Waiting for Dusk

by Nancy Pennick

  Katie was done talking. “Yes, that’s right.” She got up and went toward the stairs. “I’m going to take a shower and may never come out.”

  * * * *

  She wasn’t looking forward to going to school on Monday. Once the rumors from the dance settled down, she hoped things would get back to normal. She would do or say whatever Ty wanted about Saturday night. Katie would take the blame and make Ty look good. Slowly, brushing her hair, she’d do anything to delay getting on the school bus today.

  “Katie, you’re going to be late.” Her father’s voice drifted up the stairs.

  “I’m coming.”

  “Looks like I’ll have to drive you. You missed the bus.” Her father grabbed his keys and they went out the door.

  The plan was to find Tyson and talked to him before they entered the building. If she’d been on the bus, they might have already talked. She spotted him sitting under a tree and ran over. Tyson got up when he saw her. He had a bump on his forehead and a few scratches on his arm.

  “Ty, I hope you’re alright. I heard about the accident. Whatever you want to say about Homecoming night, I’ll go along with. Plus, I need to give something back to you.” She held out the velvet box.

  “You keep it, Katie. I bought it for you. What will I do with it?” Ty said coldly. “We broke up, end of story. You don’t have to make anything up for me.”

  “Ty, I’m sor...” Before she could finish, Erin came running up.

  “You waited for me just where we planned!” Erin looked at Katie with a triumphant grin. She was wearing a brace on her left arm. Tyson put his arm around Erin and walked away from Katie. She was stunned. He bounced back really fast. She wouldn’t worry about him anymore.

  Jordyn came running up to Katie. “Did you hear how Ty and Erin got in the accident? They were kissing! Do you believe it?”

  No, Katie could not believe it. If that was high school, she wanted out. The sooner the better. She was counting the days till she and Lindsey left for Arizona. She couldn’t wait to meet Lindsey’s family and get away for just awhile.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lindsey and Katie were excited to be at the airport instead of school. Their parents came with them but could only go so far because of security. Now they were completely on their own.

  “You never told me your aunt’s ranch was so close to the Grand Canyon.”

  “You never asked,” laughed Lindsey. “You’ll love it there! We can even go to the Grand Canyon if you like.”

  Katie thought about it. She didn’t know if she could handle going if Drew wasn’t there. She’d probably look for him the whole time. Yet, it might make her feel closer to him and help her digest all that Carl told her. Yes, she wanted to go. She’d wait to tell Lindsey later. Right then, Katie wanted to hear all about Lindsey’s family and who she would be meeting. It seemed like there were a few generations living at the ranch.

  “You already told me about your great-grandmother so let’s continue from there.” Katie buckled her seatbelt to get ready for the long plane ride.

  “You can call her Grandma J. That’s what everyone calls her. She and Great-Grandpa had only one son who married and moved away for awhile. He lives there now with his mother and his daughter, my Aunt Sue. His wife, my grandmother, has passed away. I would have loved for you to have met her. She was the sweetest, funniest person I’ve ever met, besides you! Well, anyway, Grandma and Grandpa had Aunt Sue, my mom Beth, and twins, Steve and Scott. Uncle Steve and Uncle Scott live right on the ranch. Each kid was given a piece of property to build on. My mom is the only one who moved far away.”

  “So what do I call your Grandfather?”

  “Grandpa!” Lindsey laughed again. Katie could tell she was in a good mood. “Just call everyone what I call them. They would want you to. You will love everyone, believe me. They are happy you’re coming. They know you’re my best friend and that we always have each other’s backs.”

  Katie and Lindsey did their handshake again. “Sisters till the end!”

  The time seemed to go quickly. Before Katie knew it, they transferred planes in Phoenix and landed in Flagstaff. Lindsey seemed to know the airport pretty well. Katie followed her out from the gate and into the concourse. They walked toward baggage claim and there Katie saw a large group of people, yelling and waving their arms.

  “They’re a little shy as you can see.” Lindsey giggled. “Aunt Sue, this is Katie. Katie, this is everybody!”

  She looked at all the smiling faces, and knew she liked them immediately. “I guess we’ll all get to know one another soon enough.”

  The family drove in a large caravan of Jeeps, trucks and SUVs to the ranch. Katie felt like she was in a parade. “Do they always come out to meet you like this?”

  “Yes, they’re very demonstrative. Be ready for lots of hugs and questions.” Lindsey patted Katie’s knee. “We’re almost there.”

  The caravan pulled into a long driveway. It was still light outside so Katie was able to see everything. The house and surrounding area were outlined with split rail fence. The white house with black shutters was very large, two stories high in the middle with one story levels on each side. It was not what she expected at all. Off in the distance, Katie saw another house. Lindsey pointed at it and said, “That’s my Uncle Steve’s house. Grandpa divided the land among the four kids. My mom never built on her piece of land. I’m thinking one day I may build something there. Uncle Scott’s is on the other side of Steve. It’s farther down from here. You can’t really see it.”

  “I’d love to see your piece of land.” Katie was truly excited about her stay.

  They parked in front of the house and before Katie knew it she was sitting in a guest bedroom.

  “Take all the time you need and come down when you’re ready,” Aunt Sue said. “Just walk through the kitchen out back to the deck. We’ll all be there. Barbeque for dinner. Make yourself at home. We’re so glad you came!”

  Aunt Sue left and closed the door behind her. Katie looked at herself in the mirror. She was so happy to be there and away from the high school drama. It suddenly felt like her second home. She realized she better not daydream too long and get downstairs to join the others. She ran down the stairs and rounded the corner. There was a large kitchen, larger than any kitchen she’d ever seen. It seemed to take up the whole back of the house. Katie walked to the back door but noticed a hallway to her right.

  Curiosity got the better of her and she headed off down the short hallway. The first doorway led to a bathroom, which made sense. The next doorway opened up into a small sitting room. The room was filled with overstuffed furniture and antique tables. Everything was the color of peach and sand with a touch of aqua, making it inviting and comfortable. Katie felt a twinge of guilt for snooping around the house and turned to go back to the kitchen.

  “Kathryn? Kathryn, is that you?” Katie thought she heard Anna’s voice. She shook her head to knock the cobwebs from her brain.

  “Kathryn, Please!” Katie’s heart pounded. It felt as if it could jump out of her chest any minute. She so wanted it to be Anna, but how could it be?

  Katie had to look into the room. Seated on a peach striped loveseat was a lovely older woman. Her pure white hair was swept back in a bun that reminded Katie of the Harvey girl style they wore at the restaurant.

  “Anna?” Katie couldn’t believe that came out of her mouth.

  “Yes, yes, Kathryn. Please come here!” The older lady sounded so excited. She put down the book she was reading.

  Tears flowed down Katie’s face. She couldn’t talk or barely breathe. She ran over to the place where the woman sat and knelt on the floor in front of her. Katie put her head in the old woman’s lap and hugged her legs. She sobbed. All the while, the woman stroked Katie’s hair. Katie gulped for air, and finally calmed down. It seemed like all the tension, all the confusion left her. She looked into the old woman’s face and saw her friend. She saw the kindly brown eyes of Anna. Those eyes we
re always filled with compassion and never contempt. They were the eyes of her best friend. “Oh, Anna, I can’t believe it’s you. And you know me!”

  “Of course, I know you.” Anna patted the seat next to her. “Come up here, sit beside me and dry those eyes.” Katie did as she was told.

  “Let me look at you. Oh, Kathryn, whatever happened to you? You disappeared and never came back. You never knew I got married or got to be a part of my life. I never got to be a part of yours. I missed you so much. I always prayed we would meet again some day.”

  “Anna, please tell me what happened in your life. I want to know everything.” Katie was prepared to listen until the wee hours of the morning if she had to. Her heart felt like it could burst she was so happy.

  “We waited, you know. For a long time, we waited,” Anna started off.

  Katie was confused. She realized Anna was very old. It was going to be her 100th birthday. She probably mixed things up as old people do.

  “We? As in you and Daniel?”

  “Yes. Daniel Jenkins and I waited for almost two years until we married. I made him wait. He wanted to marry much sooner. I wanted to make sure Lucinda was settled in her life. When she got back from her honeymoon she found out she was pregnant. Little Henrietta was born in June of the following year. Lucinda was a very good mother. She was so proud of her children. She taught them to be independent and rely on themselves.

  About a year after Henrietta, Lucy was born. When I heard about the second pregnancy, I thought it was safe to finally go ahead and plan my wedding. We invited Henry and Lucinda. Henry came but said Lucinda was not feeling well. She just had little Lucy so I knew it might be too much for her. I was so hoping she would come. We always invited them over but Henry would come alone most of the time. When they both came, Lucinda found a way to cut the visit short. I tried, Kathryn, I really did. I thought after she had two children with Henry and was living on one of the largest, richest ranches in Arizona, she would be happy. It was like she could never forgive me. She couldn’t see that what was meant to be will be.”

  Where had Katie heard that before? Mrs. Johansson had said that many times to her. From that experience, Katie realized love was meant to be and couldn’t be forced. She had a good example of that in her own life. Tyson tried to make them a couple, and it didn’t work just like Daniel and Lucinda were not meant to be together. That made Katie stronger in her will to see Drew again. It was meant to be.

  She noticed Anna had stopped talking and her eyes were closed. Katie thought it would be a good time to leave and then something dawned on her. Anna was Lindsey’s great-grandmother! She stared at the sleeping Anna with tears running down her face.

  “Thank you, Anna. Thank you for Lindsey,” she whispered.

  Katie got up as quietly as she could. Anna jumped and her eyes opened.

  “No, don’t go yet, Kathryn.” She held onto Katie’s arm. “There is one more thing I want to tell you. Daniel and I always wanted lots of children but we only had Daniel Jr. It took five long years before Dan was born and we were blessed to have him. He lives here now, did you know that? He’s come home to his mother.

  Dan is now the head of the household, the head of the ranch. He married Lucinda’s youngest, Amy. Everything went well for awhile but Lucinda tried to control Amy and her life with Dan. It was like she was reliving a life she had wanted through her daughter. Amy couldn’t take it anymore and begged Dan to move the family far away from here. They only came back when my Daniel passed away. All of Dan and Amy’s kids were teenagers at the time and not too thrilled about moving west from their life in New York. Then to top it off, Amy never told her mother they were moving back. I was always trying to get her to call or go over there. It took more than a year before she finally did. Lucinda was much older and had mellowed. They had a few good years together before Lucinda left us.”

  “And what about you? Did Lucinda ever make amends with you?” Katie had to know.

  “Yes, we would do lunch or tea once a week. Amy insisted on it. I let bygones be bygones. Lucinda apologized a few times but we didn’t talk about the past too much. So much time had passed, so many wasted years...”

  Anna’s eyes were closed again. Katie flopped back on the loveseat and took it all in.

  Oh my gosh, Lindsey is my long lost cousin! Katie gently hit her head with her hand. My Great-Great Aunt Lucinda’s daughter, Amy, married Anna’s son, Dan. We are connected. We are family.

  Then Katie thought long and hard about Lucinda’s wedding day. Katie wanted to talk Lucinda out of marrying Henry Hasting. She was positive she could have done it if Maya had not interrupted. That’s why Maya stopped her from having the conversation with Lucinda. She knew if Katie talked Lucinda out of marrying Henry, there would be no Lindsey. Her best friend would not exist. Katie cried again, holding her head in her hands. When she looked up, Katie saw Lindsey standing at the door—beautiful, understanding Lindsey with her compassionate brown eyes and long blonde hair—looking so much like Anna.

  “Are you okay? Get a little lost?” Lindsey seemed confused. “Is my Grandma J boring you with all her stories from the past?”

  “No, not at all.” Katie stood up. She walked over to her friend and hugged her for a very long time.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lindsey and Katie enjoyed the evening with the family, Katie’s family. Katie didn’t know where to begin to tell them that they were related, cousins of some kind, because of Amy. She was sure that cousins got naturally separated over time and distance and some of that helped seal the fate of this family. Katie’s mom was not really friends with Beth, Lindsey’s mom. They were more like acquaintances never talking about anything more than the weather, the kids or what happened at school. They wouldn’t compare notes on family. Katie held the key to everything. She knew that because of her dream, she brought two families together like they were supposed to be. She couldn’t wait to tell Lindsey. They made plans to go to the Grand Canyon the next day so that would be the perfect time.

  “Brandon? Megan? Would you two please take this to Grandma J?” Aunt Sue handed her children a plate of food and a beverage. Brandon was about Katie’s age, and Megan appeared to be about ten. They both obeyed their mother and went inside the house with the food.

  “Brandon told me he invited Charlie to go with us tomorrow.” Lindsey filled Katie in on the plans.

  “Charlie? Mmm, could that be the boy you met this summer?” Katie teased.

  “I told you it wasn’t a big deal. But yes, it is the boy I met here this summer. He’s...nice,” Lindsey got a faraway look in her eye.

  “Then, great! I’m happy for you.” Katie looked at her newfound cousin and couldn’t stop smiling.

  Megan bounded out on the deck. “Grandma J said that Kathryn was her friend. I told Grandma that her name was Katie. She kept saying Kathryn was here and Kathryn was an old friend.”

  Katie jumped up. She put her arm around Megan. “That’s okay, Megan. Grandma J can call me anything she likes. My name really is Kathryn. Did you know that?”

  She walked with Megan and took her over to a bench where she continued to talk to the little girl and get to know her. They laughed and told knock-knock jokes by the end of their conversation.

  The evening ended too quickly for Katie. She loved Grandpa Dan. He was so much like Daniel. Happiness overflowed inside of her knowing Anna had her family at the ranch—four generations of Jenkins. Sue, Scott, and Steve were fun to be around too. Their spouses and children completed the mix. There were even three golden retrievers running around the property, one belonging to each family.

  “We so need to get a dog,” Lindsey whispered to Katie. “All my aunts and uncles have one and my mom keeps saying no. That’s why she’s the black sheep of the family.”

  “No, she isn’t!”

  “Okay, she’s not. But why does she have to be the different one? I could be living here with all of my family.”

  “Then you wouldn’t
have me.” Katie put her arm around her.

  The two girls headed up to their rooms for the night. Katie was tempted to tell Lindsey what happened with Grandma J but decided to wait. She would call Carl instead. He would know what to do.

  Carl answered on the first ring. Katie knew he always tried to answer, never letting it go to voicemail, if he could. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, Carl, I’m here at Lindsey’s family ranch.” Katie then proceeded to tell him what happened to her that day.

  “Wow! That’s quite a story! Let me think about it for awhile while we talk. I heard about Homecoming and Tyson from my mother. How are you holding up?”

  “I’m fine. There’s nothing to tell. Now let’s get back to my reason for calling you.”

  “Alright, if you insist,” Carl teased. “You should tell Lindsey tomorrow, since she knows your time travel story. Then start asking Aunt Sue questions about your Aunt Lucinda and see if she puts two and two together. Let her be the one to figure it out.”

  “Great idea,” Katie hoped it would work. “Hey, I’ve got to go. I have another call. I’ll let you know what happens.”

  “Take care. I really mean that in every sense of the word.”

  “Yes, I will. Thanks for everything.” Katie hung up with Carl and answered her second call.

  “Katie?” It was Tyson. Katie was silent. “Katie, are you there?”

  “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “I’m calling to say I’m sorry...for everything.” Ty sounded a little depressed.

  “It’s alright. I want to stay friends with you.”

  “You do? That’s great! I made the basketball team.” Katie guessed Ty didn’t want to hang up and was thinking of things to say.

  “Great, Ty! I’m so happy for you.”

  “Katie? Do you think you could ever love me?”

  “I don’t want to go there again. Please, let’s end this conversation in a good way. If you can’t just call to talk, then don’t call me.”