by June Kramin
She hesitated. “You can tell him but if he admits it, he has to stay away from her. I don’t want him groveling if he’s a cheat and will hurt her again.”
“I can assure you this is a misunderstanding.” Dean dialed, Dusty answered on the first ring.
“Oh, it’s you. I thought you were Katie. You seeing Courtney tonight?”
“I’m with her now.”
“Ask if she has any idea where Katie is.”
“She’s at their dorm not answering your calls.”
“Why not?”
“Were you at the coffee shop today?”
“Yeah. Around three. Why?”
“Katie was there, too.”
“I didn’t see her.”
“Well she saw you. You hugging someone?”
“Aw fuck. That was Alyson, goddammit.”
“Shit.” Dean held the mouthpiece to his chin and turned to Courtney. “That was his sister.”
“I told her not to go crazy,” Courtney said. “She must really like him to have gotten so jealous.”
Dean returned the phone to his mouth. “That’s what she saw, dude. You want us to go back over there? Court can get you in so you can talk to her.”
“No,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I’ll fix this. You two have fun.”
“Catch you tomorrow, buddy.”
Dusty hung up and dropped his head into his hands. He remembered now how differently this had played out on one of Katie’s trips. He was upset with himself for not even wondering if in this time frame, Alyson was alive or not. In one of Katie’s time leaps, Dusty had told her about his sister falling through ice and drowning. He’d blamed himself his whole life but in their present time, with what Katie had done with the time traveling, she’d managed to go back and save her. Dusty couldn’t keep his promise to not tell Alyson. The girls had been exceptionally close after that. In an alternate future, the baby was named Alyson because of his loss. Now that she was alive, the baby became her namesake.
He was thrilled to see her text message that afternoon and more than happy to meet her for coffee. It hadn’t even occurred to him that Katie was there watching, causing her to suspect him of seeing someone else. She wasn’t so jealous in their present. They both had friends of the opposite sex. She even kept in touch with that dude from college with the beard, the one that always wore black. He was “the hugger guy” or something like that.
Dusty reached for his phone, but knew it was useless. He decided to drive over to her place instead. He snuck in the dorm with no problem. Now he had to figure out how to get her to open the door.
He knocked on it with no plan in mind.
“Who is it?”
Disguising his voice he called out, “Delivery.”
“I didn’t order anything.”
“It has your number on it. You’ll need to sign for it.”
As she angrily whipped the door open, he quickly pushed her back in and held her arms at her side. He kicked the door closed with his foot.
“Let me go! Get out of my room.”
“No, baby. Listen to me.”
“Don’t ‘baby’ me. I’m not listening to you.” She continued to struggle, but he held her firmly in his grip.
“Stop squirming and listen. Give me a chance, would you? It wasn’t what you thought.”
“How do you know what I thought? How did you…” Something sparked in her eyes. “Goddamn Courtney.”
“Katie, that girl was my sister.”
“Bullshit.”
“I swear it. I’d love for you to meet her. It’s a long story, but she’s also my best friend. I would have had you meet us there, but I thought you were in class.”
Katie finally stopped struggling. Dusty let her go and she sat down on her bed in a frustrated plop. “My last class was cancelled. I was trying to show some restraint and stay away from you, so I was going to try to study.”
“What did we just talk about? If you wanted to see me, you should have called me.”
“This is so fast, Dusty. I don’t want you feeling smothered.”
“If I recall, I’m the one that started it with the smothering. You can’t think I don’t want you around every minute. I’d ask you to move in with me if I thought you’d say yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Now I really feel like an ass.”
He kneeled down in front of her. “Why didn’t you come over when you saw me? We could have avoided this.”
“I was going to when I saw you walk in, but then she flew into your arms and I…”
“Got jealous,” he said with a smirk.
She pushed him away gently. “Yes, I got jealous. Sue me.”
“Can I ‘do you’ instead?”
“You sure you even want a jealous raving lunatic for a girlfriend?”
He leaned in and gave her a kiss. “You going to let me call you my girlfriend?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On what you’re making me for dinner tonight.”
He stood, pulling her to her feet as well. “My ‘better than sex’ salmon a la Dusty.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Grab some clothes. Sleep over tonight.”
“Do we really want to—”
Dusty cut her off by putting his fingers over her mouth. “What does your heart tell you to do?”
He dropped his hand down and she said, “Stay with you.”
“Good. Now pick out some clothes.”
Chapter Eleven
They pulled up to Dusty’s cottage. After Katie closed her door, Dusty said, “Watch the ice over there it’s—” Before he could finish, Katie let out a scream and hit the ground.
“Shit!” Dusty ran to her side. Panic set in when he found her out cold. Again he chastised himself. Katie had told him about this happening once. Why hadn’t he done something to prevent it? He alternated between swearing in frustration and calling out her name, trying to get her to respond. Scooping her limp body up, he carried her in and placed her carefully on the couch. He thought about calling an ambulance, then he thought about calling Courtney. Katie had said she was pissed at Dusty when it happened in one of her leaps. She also said Courtney wasn’t too fond of him at the time, but he thought they were doing okay this time around. He dialed his phone to call Dean but hit “end.” He didn’t want to interrupt if they were having sex, but Courtney would want to know. He checked Katie’s head for blood, but didn’t see any. He hurried to the kitchen for ice for the lump that was coming up in a hurry. He’d start there, then call if he needed to.
Dusty held the ice to her head with one hand and pulled the afghan over her with the other. He sat down and called her name, trying to get her to come to. Slowly her eyes fluttered open.
“Hey, gorgeous. Nice to have you back.” Katie began to cry.
Dusty pulled her to his chest. “Shh… it’s okay, babe. Please don’t cry. I’m sorry about the ice. I almost called an ambulance. Do you want me to take you in? What can I do for you?”
“Nothing. Take me home please, Dustin.”
“Again with the Dustin. Katie, please…” Something finally occurred to him. “Katie?”
“No games. My head is killing me. Just take me to Courtney. She’s pre-med. She’ll look at it for me.”
He leaned her back. “Katie. Courtney is out with Dean.”
“Dean? Just take me home. I’m fine. It can wait.”
“It’s you!” Dusty pulled her tight to his chest and kissed her forehead.
“Stop this. Please take me home. I don’t want to be here with you.”
“Yes you do, cupcake. It’s me.”
“Will you stop this! I can’t look at you right now. I’ll call her myself.” She tried to stand up but he pulled her back down.
“You just came from a hospital room. You had a miscarriage. It’s not a dream, it happened— happens a few years from now.”
She stared
at him, no doubt not being able to believe her ears. “How do you know this?”
He held her tight again. “I’m not the ‘me’ you think I am. That damn geezer did it to me this time, baby.”
“Dusty… I don’t understand.”
He leaned her back. “Do I need to show you my birthmark or make you tell me what Captain Skinnard is about to do to the crew? ’Cause technically I haven’t written that part yet, but if I have the ‘you’ I think you are, you know all about it.”
“How can this be?”
“Beats me, but it sure it good to see you.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “You really gave me quite a scare again. Do you want me to call Courtney?” Katie shook her head no. “The miscarriage was true. It took us by surprise, but we have two wonderful kids now.”
“We do?”
“Yes, we do.”
“I’m at the part where I woke up and discovered little Alyson.”
“You’ve told me everything about what’s happening to you, but right now we’re caught up in some kind of funky time pretzel. Frank sent me back; I hope I’m not making a mess of things.”
“If we’re together, why are you time traveling?”
“It’s not us, it’s Courtney.”
“Courtney? What’s wrong with her?”
“She has an immune deficiency disease. I know what she means to you so I wanted to come back and try to keep it from happening.”
“Courtney gets AIDS?” Katie stood up too quickly and swayed. Dusty rushed to be her support and eased her back onto the couch.
“Please lie down, babe. I really am worried about that bump.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure. Tell me more.”
“Do you remember some Ronald she dated for a bit?” Katie closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. “I can see you’re hurting. This can wait.”
“No. I want to know what I can do to help. My mind is more than scrambled right now.”
“And the lump isn’t helping. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is. You told me about this and I spaced it. Things are moving a little fast for me here. Can I get you some aspirin?”
“Maybe that’s a good start.” Dusty got some for her. After Katie took them, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
“Can I help get you more comfortable?”
“One of your t-shirts would be nice.”
He dug through his dresser. The AC/DC shirt was nowhere to be found. It had no doubt already taken a trip to the future and wasn’t going to return anytime soon. He dug out one with a Chevelle in much better shape than the one he drove.
Katie managed a smile. “I’ll think warm thoughts.”
“I’ve been using the Beemer on you this time around, if that helps.”
“The Beemer?”
“Maybe this you doesn’t know that much yet. I think I should keep my mouth shut. I’d hate for anything in our present be altered by me screwing this up.” He helped her get changed before lying her back in bed.
“You going to join me?”
He took his shirt off. “Absolutely.” He stripped down, then cuddled up to her back with his boxers on.
“You never sleep in boxers, Dusty.”
“I didn’t want to push my luck.”
“You’re not getting sex with this doozie of a headache, but there’s no reason you can’t be comfortable.”
He kissed the back of her head. “I’m fine.”
Katie rolled over to face him. “Where were we?”
“Ronald.”
“Right. Yes, I do remember him. He wasn’t such a bad guy in all honesty. I don’t remember her being into him for anything other than sex. I had to scram quite a bit so they had time alone.”
“Why didn’t they go to his place?”
“She never said and I never asked.”
“Was he pre-med, too?”
“He wasn’t in school. I don’t remember what he did, but he was older than we were by a few years.”
“You have a last name at all?”
Again she squinted as if she were trying to concentrate.
“I’m sorry. I’d say let’s do this tomorrow, but I don’t know who I’ll get.”
“I’m okay.” Her eyes popped open. “Are you sleeping with me?”
“I want to, but not with your headache, babe.”
“No. I mean the ‘me’ you’re seeing now.”
He grinned. “Oh. Yes. You’re kind of tough to keep away.”
“Dustin Charles. That’s horrible.”
“Hey… I had to win you over. I wasn’t going to play nice guy and stay away. What if this is my only chance at having you and the time clock gets re-set again? I need you in my life. Of course I fought for you.”
“Why do I feel like you’re cheating on me?”
He kissed her nose. “Never. It’s you, puddin’ pop.”
She sighed. “I can’t believe I fell for you using all those names again.”
“You love me.” He held her face and gave her another gentle kiss. “You’re a little more jealous this time around than I’ve ever seen you.”
“You give me reason to be?”
“Of course not and I can’t explain. I’m not sure this happened yet for you and this is one thing I can’t mess up for sure.”
Again her eyes closed. “I’m really tired, Dusty.”
“Did you think of his last name? Anything else I can use?”
Her eyes were still closed and her voice softened. “It was some restaurant name.”
“Denny?”
“No. It was last name sounding.”
“Crap. That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“Poundstone. No, that’s not it. It’s a P though. I’m sure.”
“Perkins?”
“Ummm…that’s it.” Katie started to breathe heavily after she said that. At least Dusty had something to go on now. He was hoping Courtney and Dean would hit it off and this would be over. If they didn’t work out, he’d have to try and hunt this Ronald down. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to try tomorrow anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to try to find him rather than sit and wait.
Dusty woke just before Katie. They had slept together facing each other, his arms tight around her. “Hey. How’s your head feeling?” he asked when he felt her stir.
Katie sat up, looking confused. She reached behind her head and winced when she touched the bump. “I slipped outside, didn’t I?” Her response answered his next question. His Katie was gone. This one was in their present time.
“You did. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough with my warning. I’ve been on my landlord about fixing that. You seemed to be sleeping okay so I didn’t take you in. We talked for a bit before you settled in bed. I didn’t think you were all there. You were pretty adamant, though, about not going to the hospital.”
“I don’t remember any of this, but it does sound like me.”
“I didn’t want to have Courtney mad, but I didn’t want to interrupt her and Dean if they were, you know, busy. I called another pre-med friend. They weren’t worried when everything else was okay and since you were awake for a while. I trusted you. You have enough medical background to not be stubborn about going in.”
“Never underestimate my ability to be stubborn. It’s almost a superpower with me.”
He laughed and gave her a kiss. “I’m finding that out.”
“Let’s not tell Court. She would probably flip. It’s not a big deal.”
“I won’t. You okay to go to class today?”
“Other than a slight headache, I’m fine. I can’t be skipping classes. I have too many finals coming up.”
“I’ll go start the car.”
Dusty dropped Katie off at her dorm. He wondered how much longer he’d have to do this. He was still here, so that meant nothing had changed as far as Courtney’s health. She and Dean seemed to be doing great, but somehow Ronald had snuck back into the picture. At least now he had something
to go on. He had a last name. Dusty was still uncertain what he was going to do with that information. It was not as if living this double life had no consequences. He couldn’t kill the guy and jet back home.
Deciding to cut class was an easy choice again. He had to start looking around for this Ronald. The phone book was an obvious first choice, but a dead end. If he hung around campus girls, maybe he worked in one of the offices. Dusty went to the main office and turned on his smile and charm.
“Sorry, Mr. Andrews. I don’t have any teachers by that name,” the secretary said.
“How about office help. Maybe a custodian?”
She keyed away at her computer again. “I’m not showing anyone by that name. Are you sure it’s this college he’s at?”
“No. Actually I’m not. I dropped my girlfriend off and figured this was a place to start.”
“If this message is so urgent, why don’t you have a location on him?”
“I’m sorry. The last contact my friend had with him was a long time ago. All he knew was that he was in this area. I hope I haven’t taken up too much time from your day. I really appreciate it.”
“No worries. I wish I could have helped you.”
“Thanks again for your time.”
Dusty returned to the car, wishing he’d gotten some kind of description out of the other Katie as well as a name. The fact that he was a few years older didn’t help. He couldn’t come out and ask Courtney anything without her wondering why. After driving to his school and having the same luck with that office, he was at a loss for what to do. There was too much space in between. The guy could work anywhere.
Needing to really kick his brain into gear, he headed to the coffee shop for a strong cup. Art would really flip a lid at the way his tab was growing. There was a person he didn’t recognize today at the counter and he was grateful. He paid cash for this round.
He tried thinking about everything Katie said, hoping something would come to him. She said they never went to his place. They always slept together at Katie and Courtney’s dorm room. Why? It finally hit Dusty like a brick. The son of a bitch was probably married. “That’s it,” Dusty said out loud. One guy turned his way. Dusty waved. “Sorry. Brain fry.” The guy held up his drink in an, “I know how you feel, dude,” kind of toast.
