Waiting for Dusk (21 page)

“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 were 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.