Waiting for Dusk (9 page)

“I do love Henry. I really do. I just love
him in a different way. There was so much passion with Daniel. I
suppose that wasn’t good. I wasn’t thinking clearly when I was
around him.” Lucinda gazed out the window.

Katie knew just how she felt. She was a
little like that whenever she saw Drew. Her feet didn’t quite touch
the ground. Her head spun with thoughts of being together forever.
“So you are going to marry Henry no matter what?”

“Yes, no matter what. Let me tell you
something about him. Henry calls me Cindy. No one ever called me
Cindy except my father. He passed away when I was in high school.
It’s a fond memory I have of him. My father would sing to me,
‘Lucinda, Cindy, Cindy’ and pull me onto his lap. He would then
sing to my sister, “Loretta, Rettie, Rettie and then pull her onto
his lap, too. We would giggle and laugh and he would cover us with
kisses. We were his Cindy and Rettie. How could I not love someone
that reminded me of my father?” Her eyes shone with tears. She had
lovely pale blue eyes that Katie never noticed before.

“Maybe you should just wait a little longer.
Get to know Henry better.” Katie was determined to do something
about the situation.

“No, we go ahead as planned. I will be
leaving the boardinghouse the end of the month and moving into the
big house on the ranch. I will be a rancher’s wife, not a Harvey
girl anymore. That is what I want.” Lucinda also seemed determined.
She got up and left the room.

Katie hurried to get ready, and headed for
the kitchen. “Good morning, Mrs. Johansson. God morgon, Mr.
Johansson,” She was proud of herself. She remembered what Mr.
Johansson had taught her. “I guess I have a little time off this
morning.” She sat down at the table.

Mr. Johansson looked at her and said, “What’s
troubling you, flicka?”

He was calling her the horse’s name?

“Flicka?”

Mrs. Johansson chimed in. “Girl in Swedish,
Kathryn.”

“Oh, so Flicka is not a horse?”

Mr. Johansson seemed to enjoy that. He let
out a hardy laugh. “That made my morning. Let’s see if we can solve
your problem now.”

“Well, Lucinda doesn’t seem happy about the
upcoming marriage. What I mean is...” Katie thought she said too
much.

“What you mean is what will be, will be,”
Mrs. Johansson interrupted. “Lucinda is meant to marry Mr. Henry.
She can grow to love him.”

That was an old fashion thought—grow to love
him! Lucinda loved Daniel, didn’t they know that? It wasn’t her
place to tell, so Katie kept quiet. “Breakfast was wonderful as
always, Mrs. Johansson. May I be excused?”

“You sure can. Tell the other girls to get in
here or the kitchen will soon be closed.” Mrs. Johansson smiled at
her. It was MiMi’s smile. Again Katie said nothing.

She went out into the hallway, and ran into
Ruthie with another girl she never saw before. She looked a lot
like Ruthie, only with redder hair.

“Kathryn.” Ruthie ran up to her. “I want you
meet my sister, Molly.”

So that’s why they look so much alike
,
she thought. “Nice to meet you, Molly.” Katie put out her hand.

As Molly shook her hand she said, “You must
be Loretta’s sister. You two look so much alike.”

“No, I’m no one’s sister.”

Ruthie turned to Molly. “Don’t you remember I
told you Loretta and Lucinda are sisters?”

“That’s right. This is all so confusing.”
Molly smiled. “But they don’t look very much like sisters. Kathryn,
you and Loretta could definitely be sisters.”

Or great-grandmother and
great-granddaughter
, Katie thought. “Are you here for the
wedding, Molly?”

“Oh, no,” Ruthie jumped in. “She’s taking
Lucinda’s place at the restaurant. Molly has been waiting for an
opening.”

A voice called out from one of the rooms.
“She’s invited to the wedding, too.” Lucinda’s head popped out of
her door. Then she popped back in. They all laughed.

Mr. Johansson called to the girls that it was
time to go. Lucinda ran up to him and said, “Your suit will be
ready, too.”

He made a face.

“Oh stop that.” she giggled. “You will be so
handsome!”

Katie looked at Lucinda. She was puzzled. Mr.
Johansson had a suit made for the wedding. She didn’t think he had
that kind of money.

Lucinda must have guessed what she was
thinking. “He’s giving me away at the wedding.”

“That’s nice,” Katie responded. “I’m happy
for you.” She really meant it this time.

Lucinda grabbed Katie’s hand and squeezed
lightly, “Thank you, friend. I felt like I knew you from the minute
I saw you and knew we’d be good friends.”

It was Katie’s turn to have tears in her
eyes. She wrapped her arms around Lucinda and hugged her tightly.
She turned to get in the car and saw Anna coming. I hope Anna
doesn’t think I’m a traitor or anything like that.

But Anna’s eyes said the opposite. They were
warm and kind. They almost seemed to say ‘thank you’.

Katie almost forgot about seeing Drew. She
was so wrapped up in the drama at the boarding house. She would
have to find him and tell him how the plans have changed. Drew was
in the kitchen when the girls arrived. He was laughing and talking
to Cook. It seemed Drew could go anywhere he wanted and no one
seemed to mind. Everyone must love him as much as she did. What did
I just say? Love?

No, she was too young to be in love. She just
turned sixteen in June and it was what the adults liked to call an
infatuation. That’s all it was. He turned and looked directly at
her. She melted when she saw those eyes. Okay, it’s love.

Katie grabbed the egg basket and headed
outside, hoping Drew would follow. And he did. She filled him in on
all of the latest developments. She even told him how Lucinda loved
Daniel.

“I remember when they had that picture taken
this spring,” he said when Katie was done with her summary. “I
don’t think Daniel realized how smitten Lucinda was with him. He
enjoyed her company, that’s all.”

“You know Daniel?”

“We met last summer. I would go out to his
ranch with him and go riding. He taught me how to herd cattle.”

Katie pictured Daniel and Drew riding the
range, herding the cattle. It was too much. She wanted to grab Drew
right then and there and kiss him passionately. She snapped back to
reality and said, “Then you knew he loved Anna?”

“Yes. He was deeply hurt by how everything
turned out. He blamed himself. I got word to his family that
Lucinda was engaged to Henry Hasting. I wanted them to let Daniel
know he was free to contact Anna.”

“He did and it was all because of you.” Katie
threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Drew!”

Drew lifted her off her feet and swung her
around. “I didn’t know that would make you so happy. Anything to
make you happy.” He lightly kissed her on the lips. “Come on. I’ll
help you with the eggs.”

They talked about trivial things as they
collected the eggs. Katie had named all the hens, and had Drew
laughing from the choices she made. Little did he know she just
borrowed a lot of those names. There was Buzz Lightyear, who looked
like she was wearing a space helmet, the twins Blossom and Bubbles,
the red hen she named Ariel, Miss America for the most beautiful
one, and the three tough chicks–Buffy, Super Girl and Wonder Woman.
The black chicken that always attacked her was named Darth Vader.
She knew she’d always have a battle with that one. “Where did you
come up with these names, with the exception of Miss America?” Drew
breathed more calmly now.

“I’m just creative,” Katie shrugged. Then she
changed the subject. “Are you invited to the Hasting wedding?”

“Yes, I am. When I saw the date I was
wondering how you could be in the wedding. You said you had to
return to Ohio for school.”

“My parents are letting me come back for the
wedding. They’re letting me miss a few days of school.” Katie had
to think fast on her feet.

“Then you’ll be coming by train?”

“Yes...yes! I’ll be returning by train.”
Katie was thankful he helped out on that one.

“Then I shall meet your train. Just let me
know the day and time and I will be there.”

“Um...yes, sure, as soon as I know.” Katie
was a little nervous about trying to figure out how she could
arrive by train when she always woke up in the boardinghouse.

“Let’s make the best of it until you leave.
When you return, I may have a surprise for you,” he whispered as he
grabbed her closer.

Katie felt weak again. She could not fight
him. He kissed the top of her head, then her cheek, then her mouth.
She didn’t want to leave for school and come back. She wanted to
stay there.

“Kathryn! Are you in the henhouse?” They
heard Anna’s voice calling. They sheepishly stepped out into the
late morning sun.

Anna laughed. “Oh, Andrew Martin. You are a
cad, aren’t you?”

Drew laughed and waved. “I hope to see you
later, Kate. I’m off to work.”

Katie ran to the back door of the kitchen.
Anna stood, waiting. “I think you are smitten, Miss Kathryn.” She
shook her head, and they both went inside.

* * * *

Mr. Johansson waited in the Buick as they all
came out after work.

“Are the dresses here? Did the tailors come
too?” Lucinda bounded out to the car.

Mr. Johansson, a man of few words, nodded his
head. Lucinda clapped, and hugged him. “Then let’s get going!”

As they pulled into the boardinghouse
driveway, there seemed to be a lot going on. People were going in
and out of the house carrying garment bags, hat boxes and various
other things.

“Lucinda, you must have an army of people
here. What in the world are they all needed for?” Katie couldn’t
believe her eyes.

“There’s the seamstress who worked on my
wedding dress, the seamstresses who did the bridesmaid dresses and
the tailors for the men’s suits. There are people to help us with
jewelry, shoes, undergarments, you name it!” Lucinda peered out the
window at all the commotion in the yard.

Loretta came running out to greet them.
Lucinda looked at Katie and said, “Did you meet my older
sister?”

“Yes, I already have. We met yesterday. She’s
a very sweet girl.”

Lucinda looked at her with a sly smile.
“Until you get to know her!”

Then she ran as Loretta chased after her.
Lucinda spun around, and grabbed Loretta at the waist. They twirled
and chanted, “Cindy and Rettie, Cindy and Rettie!”

Katie enjoyed watching them. She could see
the love between the sisters. They had their own way of
communicating. It would be nice to have a sister, someone you could
count on.
That’s what I get for being an only child,
Katie
thought.

They all went into the house. Mrs. Johansson
had been baking and it smelled like bread and cookies all rolled
into one. Katie popped into the kitchen.

“Ooo, these look so good! Do you
mind...?”

At that moment Lucinda grabbed her by the
arm. “Dresses first!”

Katie went into her room. There was a garment
bag lying on her bed. She opened the flap, and saw the most
beautiful dress. It was a dark sapphire blue. It had a striking
pattern of matching color beads on it. It looked as if Tinker Bell
had sprinkled pixie dust over the dress. She slipped it on and ran
out into the hallway.

Ruthie was standing there. “Kathryn, you are
stunning! Come in Lucinda’s room. They have a large mirror set up
in there.”

Loretta was already in the room and trying on
shoes. “Here is your headband, Kathryn.” She handed a matching blue
velvet band to Katie. It had a cluster of orange blossoms attached
to it. She went to the mirror and put it on. Loretta came over,
took it off and pulled Katie’s hair back. She pulled a few wisps of
hair forward. “We can curl these into ringlets around your face.
I’ll take these two front pieces and tie them back here.” She
touched the back of Katie’s head. “The rest of your hair will just
hang down your back in curls. Is that alright?”

Katie could only nod because she felt like
she was staring at the girl in the wedding photo she found in the
attic.

Lucinda turned to look at the girls. “What do
you think?”

Katie thought that Lucinda was beautiful in
her gorgeous wedding dress. It was an off the shoulder satin dress
that went all the way to the floor. She wore a veil with yards of
dreamy silk tulle, sprinkled with wax orange blossoms and velvet
leaves.

“You are absolutely beautiful, Lucinda!”
Loretta covered her mouth.

“And you all look beautiful, too!” Lucinda
exclaimed. “The dresses are just right. My wedding is going to be
all blue and white just like the Arizona sky. You know I ordered
bright blue sky and those huge puffy white clouds for my wedding
day.”

Katie tried to picture it all. It would be
quite a wedding. It might be the social event of the year, just
like Lucinda wanted. Where does it go from there? Has Lucinda
thought that far ahead?

Lucinda’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“There are going to be white flowers
everywhere, orange blossoms and white roses. Father Hasting is
having them shipped in. He’s also putting up a huge tent on the
property. Henry and I will be married outside in a white gazebo
just at the edge of the garden. There will be white covered chairs
for the guests inside a huge tent. Isn’t it dreamy?”

Yeah, it’s dreamy alright,
Katie
thought.
I don’t even know what a dream is anymore and what
isn’t.

The picture she recently saw explained a
lot–the dresses, the veil– but she hadn’t known the details of the
wedding. She put her hand to her head.

Loretta ran over to Katie. “Are you
alright?”

“I think it’s just a headache. Too much
excitement for one day,” Katie lied.

“Then you should go rest,” Lucinda chimed in.
“But before you do, I have something for you. Kathryn... Loretta.”
She placed pearl chokers in their hands. “Please accept this gift
from me and wear these on my wedding day.”