Waiting for Dusk

by Nancy Pennick

  “Have fun with Carl?” her mom asked. “It’s so good to have him home.”

  “Yeah, we had a great talk. The weather’s so nice; I think I’ll stay out awhile longer.”

  Her parents got up, hugged her and went inside. “School night, don’t stay out here too long,” Her father said as he slid the door shut.

  Katie curled up on the chaise lounge and stared at the night sky. There was a full moon and many stars out. Her eyes went back to the moon. There he was, the man in the moon. Her Drew was looking down on her. She didn’t know how she would get back to him but she knew she would some way, somehow, even if she had to break into Maya’s antique bookcase.

  Katie’s phone buzzed. She picked it up, and read a text message.

  How was the wedding. That Lindsey!

  Katie answered back. Awesome. Then added I luv Drew.

  How immature is that? She thought but didn’t care and hit ‘send’.

  Lindsey answered with—fill me in 2moro.

  Chapter Twenty

  The next day at school Katie and Lindsey decided to find a quiet place to have lunch. Since students were allowed to go to the outdoor courtyard for lunch hour, they chose to go there. They picked a grassy place away from the crowds to have their private conversation. Katie filled Lindsey in on the whole weekend. Lindsey stared with her mouth open the whole time.

  “You haven’t eaten yet,” Katie told her.

  “Neither have you! I can’t believe this is real. I’m trying to grasp it all but can’t. I’m still going with a realistic dream otherwise you’re caught up in two different worlds. How do you pick which one you want to be in? I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

  Katie never thought about it that way. She didn’t think about choosing the world she wanted to live in. If she had to choose right now, she knew which one she’d pick. There would be no debate about it. She would live in Drew’s world forever.

  When Katie got home from school, she called Carl. “Hey, big bro. I’m home from school. Let’s go to the walking trail and talk.”

  “Meet you out front. You have to see the car I rented this time.” Carl sounded excited. Every time he came home he liked to rent a convertible or a sports car or a combination of both. She hung up and ran out the front door. Carl was pulling a silver sports car out of the garage.

  “Wow, Carl! That’s some car!” Katie wasn’t a car fanatic but she knew he would fill her in.

  “It’s a beauty,” Carl told her as she hopped in. “Do you mind if we go for a drive first? I just want to test this out on the freeway.”

  “Sure, go for it. I don’t have homework or anything important like that,” Katie teased.

  “So where do you want me to start?” Carl asked her once they were on the highway.

  “Anywhere, tell me what you know.” Katie just wanted him to get started.

  “I will tell you what I know about you and my family. That’s all I will tell. If your parents want you to know any more, they will have to tell you their own history. Agreed?”

  Katie nodded vigorously. She just wanted Carl to get on with the story.

  “It was July, if I’m right, when all this started for you. My mom just got back from visiting me in California. She went over to see you and your mom. She could tell by the look on your face that something was wrong. After you went up to your bedroom, my mom and yours talked. Mine thought it would be a fun diversion to have you read the book, thinking it would be this great summer adventure. She never expected you to fall in love.”

  Katie was quiet for a moment and then said, “She knows I fell in love with Drew?”

  “Yes, and now she regrets giving you the book. She pictured you riding horses, having fun with the girls and getting to be at the Grand Canyon. Plus she’d be there to chaperone you. That’s the truth. Your mom, who never took all of this too seriously, went along with the idea and gave the final approval. She was also the one who decided that once school started, the book would disappear. She never dreamt you would like that world so much. She just thought you’d have fun, too. Your mom got a little nervous when you started asking a lot of questions about your family, your Aunt Lucinda in particular. She believes the past should stay the past. With our families that’s not the case.” Carl turned and winked at Katie.

  “When your mom comes to visit you in California, does she bring the book?”

  “Yep. She only goes back to visit when she knows someone is aware that she’s gone. She always lets your mother know. When she misses my dad and can’t stand it anymore, she goes. This summer she went back a lot because of you. She wanted to keep an eye on you.”

  Katie was still puzzled. “She was so much younger. How do you explain that?”

  “There are some things we can’t explain. I think it’s because whatever age my dad was during that time, she compliments that. Although, as she likes to remind me, she was seven years younger than him. I believe he was thirty or thirty-one at that time, so she would be a young girl of twenty-four. Another theory is you stay the age you were when you first visited the Canyon.”

  “So if your mom misses him so much, why doesn’t she stay there or just bring him back here?”

  “You have to remember, my dad passed away in the 1990’s. She can’t bring him back here, although she did try. My mom’s a spitfire! She was determined to figure out a way to get him back here but nothing worked. It took her awhile to accept that dad has passed on and that his spirit lives at the boardinghouse. Plus when she’s there, he doesn’t remember the future. Dad is just working on his plans to build a riding stable where he can give people lessons. He works at the boardinghouse to make money to put toward it and is just in the moment. He doesn’t remember me or even know I exist although he talks about one day they’ll have a Carl Jr.” Carl paused for a moment. He wiped the corner of his eye. “I wish I could see him, too,” he whispered.

  “Then why doesn’t she just stay?” Katie reminded him of her other question.

  “She knows if she stays that she will have to live through his illness and death again. She will know exactly when he will die and how. She can’t take that and I don’t want her to. Something else holds her back from doing that...me.”

  “I just realized something...your dad...he’s from the past.”

  “Yeah.”

  Katie wanted to hear more. “Why don’t you just go back with your mom some time to visit?”

  “I’ll save that for tomorrow. Let’s get back to you. My mom saw how much the wedding meant to you and decided to lie to your parents. They don’t know you were gone the whole weekend.”

  “I was gone, literally gone. Not in the bed...gone,” Katie kept repeating.

  “Yep, gone. For some reason when you go for one day there is no interruption in the time continuum. You place the book on your nightstand, fall asleep and...Bam! You wake up to the next day here none the wiser. You still leave, or as you just said ‘are not in the bed’. You’re gone for the night and are really time traveling. You just didn’t know it. When you place the book in the bed you can stay as long as you like and not come back, if you keep the book away from you and with personal effects just like my mother instructed you to do. You are then in a different time zone, as I like to say. There’s no explaining it.”

  “So that is why it was already Monday when I got back.”

  “Exactly. I was trying to explain to my mom that if she let you go for all that time, she would have to tell you why it was Monday and not Saturday when you woke up. She thought she had it all under control.”

  “Until you spilled the beans.” It was all starting to make sense to Katie. That was why Carl was so upset when she couldn’t find her necklace. “You are the best brother anyone could have. Did you know that?”

  Katie turned the radio on in the car and played with the stations. An old song came on that she liked when she was younger. Carl and Katie sang at the top of their lungs as they traveled down the highway. Katie felt freer than she had i
n a long while. The clouds and confusion were clearing from her head.

  Carl got off an exit, drove around and got back on the freeway. As he was driving down the entrance ramp to head back home he told Katie they would continue their talk the next day. She nodded in agreement. She did need to process all of it anyway. When they pulled in the Johnson driveway, Katie got out and ran across to her house.

  “I promise we’ll walk tomorrow!” Carl called out as he pulled the car into the garage.

  Katie gave him a thumb’s up, and called out to him, “Next time get a convertible!” She entered the house to find her parents talking to Tyson.

  “Hi everyone!”

  “Katie, Tyson came over to borrow something. Notes? Book?” Jackson shrugged his shoulders. “Where have you been by the way?”

  “Carl wanted to take me for a drive in his rented sports car. Thing is really fast!” Katie ran up the stairs. “Come on, Ty!”

  She was so used to having Ty in the house, and in her bedroom, she hadn’t thought about what it would be like now that he thought of her as his girlfriend. Ty stopped in the doorway.

  “Ty! Come in!” Katie was a little annoyed at how he was acting.

  Ty sat on the floor while Katie found her schoolbag and rummaged through it. “What exactly do you need?” She wasn’t sure if she brought the right thing home.

  “Actually, I really don’t need anything. I just wanted to see you. I told your parents that so I had an excuse to stay until you got home. I heard you have a dress for Homecoming. What color? So I know what kind of flowers to get.”

  “Wow, Tyson. You are on top of things. Most guys wouldn’t even know or care about stuff like that.” Katie teased.

  “Well, my mom sort of told me to find out or ask you what you like.”

  “How about white roses with a sapphire blue ribbon?” Katie wanted to settle that quickly plus it would remind her of Lucinda’s wedding.

  “Sure, whatever you want.” He got up and sat next to her on the bed.

  “How was your date on Friday?” Katie decided to distract him.

  “Date?”

  “You know, you took Erin to the movies.”

  “Oh, that. Fine.”

  Katie wanted a little more information than that. “Tyson Gray!”

  “The movie was good. I want to take you to see it now. Erin is a fun girl. She can’t wait for basketball season. She’s positive that I will make the varsity team.”

  “As positive as she was that I’d make the cheer team,” Katie said under her breath.

  “What did you say?” Ty threw her back on the bed.

  The next thing she knew he was almost on top of her, trying to kiss her. Her heart raced but for all the wrong reasons. She felt like she was betraying Drew and did not want to hurt Ty again. She decided she would just let him kiss her and get it over with. While he was kissing her all she could think about was that he smelled like a sixteen-year-old boy who, maybe, just got out of bed and hurried to school. Not that it was bad or offensive or anything like that. Katie started to laugh about having a mock debate in her head over the hygiene habits of sixteen-year-old boys.

  Ty leaned back. “What’s so funny?”

  “You! Are you trying to take advantage of me in my bedroom?” She tried keeping it light. “If you were ten, you’d be saying ‘ew, gross’.”

  “I’m not ten anymore,” he said grabbing her once again.

  As he kissed her again the comparisons continued. That time Katie compared him to Drew. Shouldn’t she be concentrating on Ty and thinking only of him? When Drew kissed her she never wanted it to stop.

  Ty could stop any time he wanted and she wouldn’t be bothered that he did. When Drew just touched her she felt chills or tingles through her body, and with Ty there wasn’t much of anything. Ty was meant to be a friend. She didn’t have feelings for him. Katie knew it had to stop, especially when she felt his hand go up under the back of her top and come around to the side.

  “Ty!” Katie quickly sat up.

  “Oh. I know your door is open. Sorry.” He wasn’t getting the message, and she was giving the wrong one. She did like kissing him. She did like being around him. She didn’t like him taking Erin to the movies. It was getting too confusing again.

  Katie’s mom called up the stairs, “Dinner’s ready! I hope Ty got his homework done.”

  Yeah, right, he did his homework. They stood up and Ty pulled her close to him. He was taller than Drew. She had to get up on her tiptoes to barely reach his mouth.

  Drew was just right, tall but not too tall. Before she knew what was happening Ty bent down and kissed her again. It wasn’t bad. She liked it. It wasn’t fairytale romantic, though. Maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be—two high school kids making out in a bedroom.

  Katie pulled away. “I’ve got to get down there.”

  “Sure, I understand. I missed you. We could’ve hung out all weekend. Maybe this weekend?”

  “Um, let’s wait and see. May have a big project coming up.” Katie used that excuse once too often this week. She ran down the stairs with Ty right behind her, walked him to the front door and let him out. She then leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Katie sent Carl a text message to meet her at the walking trail right after school. She didn’t want to get on the bus or even get close to the bus stop because she knew Ty would be waiting for her. Lindsey drove to school most days and was supposed to drive directly there and back home, no detours. Katie pleaded with her to be dropped at the park knowing it would add extra driving time.

  “I’ll just tell my mom I was stuck in traffic.” Lindsey put her arm around Katie. “And you can fill me in on the latest! Your life is much more exciting than mine.”

  Katie wanted to make her friend feel better. “Your life is fine. Hasn’t Brian been calling you and meeting you between classes? Things are looking up for you.”

  “Yeah, but remember he’s just a friend! Brian’s quite the talker, Kates. Seems like Ty tells him a lot. It’s like he’s in love with you or something.”

  “No, no, that can’t be. He’s complicating my life!” Katie screamed.

  “Calm down, girl! I’ll see what I can find out.” Lindsey pulled into the parking lot.

  “Thanks for the ride. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re the best.” Katie jumped out of the car.

  Carl was already there, leaning on his sports car. Katie waved and ran toward him.

  “Ready for that walk?” She couldn’t wait to get started.

  They set off down the trail as Carl began to tell his parents’ story.

  “First I want to tell you how my dad found the set of books. That’s really how this all began.” He took a deep breath. “This may be long so bear with me.”

  Katie remained quiet not wanting to distract his thoughts and wished he’d just get started.

  “When dad was hired to run the boardinghouse, he had to fix it up first. It was an old, rundown place. No one had lived there for years. It was a good solid structure and my dad was a talented carpenter. He could fix or make anything, as you know. He worked on the house for months living out there alone.

  One day Dad was pulling out some old rotted wood in the kitchen and behind the boards was a shelf. On the shelf was this set of old books. Dad liked to read and was thrilled he had something to occupy his time when he wasn’t working. Little did he know what he got himself into!”

  Carl came to the first resting bench and sat down.

  “So your dad found the books. Your dad and mom didn’t go antiquing and find them in a quaint little old shop?” Katie remembered the story Mrs. Johnson told her.

  “That’s right, although there’s some truth to it. My dad did give the books to my mother for safekeeping,” Carl continued. “Dad decided to read the first book that night before he turned in, placing the book on his nightstand when he was done. When he woke up, to his amazement, he was in a dor
mitory, a college dormitory for men. He thought he was dreaming, of course, so he set out to explore this alien territory. Everything seemed a little strange to him. People were dressed differently and he didn’t recognize a lot of things. That’s when he convinced himself that it was a dream and to just go along with it.

  Dad found his way outside and discovered he was on a college campus. One building he could relate to was the library, so he headed there. He thought he could at least research and figure out where he was and why he was there. The first person he encountered was my mother, who had just graduated from the college and worked in the library. She was a free spirit and a liberal thinker, so maybe it was fate that the first person he would come across would be her. Plus it was the sixties. My mom came up to him and asked if he needed any help because he definitely looked like he needed it. It was love at first sight, for Dad anyway. Mom said that he had this bewildered look on his face, guess she couldn’t tell it was love!”

  Carl stood and stretched, then motioned to Katie to start their walk again. “Since he thought it was still a dream, he told her everything. He kept on insisting it was 1927. Mom thought he was on some type of drug, not the prescription kind if you know what I mean.”

  “So your dad ended up here at Oberlin College, if I understand this correctly.”

  “Yep, you are correct. My dad ended up staying the day at the college library. My mom took him to lunch and explained what a lot of things were, especially television. At the end of the day she helped him find the dorm room he woke up in, and they parted ways. Mom thought she’d never see this guy with a Swedish accent again. She felt a little sad about that. He was so kind and sincere and was such a gentleman. They had exchanged first names and that was about all. When dad woke up, he was back at the boardinghouse. It didn’t take him long to figure out that reading the book had something to do with the dream he had. He decided he would read again that night. He was determined to go back to figure this out, plus see that beautiful woman again. The motivation was love.”