Jacqui woke up slowly, half remembering her dream. It was her birthday and an old man gave her a present…a stuffed animal?

Resting on her side, Khizar’s arm wrapped around her stomach, fingers lightly resting on her skin, Jacqui was so happy. She knew she’d found the man she’d always hoped to find. All her doubts had been erased with his proposal—marrying Khizar was what she wanted more than anything.

But something about her dream kept poking at her memory, mixed with something Khizar had mentioned last night. She had a great-uncle. Or, rather, she’d had a great-uncle.

Losing another family member felt normal to Jacqui, but the weird thing was that she hadn’t known she had another family member. It was hard to miss someone she hadn’t been acquainted with, but she keenly felt the loss of another connection to her parents.

Who was Bill Bauer? An image flashed in Jacqui’s mind of a sad-eyed bear who looked like a sad-eyed man.

She slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake Khizar up just yet, as the sun was only just up. She threw on a robe, picked up her phone, and went into the kitchen to start coffee. Needing answers, she decided to call her adoptive mother; maybe Michelle would remember something about the old man.

“Hi, sweetie,” her mom answered, her voice thick with sleep.

“Hi, Mom. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Oh no, I just got up, actually. Is everything okay, hon?”

“Do you remember my eighth birthday? There was a party, with a bunch of kids, and a trampoline? I think?” Jacqui asked, trying to think of all the details from her dream.

Her mom thought about it.

“That was your first birthday with us, wasn’t it? I do remember. You were so excited, and so happy.”

“Do you remember an older man? I think he came to see me.”

“And he gave you a stuffed bear, right?”

Jacqui felt vindicated. “Yes! Who was he?”

“Err…I don’t remember his name. It’s a long time ago now,” Michelle said. Jacqui’s elation melted away, but then her mother said, “Hang on, sweetie. Let me ask your father.”

Jacqui heard her mother yell, “Alan?” and then her father answer, much closer, “What is it, Michelle?”

“Do you remember the man who came to visit Jacqui on her eighth birthday? He showed up during her party, but he didn’t stay.”

Her mom put the phone on speaker, and her dad said, “Hi, darlin’. I do remember him, yeah.”

“Did he say who he was? Or why he was there?”

“Uh…well, he mentioned he was related to your family, but that he didn’t want to intrude. He didn’t say how he was related to you, but it sounded like he was a very distant relation. Your mom and I invited him to stay.”

“That’s right,” Jacqui heard her mom jump in. “We asked him to stay for the party and for dinner. We thought you might like to get to know him, but he said he couldn’t.”

“Do you remember his name?” Jacqui asked.

“I don’t know if he ever gave us his full name…or maybe I just can’t remember. Sorry, sweetheart,” Alan said. “It seemed like he really didn’t want to interfere.”

Jacqui tried to hide her disappointment. “Okay, thanks you guys.”

“What’s brought this on, honey?” Michelle asked.

“Khizar mentioned that he ran into a business partner; they were talking about another man in the mining business who passed away recently. The gentleman’s name was William Bauer. Khizar’s colleague mentioned that he’d just learned Bill Bauer had a relative. Khizar wondered, and I just thought…I don’t know, maybe. Then, I dreamt about the party and didn’t know if it was something or not.”

There was silence from the other end of the phone, and then her mother said, “After your parents died, the state couldn’t find any other living relatives. We thought maybe this gentleman was an old friend of the family, or a very distant cousin. He didn’t ever ask to see you again, so we didn’t think anything else of it.”

“If you want to look into it, we’ll do you everything we can to help,” her father added.

Jacqui almost cried. Her adoptive parents were so amazing.

“Thank you, both of you. I’m going to see what I can find out, but I’ll let you know if I need help.”

“Okay, sweetheart.”

“Hey, um, I know after all that, this next bit of news is going to seem like a bit of a shock.”

“Well, that’s a lead in. What is it, sweetie?”

“Khizar proposed last night and I said yes!” The excitement she’d felt the night before rushed back to her. “We’re getting married!”

“Oh, Jacqui. That’s wonderful.”

In her excitement, Jacqui missed the note of concern in her mother’s voice.

“No specific plans yet, but only because we haven’t had time to make any.”

“Why don’t you two come over for dinner again soon and you can tell us what you decide?”

“We’d love that. I’ll figure out a good time and let you know. I gotta go. Love you both!”

“Love you, too, sweetheart.”

Jacqui hung up the phone and thought some more. Her mother had remembered the stuffed bear the old man had given her, too. Alexander Bear, Jacqui suddenly thought. That was his name.

She still had the bear, of course. She’d made a promise, and even if she hadn’t known why, she’d kept it.

When she’d moved out of her parents’ house, Jacqui had carefully stored her childhood things until she had enough space to unpack all the boxes. She’d never had a chance to find a place to put them all, so everything was still stored away.

Wondering if she could find anything else out about William Bauer, Jacqui sat down at her desk and opened her computer. She did a search on “William Bauer” and found several stories that mentioned a Bauer diamond mine, along with an obituary for William Bauer.

Jacqui read over the obituary, noting that it didn’t mention any family members. She traced the computer screen, tears pricking her eyes for this man who didn’t seem to have any relatives. She knew what that felt like, and so regardless of their relation, Jacqui felt a kinship with him.

There were a few pictures of the mine—in Nudushan, as Khizar had said— and of William Bauer, one with an older story and one with the obituary. Jacqui studied the pictures. She thought he looked a little like her father, especially around the eyes and chin.

She had a few pictures of her parents, so she pulled an old photo album out of the bookshelf and looked through it until she found the one she wanted.

Jacqui held the photo next to the screen. The two men did look alike, even though her father was younger. Jacqui was almost sure that if he had lived to William’s age, her dad would look exactly like the older man.

It seemed likely that she and William Bauer could indeed be related. That was interesting, but it didn’t really matter except for the fact of knowing.

She didn’t know why he’d come to visit and give her the bear, but not tell her who he was. She could understand him not wanting to adopt her; that fact might have stung when she was younger, but this far removed, it made sense.

Jacqui didn’t understand why he hadn’t shared the fact that they were family. That hurt more than a little. They could have comforted each other, been each other’s family, even if she hadn’t lived with him.

But all he’d left her was the bear.

Unless…he had told her that the bear he gave her had a secret. And that she had to take care of him until that day came.

She’d kept Alexander Bear close until she left for culinary school, at which point she’d moved out of her parents’ house, putting things into storage. Including Alexander Bear. Which meant he was somewhere in her attic.

Maybe the secret had something to do with the mine? Jacqui hadn’t held Alexander Bear in a long time, but she remembered how heavy he was—far heavier than all her other stuffed animals.

She needed to look in the attic.

Still in a thoughtful daze, Jacqui walked into her bedroom. Khizar was still asleep, and she admired him for a moment. He looked so peaceful.

He stirred as Jacqui sat down on the edge of the bed.

She put a hand lightly on his shoulder and said, “Hey, good morning.”

Khizar frowned like he couldn’t remember where he was, then his expression cleared. “Good morning, darling.”

“Did you sleep well?” Jacqui ran her hand down his and intertwined her fingers with his.

He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips across her fingers.

“I did. What are you doing up already?”

“I remembered something.”

Khizar didn’t react at first. Only after a moment did he seem to realize what she was saying.

He sat up in bed and asked, “What did you remember?”

“On my eighth birthday, an old man came to visit me. He brought me a gift—a stuffed teddy bear. He told me that it had a secret, and that it was my job to look after it until I was older.”

Khizar’s eyebrows knitted together. “Do you still have the bear?”

Jacqui’s eyes sparkled. “I do. It’s in a box up in the attic.”

“Then let’s go find that bear!”