplane mode, the text didn’t ding. By the time she looked, there were six texts from her sister, Alicia. Each was headed with all caps words like, “URGENT” and “VITAL.”

Etta’s heart started pounding. Something awful had happened. To Alicia? Her husband?

Please no, not their daughter, Nola. Etta took a breath. It had to be their father. She’d left him at home in rural Pennsylvania, alone in that huge house, and he’d fallen down the stairs. It was all her fault.

With shaking hands, she called Alicia’s number. “What is it?” she whispered.

“California has been put on lockdown.”

Etta had no idea what that meant. “Is Nola okay? Phillip? Is...?” She hesitated. “Is it Dad?”

“Everyone is fine,” Alicia said. “Healthy. And we mean to stay that way.”

“What does that mean?” Etta’s voice was rising.

Alicia was a psychologist and was used to dealing with people in crisis. She turned on her calm-and-caring voice and explained that there was a virus running rampant throughout the world. It was attacking older people in particular and was said to be killing them almost instantly. People were being told to have no contact with anyone outside their immediate families. The lockdown would be in place for at least two weeks.

Etta was so relieved her family was okay that she couldn’t be upset over a bit of isolation.

“We’ll do it together,” she told her sister. “I’ll show you how to cook something besides pasta and—”

“You don’t understand. You can’t come here. The borders of the state are closed.”

“But my plane—” With her phone to her ear, Etta went to the departures board. Her flight had been canceled. There were other flights available, but none to California. “I’ll rent a car and drive. How far is it from KC to LA?”

“Etta.” Alicia went into her therapist voice. “You can’t come here and you can’t go home. I don’t want you on a plane with lots of other people. You need to stay there. In Kansas.”

Etta looked around the airport. It wasn’t very big, and she was seeing others who appeared to be as confused as she was. “I can’t stay in the airport for two weeks!”

Alicia lost her professional tone and became the bossy younger sister. “Go to a hotel! Get one with a restaurant and stay there for as long as this lasts.”

“Dad needs—”

“He’s fine. I talked to him. I told him to go to the grocery store immediately and stock up on things, especially frozen foods.”

“I filled the freezer before I left,” Etta said. “There isn’t room for more.”

“Then he can get toothpaste and toilet paper. Whatever. The point is he can take care of himself. It’s you I worry about. Who are you going to take care of?”

Etta laughed. “I’ll find a hotel with a spa and get massages and facials. It’ll be nice.”

“I hope so. I’m going online now to try to find a place for you to stay. You do the same and call me.”

“Sure,” Etta said and they clicked off.

There was an older woman standing next to her, and she turned to Etta. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you should know that all the cars have been rented. My granddaughter is picking me up and taking me home. I can give you a ride into Kansas City. You can get a hotel there.”

“Thank you. I’ll call for a reservation.”

“Uh-oh. I have to gonow.” There was urgency in the woman’s voice. She waved to a young, frowning woman who was hurrying toward them. “Sorry, but Rachel has never had any patience. Not even as a child.” She straightened her shoulders as though preparing for a battle and faced her granddaughter. “We’re going to give this woman a ride to a hotel.”

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