Waiting for Dusk (24 page)

It has been great for Lucy and me. We could
never run this ranch without them. My mom could have done it alone,
but not us. We’re grateful for the help.”

So finally Katie knew what happened to all of
her friends. Some good, some bad but in the end their lives went
well. Katie learned that life continued on in a fluid motion that
she never thought about before. There was always a new story to
replace the old. The thing was to remember everything so that there
would always be that flow of life. Katie stopped. She was getting a
little too philosophical, even for herself. She still wanted to ask
one more question.

“Is it alright if I see the dress? Your
mother’s wedding dress?” “You want to see the dress? Yes, of
course. We would be thrilled for you to see it!” Lucy’s eyes lit
up. “We don’t want to keep you too long because we know you have to
get back for Anna’s party. We’ll be over soon, too.” She stood up
and took Katie’s hand and studied her face. “You seem so familiar.”
Lucy touched Katie’s cheek.

They followed Lucy into the house, heading
for the curved staircase. Katie stopped on the step where Lucinda
crumbled many years before. She remembered how she got up and
brushed herself off, determined to become Mrs. Henry Hasting. That
determination struck her the most from that day.

The master bedroom was at the end of the
hall. They passed the guest room where Katie stayed, and she
couldn’t resist stopping to look at it. She couldn’t help herself,
she had to go in. It was all redone of course, but still decorated
in beautiful shades of purple, lavender and pale green.

“This is a beautiful room!” Katie spun around
as she spoke.

Again, Lindsey gave her a ‘what are you
doing’ look.

“Glad you like it. It’s a special guest room.
We hope you’ll stay there one day.” Retta put her arm around Katie.
“Now on to the shrine!”

A huge glass, display case rested against the
farthest wall. It was centered in the middle with pictures on
either side. Katie knew what the dress looked like before she even
reached the case. She had the picture, and saw it in person. The
two sisters had done a good job with the display. The dress was on
a pink velvet headless mannequin. The veil hung from the top of the
glass case and draped over the dress. There were lovely floral
framed pictures of the wedding mounted on the backside of the case.
A tiny white wrought iron table with a tea set and flowers was also
in the case. A garland of white silk roses trailed across the top
and down the front sides of the cabinet. It was quite
beautiful.

“Lucy, Retta, you two did a wonderful
job!”

The two women seemed pleased. Then Katie
noticed they kept staring at her and then at the wedding
photos.

“Katie, you look amazingly like my mother’s
friend, Kathryn. Here, look at the picture closely.” Lucy pointed
to the group wedding photo.

Katie didn’t have to look because she
remembered posing for the picture. She didn’t understand exactly
how it happened but she was in that wedding that took place in 1927
and came to accept it. In fact, she loved the idea.

“Everyone says that,” Katie responded.

“Yes, I even said it,” Lindsey piped in. “I
first saw the picture at Katie’s house. I couldn’t believe it!”

Aunt Sue looked at her watch. “We really need
to get back, girls. Thanks for having us, my favorite aunts. We’ll
see you later.”

She put her arms around Lindsey and Katie
walking them to the bedroom door.

Katie wanted to look around more. Her cousins
were certainly correct about the bedroom being a museum or shrine.
She noticed they had mounted baby clothes in a frame and there were
so many more pictures to see. She hoped to come back some day to
spend more time with Lucy and Retta. And stay in her room...that
wonderful room.

Back at Circle J, everyone got ready for the
big 100th birthday party. Katie knew that it was just a weekend
trip, but was sorry to see it end so soon. The next day she would
be boarding a plane back to Ohio. Maybe she’d ask the cousins if
she could live with them.

Who am I kidding? I need to get back to my
life, somehow break into Maya’s house and get a book before
Thanksgiving. Whoa! That didn’t sound good. Now she was resorting
to breaking the law. She laughed at herself and hung up another
balloon.

People started arriving mid-afternoon. It
would be an early party for Anna because she rarely stayed up past
nine. Katie was overwhelmed by all the people, but suddenly noticed
someone in the crowd that looked vaguely familiar. Could it be?
Another face from the past? She had to find out.

“Thomas? Thomas Cook?”

Chapter Thirty

Thomas looked at
Katie with teasing eyes. “Yes, I’m Thomas. And you are?”

“I...I’m Katie, Kathryn., Do you know me?”
she stuttered.

“No, but I do now! Nice to meet you, Katie,
Kathryn,” Thomas stuck out his hand.

Katie shook it, and kept staring at him. “You
look so familiar...” She couldn’t let go of his hand.

“Everyone says that about me. My father,
grandfather and I all look very much alike.” He kept shaking her
hand with a slight smile.

“And your name is Thomas like your...?” Katie
didn’t finish.

“My grandfather and father, that’s right. I’m
Thomas the third but since they’re both gone I guess I’m the only
Thomas.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear.” Katie pictured her
Thomas cooking and singing in the kitchen. He was one of Drew’s
best friends. Now he was gone.

“Please don’t be. They had full and rich
lives. Plus that is the circle of life.”

“I’d love to hear more about your family
later. If you’d excuse me I have to help with the party.” Katie
couldn’t wait to hear what happened to Thomas Sr.

It was the typical birthday party. There was
eating, opening presents and the cutting of the cake. Katie kept
herself busy by serving the guests and helping Anna with her
presents. She passed out the cake or wrapped it for people to take
home. The day passed quickly and before she realized it, the party
was ending. People began leaving in the early evening.

“Katie?” Anna called to her. “Would you mind
helping me to my room?”

“Of course, Grandma J.” Katie rushed over to
help her.

Then Katie whispered to her, “I know, knock
off the Grandma J crap.”

“I saw you talking to Thomas Cook earlier.
Quite eerie, isn’t it?” Anna looked at Katie and saw she was
puzzled. “The resemblance! He looks just like our Thomas! Thomas
was a good man. Daniel wanted him to come and work here at the
ranch full-time. We just couldn’t steal him away from the Park
system.”

When they got to Anna’s apartment, Katie
discovered that the sitting room continued on into a bedroom and
bathroom; it was like a little apartment. Anna picked up a Vera
Bradley quilted-flowered bag and handed it to Katie. “Something for
you from me,” she said.

Katie looked in the bag and saw three books.
“The bag is lovely. Are these your Jack Woods books?” Katie
couldn’t believe it. “I can’t take them.”

“I want you to have them. You will appreciate
them, especially if you think Jack Woods could be related to you
somehow.” Anna sat down on her loveseat. “I think you know more
about Jack Woods than you’re letting on. “Do you have something to
tell me?”

Katie sank down beside her. Anna didn’t miss
much. “I don’t want to leave you. You know me so well! Too
well.”

“You always have Lindsey. Never forget that.
You’ll always have me, too, no matter where I am. I may not be long
for this world, Kathryn, but I will be with you.”

“Stop it; you’re not...going anywhere. I need
you. I plan on calling you all the time.”

“Then you better give me your phone, and let
me put my number in.” Anna held out her hand.

Katie stared at her with her mouth open. “You
are awesome!” She gave Anna her phone, and they sat quietly for a
moment.

Anna handed the phone back to Katie. “Now, go
ahead. You want to tell me something.”

Katie couldn’t believe how the words came
rushing out. She told Anna everything—the dreams, the book, Carl
telling her the dreams were real, seeing Jack Woods who looked like
her father and that Maya lived next door to her in the 21st
century.

“Mrs. Johansson lives next door to you? She
is something. I always knew she was special,” Anna slapped her leg.
“So that’s how you came to 1927. Well, I’m glad you did. I don’t
understand it all either, but it is fascinating. When are you
planning on going back?”

“The Wednesday before Thanksgiving...if I can
get my hands on a book.”

“Lindsey will help you. You can trust in
that.” Anna sighed. “I’d love to hear more and talk all night but
this old lady needs her sleep. Remember, those books belong to you
now. My legacy to you.” Anna lightly kissed Katie on the top of her
head as she stood up to go into her bedroom. “Good night, my sweet
Kathryn.”

“Good night, my sweet Anna.” Katie let out a
laugh. “Will I see you before I leave tomorrow?”

“Of course. You know I’m an early riser.”

Katie went back out into the main house.
There were only a few guests left. She was glad to see that Thomas
and his wife were among them. Thomas’ wife was helping Aunt Sue
while Thomas watched the boys play video games. Katie sat down next
to him on the family room sofa.

“Good to see you again! I was just watching
the boys play a little football. That’s my son, Dante.” Thomas
smiled at Katie as he pointed to a boy playing the football video
game with Brandon and Charlie.

“I wasn’t going to let you leave without
telling me some family history.” Katie then realized that was a
strange request so she quickly made something up. “I’m doing a
history of our families and I was told your grandfather was friends
with Daniel.”

“Oh, yes. Yes, he was.” Thomas seemed to be
deep in thought. He shook his head and said, “Daniel, Andrew and
Thomas...just like these three boys. Good friends.

He mentioned Andrew! Katie tried to get
Thomas back on track. “Would you mind sharing a bit?”

“My grandfather always wanted to be a cowboy.
Back east he knew he had no chance of becoming one. He came out
here to see if he could get a job on a ranch. No one would hire
him, so he got a job cooking at El Tovar. He was a skilled chef,
actually, and got to know many of the ranchers that way. When one
of the ranchers sent back their compliments for a good meal,
Grandpa always made sure to go out and meet him. Grandpa Tom was
very personable that way. Then Andrew Martin showed up at the Grand
Canyon and they became fast friends. Andrew got to know Daniel and
the rest is history.”

“History?” Katie wasn’t quite sure what he
meant by that.

“They became friends, great friends until the
end.” Thomas was quiet for a moment. “When the Great Depression
came, the restaurant cut back hours on Grandpa Tom and the rest of
the staff. Daniel offered him some part-time work here on the
ranch. He jumped at the chance. He learned to rope and herd cattle.
Grandpa already knew how to ride and had been helping out at the
canyon stables when he could. He even helped out a Mr. Johansson at
his stables back in the day. Daniel’s father, Noah, offered my
Grandfather a full-time job here. By then Grandpa had married my
Grandmother Rachel and knew that wasn’t the life he wanted for her.
He didn’t want to be gone on cattle drives. Plus when the
restaurant heard he might leave, they offered him his job back with
a chance for advancement.

After working at the National Parks for so
long, Grandpa had another dream—to become a park ranger. So he
decided to stay on at the restaurant and see what happened. He also
served in World War II, can you believe that? He didn’t have to. He
was older, in his thirties, married and had three children. He felt
it was his duty, so he enlisted. When he came home, everyone helped
him fulfill his dream to become a ranger. My father, Thomas Jr.,
became one, too. I can proudly say I followed in their
footsteps.”

“Wow!” Katie thought that her Thomas had a
great life. He did love the canyon and it sounded like his life
turned out quite well. “Thomas was a great guy,” she said without
thinking.

“You sound as if you knew him,” Thomas
laughed.

“Anna has told me so much about everyone, I
feel like I do! Now you mentioned an Andrew, one of Thomas’
friends? What do you know about him?” Katie tried hard to not sound
too curious.

“Andrew...he was a very good friend to
grandfather. I think that Grandpa really tried to stop Andrew
from—” Thomas was interrupted by Lindsey.

“Hi, I hate to break this up, but we are
leaving early tomorrow. We need to pack and get to sleep.” Lindsey
grabbed Katie’s hand.

“Thank you, Thomas. Thank you for sharing.”
Katie shook his hand.

“Very nice meeting and talking to you, young
lady.” Thomas smiled, then patted her hand.

Lindsey and Katie ran upstairs. Katie was a
little upset that she didn’t get to finish talking to Thomas. He
was about to say something more about Andrew. She filled Lindsey in
on all that had happened.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Lindsey gave her
a pouty face.

“That’s okay. We were almost done. I did add
a few pieces to the puzzle tonight. Plus Anna gave me some old
books to read written by Jack Woods.” Katie remembered she left
them in the downstairs kitchen. “Don’t let me forget them!”

* * * *

The next morning came too quickly. Everyone
ate a quick breakfast together and then Aunt Sue and her husband
drove the girls to the airport. Katie hated saying good-bye to
Anna. They hugged, cried and hugged some more.

Everyone piled into the cars for the ride to
the airport. Katie liked that Megan insisted coming along and
sitting in the backseat with her and Lindsey. There were more
good-byes at the passenger drop-off point and finally they were on
the plane, taking them back to Ohio and to her other life.