Waiting for Dusk (10 page)

“Thank you, Lucinda. They’re lovely,” Katie
managed to say.

“Here’s my gift from Henry.” She took out
another pearl choker from the box. It had a large blue sapphire in
the center and the pearls were attached to it. It was just like in
the picture.

Ruthie and Molly looked at each other, eyes
opened wide. Kathryn realized that all this jewelry was the real
thing. These Hastings didn’t mess around. She left the room and
headed for her own.

Anna was in the kitchen as Katie walked by.
“You need any help?”

“Yes,” was all Katie could say.

Anna came into Katie’s room. “Now what’s
going on with you and Mr. Andrew? Is this serious? I really do like
him. He would be a good catch.”

A good catch? “Anna, what are you talking
about?”

“Hasn’t he told you?” Anna replied.

“Told me what?”

“His family owns a large men’s clothing store
in New York City. Haven’t you heard of Martin’s Menswear? Andrew’s
father, Nicolas, is a famous men’s designer. His grandfather came
to New York from Italy leaving his family business behind, a very
famous Italian fashion house. He wanted to strike out on his own
and break away from his brothers. Andrew’s grandfather saw the
talent in Nicolas at an early age and decided that the United
States would be a great place to start over. They were the Martino
family in Italy but his grandfather decided to drop the ‘o’ and
become more Americanized. ”

Katie remembered her family talking about
people who came from other countries at the turn of the century.
They came through Ellis Island in New York. Sometimes their name
would be changed right away to make it more familiar to Americans,
like Johansson could be Johnson...

“Kathryn, are you still there?” Anna waved
her hand in front of Katie’s face. “I take it you didn’t know any
of this.”

“How did you know?”

“Daniel and I spent time with Andrew earlier
this summer. We rode together when we were out at the ranch. We all
shared our stories. I knew Andrew worked at the park but seemed to
do whatever he wanted. I teased him one day about it. He finally
gave in and told me his family donated lots of money to the park so
now it made sense. He didn’t abuse the power, don’t get me wrong.
He truly cares about the environment. It’s his life’s passion.”

Katie already knew Drew loved the park. It
made sense why the help could sit on the porch that first day and
eat their lunch, and why they found his horse in the barn after
just leaving it tied to a post at Yavapai. She didn’t care if he
was rich or not. It didn’t really matter since they were from two
different centuries. What was she thinking? Drew was not real. It
was time to enter the real world and stay there.

Chapter Thirteen

The next two weeks
went by quickly. Katie was getting closer to the start of school.
She hung out with Lindsey and Jordyn. Erin kept texting her to try
out. Ty came over to swim and she’d go across the street to play
basketball with him. Katie noticed he was getting a little more
serious about the girlfriend thing. She didn’t want to hurt his
feelings, though, because they were friends for such a long time.
She planned on going to Homecoming with him and would continue tell
him she wanted to remain friends. She discussed her dilemma with
Lindsey and Jordyn one day in her bedroom.

“Ty already asked you to Homecoming? How
lucky can you be?” Jordyn bounced up and down on Katie’s bed.
“Let’s start dress shopping, all of us. If Lindsey and I don’t get
dates, we’ll go with each other.”

“You’re too funny, Jordyn. I can see you
trying to get a date the first day of school,” Lindsey laughed.

“Or Katie can ask Ty to fix us up with some
basketball guys!” Jordyn stared off into space. Katie thought she
was imagining all of them at the dance. “We can triple date
then.”

I was right. Katie patted herself on the
back.

Jordyn grabbed Katie by the arms and said,
“What do you think?”

“Um, I’ll think about it.” Little did Jordyn
know that Katie had way more on her mind than a Homecoming
dance.

Katie still went to the boardinghouse every
night in her dreams. She saw Drew more and more every day. It was
like he knew she’d be gone soon and didn’t want to waste any time
either. She also snuck off to the train station and looked at
schedules, picking a day and time, Friday at 1:30 p.m., for her
return. That would give her time to get up, dressed and run to the
station. She wasn’t sure what she’d do next. Hide until the train
came? She laughed aloud.

“What’s so funny, Kates?” Lindsey
frowned.

“I was just picturing me hiding in a train
station.”

“What did you just say?” She held her hand to
Katie’s forehead. “I think you’re coming down with something.” She
then flashed a knowing look. Katie was keeping her informed of the
dreams.

Jordyn jumped up and said, “I’ve got to get
going. I promised the moms they could take me school shopping.”

The girls said their good-byes, then Katie
and Lindsey went outside and sat on the deck. No one was home so
they knew they could speak freely.

Lindsey went first. “I’m a little concerned
that your dream life is overtaking your real life.”

“I know you mean well, but don’t worry about
me. Don’t you think this is all based on the pictures I saw of my
family and the stories I heard my mom and dad tell?” Katie swung
around in her chair. She convinced herself Drew was not real and
the dream world was just for fun.

She sighed and looked around her. It was a
beautiful day. The sky was almost like an Arizona sky, bright blue
with white puffy clouds, reminding her of another place, another
time.

“Then how do you explain Drew?” Lindsey broke
into her thoughts. “Think about that, why don’t you? I’m afraid
you’re falling in love with a dream, that’s all. I’m your best
friend and will always be here for you, support you no matter
what.”

“Thanks for that. The same goes for me, you
know that don’t you?” Katie turned back in her chair and threw her
hand out. Lindsey slid her hand along Katie’s and then they grasped
hands. “Sisters till the end.” It was their joke of a secret
handshake. They laughed and sat in silence for awhile.

“School starts on Monday.”

“Don’t remind me! This is our last weekend to
have fun. What shall we do?” Katie looked at Lindsey.

“You should have a pool party. Let’s invite
everyone we know!” Lindsey peeked at Katie from the corner of her
eye.

“That might not be a bad idea,” a familiar
voice said. It was Katie’s mom. She slid the screen door open and
sat down with the girls.

“Really?” Katie couldn’t believe it.

“Really.”

Lindsey jumped up. “Come on! Let’s go to your
room and start inviting people!”

They stayed up very late calling and texting
people. “Yes, this Saturday. Yep, two days away! Good! See you
then!” Katie hung up the phone. “You may as well sleep over, Linds.
It’s really late. Ty’s bringing the basketball team, he has so many
friends on it. Gosh, I hope he makes the varsity team. His heart is
set on making it.”

“Katie, you’re rambling. Calm down. Are you
sure you want me to sleep over? I may interfere with your dream
life.”

Katie playfully pushed her and Lindsey
screamed. Katie put her hand over Lindsey’s mouth. “You don’t want
to wake the parents!”

They talked and planned until the wee hours
of the morning, finally falling asleep, exhausted, on Katie’s
bed.

When morning came, Katie was the first to
wake up. She looked over at Lindsey. She snored lightly. Wow, I
must have been tired. No dreaming at all.

She gave Lindsey a little shove. “Come on, we
have to go shopping for the party. New bathing suits!”

Lindsey popped up. “Sounds like a plan. Let
me call my mom and tell her I’m never coming home. Then we can get
going.”

Katie looked forward to the party. She would
see a lot of people she didn’t see all summer. The weather was
great so there were no worries for a rain out. She went into her
bathroom to take a shower and looked in the mirror. She saw a
16-year-old girl who was going to start her junior year in high
school. Why did she ever think she could live a glamorous life with
Drew? Oops, there I go again, mixing up my worlds. Well, no more of
that. This party will be the start of a very good school year.

When she came out of the bathroom, Lindsey
was looking at the old pictures Katie found in the attic. “Is this
Lucinda?” She pointed to the bride.

“Yeah.”

“Wow. Henry could use some braces, couldn’t
he?” Lindsey teased.

“He’s a very nice man. Don’t make fun of
him.” Katie met him over these past few weeks. He was a gentleman,
yet there was something very macho about him. He also loved
Lucinda, his Cindy, very much. Katie could tell that much. It was a
little harder to tell if Lucinda loved him back in the same way.
There definitely was affection on her part.

“And this is your great-grandmother,
Loretta?” Lindsey was still looking at the picture.

“Yep,” Katie brushed her hair.

“She looks like you. Or you look like her,
which is it?” Lindsey lay back on the bed, picture in hand. “This
other girl is Kathryn? The one you’re named after?”

“Yes, again.” Katie kept brushing as she
studied the picture with her friend.

“Spooky resemblance.” Lindsey did a fake
shiver.

Katie needed a distraction. “Let’s go
shopping. We’ll eat something at the food court. Good thing your
car is here.” She grabbed Lindsey’s hand and the two ran down the
stairs and out the door.

* * * *

When she got home, Kate found her mother
unloading the car and they walked into the house together. “Why is
it you have one small bag and I have all the party supplies and
groceries?” Katie’s mom whined and then said, “Show me what you
bought.”
Katie pulled a new swimsuit out of the bag. Her mother raised her
eyebrows. “Don’t show that to your father before the party
starts.”
“Look, Mom. It has a cute skirt that goes with it. I’m going to
wear that when everyone first gets here.”

“Dad will be the chaperone and grill master,
so I have everything covered.” Her mom sat down on the sofa. “How
many are we expecting?”

“Forty or so people.”

“Forty?”

“You didn’t give me a number. They probably
won’t all show up. There might be about thirty kids here. How’s
that?” Katie sat next to her mother, leaned her head on her
mother’s shoulder and looked up at her.

“When you give me those puppy dog eyes, Blue
Eyes, I can’t resist.” Her mother squeezed her. “Just don’t tell
your father.”

“Hey, there’s been a lot of ‘just don’t tell
your father’, ‘don’t show your father’ comments.” Katie loved
having secrets with her mother.

“And don’t tell your father that either!”
Joanna got up and started to head for the kitchen.

“What’s this ‘don’t tell your father’
business I’m hearing,” Jackson walked in the door.

“Nothing,” they both answered.

“My girls are at it again.” Jackson shook his
head.

Joanna gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek as
she passed by. “We’re letting Katie have a pool party tomorrow.
Sort of a back-to-school party, you might say.”

“Oh, we are, are we? Why am I always the last
to know?” Jackson threw his hands up in mock disbelief.

“Because you are never home,” Joanna and
Katie answered in unison again.

They all laughed and Katie knew everything
was a go.

* * * *

The sun shone brightly in the late afternoon
sky. Katie helped her mom get things ready for the party. Lindsey
and Jordyn both slept over and also helped set up until they went
home to get ready. Katie had no dreams that she could recall. She
thought about it a lot while she prepared for the party.

“Mom, is it alright if I go get ready now?”
Katie was anxious to go upstairs to her bedroom for some reason.
She saw her mother nod so she headed up.

She grabbed the bag that her new suit was in
and looked for scissors in her drawer next to her bed so she could
cut the tags. As she opened the drawer, she looked at the book
lying there on her nightstand. She picked it up and turned it over
and over in her hands, thinking, Every time I read this book, I
have the dream. The nights I didn’t read, I did not have it. That’s
it! The book and the dream must have some sort of connection. Well,
I’ll definitely read a chapter tonight because I need to say
good-bye to everyone. They know I’ll be back for the wedding but I
definitely want to say my good-byes. It’s the proper thing to
do.

Katie smacked her forehead. Listen to me! I’m
worried about being proper and polite. She learned some different
life lessons at the canyon. Wouldn’t her parents love that? Plus I
have to see Drew one more time and firm up our plans. I need to
make sure he stays away from the station until exactly
one-thirty.

She had confided in Anna a little but did not
say she was from the future. Anna would think she was crazy. Katie
just explained she was coming earlier than she thought and still
wanted to meet Drew at the station. Anna said she would come up
with something to keep him away until the designated time. Katie
hoped Drew would be agreeable.

Katie crossed her fingers, kissed them and
raised the fingers to the sky. “Here’s to you, Anna,” she said
aloud.

“I’m starting to think Anna is your best
friend instead of me,” Lindsey teased as she came in the bedroom
door. “You’re not even ready. Go in that bathroom and get ready,
girl.”

When Katie came out in her bikini top and
matching skirt, Lindsey whistled. “You are totally...I know we hate
using this word...hot! What did you do to your hair?”

“I bought a wave iron. Do you really like
it?” Katie twirled around.