Mirror, The (9 page)

"Did he call our one and only reference?" Katie asked.

Ginny grinned.

"He did. That's the best part."

"What do you mean? What did Steve say?"

"Oh, you'll love this," Ginny said. "Steve said he met us last year, when we all worked at a summer camp for
crippled
children. He told Mr. Greer that we were the hardest-working, most compassionate people he'd ever known. He said he'd be a fool not to hire us on the spot."

Katie laughed.

"Well, it's a good thing we didn't tell Mr. Greer a different story. That would have been kind of awkward. I guess we owe Steve a thank you."

"No, Katie.
I
owe him a thank you. I'm going to call him right now, while you walk around the block or check out the exciting travel brochures in the office. Now, shoo!"

Katie smiled. She didn't need a bigger hint. She knew Ginny had been looking for an excuse to contact Steve again, and now she had one. Katie waved goodbye, grabbed a white sweater off the back of a chair, and headed out the door.

When she reached the parking lot, she buttoned her sweater as she felt the first bite of a breeze blowing in from Puget Sound. It was still cool for early May but not uncomfortably so.

Katie walked out of the lot and started down Brooklyn Avenue, a secondary commercial strip about three blocks west of the university. It wasn't the most scenic street in Seattle, but like all the rest in 1964 it offered sights she hadn't seen before.

As she walked past a used-book store and a barbershop, Katie thought again about her recent promotion from unemployed time traveler to grocery clerk and marveled at the turn of events. Two days earlier, she and Ginny were jobless, homeless, and hopeless. Now they had an income, a roof over their heads, and new clothes to wear. She could see a light at the end of the tunnel, even if that light was four months away.

That didn't mean she liked her predicament. She didn't like it at all. She had a family she missed dearly and a life she wanted back.

When Katie reached Forty-First Street, she turned the corner and walked a short distance to a Cape Cod house at 4125 Baltic Avenue. With a freshly painted exterior and a meticulously landscaped yard, the property was as impressive as any on the street.

What made the residence notable, however, was not its appearance but rather its history. For four months in the spring and summer of 1941, it had been the home of a man who'd been born in 1978. It had been the place where Joel Smith had adopted a family and made new friends, including a shy education major named Grace Vandenberg.

Katie looked for signs of life in the house but saw none. Mel and Sandra Carter, the couple that had taken Joel in, would be in their seventies now – if they were still around at all. Their daughter Brenda, eighteen in 1941, would be long gone, though not as gone as their son Tom. Thomas Carter, Joel's best friend in 1941 and one-time fiancé to Joel's maternal grandmother, had died in combat in World War II.

Katie gave the residence one last look and moved on. As she continued her circuitous journey back to the Coed Court, she thought of her father. She thought of his vow to leave the past unchanged and how he had broken that vow repeatedly to pursue the love of his life.

She believed that the past – like a sleeping dog – should be left undisturbed, but she wondered whether leaving it undisturbed was even possible when you had frequent contact with people you were never supposed to meet. She wondered what life would have been like for Joel and Grace had they never met – or at least reunited. It certainly would have been problematic for their six children.

When Katie reached Room 17 ten minutes later, she opened the door and saw Ginny sitting on the end of the bed wearing the biggest grin she had ever seen.

"I take it the phone call went well," Katie said.

"Oh, yeah," Ginny said.

"What does that mean?"

Ginny sighed.

"It means, dear sister, that Steve and I are going out to dinner Saturday night."

"Dinner?"

"Dinner. He's taking me to Mon Refuge, a four-star French restaurant on the lake," Ginny said. "He's picking me up at six."

Katie smiled sadly at her twin, shut the door, and walked to the bed. She sat next to Ginny and threw an arm around her shoulder as she revisited her thoughts on the walk. The remake of
1964
was no longer on the drawing boards. The meddling with the past had begun.

CHAPTER 14: GINNY

Tuesday, May 5, 1964

The introductions began where the pears met the peaches. Ginny and Katie met produce manager Dave Walters, exchanged the usual pleasantries, and followed Mr. Greer around a rack of packaged cupcakes and fruit pies to the front of the store, where another authority type, two checkers, and four courtesy clerks waited to meet the girls from Thousand Oaks.

"Ginny and Katie," Greer said, "this is Butch Pearson. He runs the meat department. Butch, this is Ginny and Katie Smith."

"Ladies, it's a pleasure," he said."

"Likewise," Ginny said as she shook his hand.

Ginny laughed as she watched the butcher practically shake Katie's arm off. At six feet two, two hundred eighty pounds, he looked more like a Green Bay Packer than a meat packer, but he seemed no more intimidating than a life-size teddy bear.

From the meat man, Greer and the girls moved on to two checkers who happened to be husband and wife. Pete and Paula Benson, explained the manager, had worked at Greer's since moving to Seattle from Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1956.

"Pete is our assistant manager and lead checker. He will supervise most of your training, at least this week," Greer said. "If you have any questions about how we operate, particularly on the customer-service side, please ask him."

"It's nice to meet you," Pete said.

The twins again went through the motions.

"Paula is our go-to girl on inventory," Greer said. "When she's not ringing up orders, she can usually be found in back with a clipboard. If you need to know where something's at, or where you can find some more, she's the person to talk to."

Paula, a pretty brunette with bouffant hair and the demeanor of a cheerleader, seemed particularly eager to meet the newcomers. She gave each a hug instead of a handshake.

"As you can see, the girls are a little outnumbered here," Paula said with a laugh. "If you two have any problems or just need someone to talk to, you come to me. You hear?"

"We hear," Ginny said.

"I hear too," Katie added.

Ginny laughed. She could just see her sister picking up that southern accent, or at least a Texas twang, after a few heart-to-heart sessions with Mrs. Benson.

Greer used the next minute to mention four other checkers and courtesy clerks, who typically worked evenings and weekends. He said he would introduce the girls to the remainder of the staff by the end of the week.

Ginny didn't care one way or the other about the absentees. She did, however, care about the handsome males standing between Checkout 1 and Checkout 2. Wearing ties and button-down shirts under their blue store aprons, the four young men looked positively yummy.

"These are our clerks," Greer said. "Each of these boys has been here at least two years and has a thorough understanding of store operations."

The manager stepped to the side as the girls moved closer to their peers.

"Ginny and Katie, this is Randy Templeton, Greg Reynolds, Mike Hayes, and James Green," Greer said as he extended an arm. "Randy and Greg work mornings and afternoons. They stock most of the canned and packaged goods. Mike and James usually work afternoons and evenings. They manage the dairy section and the soft drinks."

Greer turned toward the girls.

"Gentlemen, these are the Smith sisters. They just moved here from California."

The six young adults shook hands and exchanged a variety of pleasantries.

When the meeting and greeting was done, Greer led the six clerks from the front of the store to a wide spot in the produce aisle. He checked his watch, noted that he still had fifteen minutes before the store opened at nine, and then began a ten-minute monologue on revised schedules, training responsibilities, and upcoming promotions.

Ginny caught the gist of the boss-man's speech but tuned out the particulars. She instead did a detailed assessment of her fellow clerks.

Randy was easy on the eyes. Tall, blond, and tanned, he looked like a younger brother of the water-polo captain who was treating her to ratatouille and crepes Saturday night. Ginny could tell by his salesman-type greeting that he was a confident sort who was probably used to getting his way. He smiled warmly when she looked his way.

Greg was different but no less attractive. Shorter and slighter with jet-black hair, he looked like the president of the local Future Business Leaders of America chapter. Ginny didn't care much for his G-Man glasses – which seemed to be all the rage in 1964 – but she did like his dimples and sparkling green peepers.

Then there was the young man she had dubbed Cantaloupe Boy. Mike was a blend of Randy and Greg, a muscular brunette who resembled a baseball player Ginny had dated at Westlake. Though Mike had greeted her warmly, he hadn't given her a second look after Greer had directed the clerks to the produce aisle. He had instead focused his attention on one Katherine Smith, who had begun to return his glances with increasing regularity.

James was the most difficult to figure. The least talkative and flirtatious, he had mostly kept to himself after the introductions. Ginny, however, didn't hold that against him. She found his reserve almost as appealing as his warm smile and big brown eyes that perfectly complemented his cherubic face and dark brown skin.

When she was done sizing up the male clerks at Greer's Grocery, Ginny turned to face her better half. What she saw was someone who seemed to be paying attention to the manager's monologue.

Good for you. At least one of us is taking notes.

When Greer saw Pete Benson open the doors to the public five minutes later, he dispatched Randy and Greg to the front of the store and Mike and James to the back. Within seconds women wearing sunglasses, headscarves, and bright red lipstick began flooding the aisles in pursuit of canned salmon, Idaho potatoes, and cantaloupes that were now four for a dollar.

"You ladies need to come with me to fill out some paperwork," Greer said. "It won't take long. When you're done, I'll have you help Pete and Paula at the checkouts and then spend some time with Mike and James moving new inventory to the shelves. That should take up most of your morning. Does that sound good?"

"It sounds good to me," Katie said.

"Ginny?" Greer said.

She smiled.

"It sounds perfect."

CHAPTER 15: KATIE

The rookie clerk managed to hold out for thirty seconds. When Mike Hayes left for the back room to get new inventory, Katie Smith, order freak, jumped in. She pulled and rearranged not only the buttermilk and chocolate milk but also the cream cheese and cottage cheese. She started on the sour cream when Mike approached with four milk crates loaded on a dolly.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "I haven't told you what to do."

"You don't have to. I know what I'm doing."

Katie gave Mike a sweet smile and then returned to the sour cream.

"You do?"

"I do. You pull the products that are past their expiration dates, rotate the older items to the front, and wait for your trusty peer to bring out the fresh stuff. The fresh stuff then goes to the back of the line where, of course, it can't be seen."

"You've worked in a store before, haven't you?"

Katie smiled again and nodded.

"Mr. Greer said you and your sister had no experience. He said we'd probably have to teach you the business from scratch."

Katie stepped away from the dairy case.

"He's probably right," she said. "I still don't know where to put the outdated milk."

Katie batted her lashes.

"Perhaps you can show me."

Mike laughed.

"You're funny," he said.

"I'm glad someone thinks so," Katie said.

She returned to her work.

"You're pretty too."

Katie froze and blushed as she realized she had gone too far. She needed to focus on her new job and not invite unhelpful attention.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry for not waiting, but when I see a problem I try to fix it. I just can't bear to see food spoil. The sour cream is going fast. We'll have to pull it by Friday. The buttermilk is in better shape, but it won't last forever."

"Did you learn that in your last store?" Mike asked.

"No. I learned it in a science class."

Mike leaned closer.

"You like science?"

"I love it. I want to be a chemist when I grow up."

Katie watched Mike as he unloaded cartons of whole milk from the crates and began placing them on dairy-case shelves. She didn't look for skim milk, almond milk, rice milk, or milk that was lactose-free. She knew she wouldn't find it. They did things differently in 1964.

"Do you want some help?" Katie asked.

"No. I think I can handle it. You just let me know if I do it wrong."

Katie smiled again.

"OK."

Mike stacked a couple of crates and looked at his student.

"So you're a science whiz?" Mike asked.

Katie nodded.

"You might say that."

"Is that how you know the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?"

"You might say that," Katie said. She smiled. "You've obviously been talking to Mr. Greer."

"I have. He gave us a heads up on the 'new girls' before you got here."

"Really?"

Mike nodded.

"He said you were both very smart and would probably pick things up quickly."

"That's nice. What else did he say about me?"

"He didn't really talk about you."

"Oh."

Mike laughed.

"What's so funny?" Katie asked.

"He did say one thing about Ginny."