Waiting for Dusk (16 page)

She hugged him tightly. Tears rolled down her
cheeks. She was glad Drew couldn’t see her crying. They arrived at
the station and the train was ready to go. It was all so final.

“Don’t forget all our plans. Don’t forget
everything we said to each other and everything we have felt. Keep
it here.” He pointed to her heart. “I know I will. I love you more
each day. It’s painful to leave.”

Katie flung her arms around him. They kissed
for one last time. Then they heard the call, “All Aboard!”

The train started up, and people hurried to
get on.

It was hard to talk after she was crying but
Kate knew she must. “Drew...”

“There’s Thomas,” Drew pointed. “He will take
you home.”

Thomas smiled at her. Kate was glad to see a
friendly face but how could she tell Drew she loved him in front of
Thomas? That would be a little awkward. She walked with him to the
steps of the train. Thomas walked right with them. Thomas and Drew
shook hands.

“I will see you soon, Thomas.” Drew then
turned to Katie. “And you, too.” He quickly stepped onto the
train.

“I love you,” Kate said softly, knowing he
didn’t hear her.

Thomas and Katie stayed until the train
pulled away. Katie ran beside it until she couldn’t keep up. She
saw Drew’s face in the window, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time
she’d ever see him.

Back at the boardinghouse, Mrs. Johansson was
busy making dinner and everything seemed to be business as usual.
Anna, Ruthie and Molly said their good-byes to Katie.

Anna had tears in her eyes. “You’ve been a
good friend to me and to Lucinda. I don’t know how I can ever thank
you.”

“I hope you don’t think I was trying to take
your place as Lucinda’s friend. It just happened.” Katie wanted
Anna to know. “You’re my best friend here. The person I trust the
most.”

The two girls hugged. “You’re so special to
me, Kathryn. You’ll never know how much. Now I better let you get
ready to go.” Anna left her at the bedroom door.

Katie went into her room. She looked out her
window and knew she had to wait for dusk. She also wouldn’t have
any problem sleeping. It had been quite a weekend. Katie walked
over to the drawer, took out the book and placed it in the bed.
Then she slipped on her nightgown and touched her necklace. I will
never take this off. She promised herself as she drifted to
sleep.

The first thing Katie did when she woke up
was to reach for her necklace. It’s gone! Where is it? She searched
around in the bed, lifting the pink sheets and looking on the
nightstand. She screamed and then cried.

Mrs. Johnson flew into the room with Carl Jr.
right behind her. “Katie! What’s wrong?”

“I was wearing a necklace. It’s a gold chain
with a sapphire...oh, please help me find it!”

Chapter Nineteen

They looked around
the room and the necklace was nowhere to be found. Katie was so
upset it took awhile for them to calm her down.

“So it’s all just a dream. That’s all it was.
I know it now. How could I have been so stupid?” Katie flung
herself back onto the bed.

Carl paced back and forth, not even searching
for the necklace. “I’ve had enough of this! Katie, it’s Monday.
Make of that what you will.” He stormed out of the room.

“What did he just say? It’s Monday?” Katie
sat up. The last time she remembered being at the Johnson house was
Thursday night.

“Remember, I’m not answering any more
questions. How was your weekend?” Maya tidied up the room.

“Wait, I’m not supposed to ask any questions
but you get to?” Katie chuckled as she wiped her tears. “It was
fine. It was beautiful and I’m in love.”

Mrs. Johnson stared at her. “No, you’re not.
It’s probably just an infatuation.”

“That’s what all adults say. Don’t they know
teenagers can be in love?” Katie was defensive. She thought it was
real and just had to prove it. The proof would be when she found
her necklace. She’d spend the whole day searching this house if she
had to.

“Lindsey called yesterday. She wants you to
call her.” Mrs. Johnson looked away.

“You answered my phone?”

“No, Carl did.”

“Oh, okay. Where is it? I’ll call her back.”
Katie was a little aggravated with Maya’s vague answers and felt
bad about that. Maya was always in her corner. She was the one
person Katie could talk to and tell her anything. “We’ll talk
later. Okay?”

“Fine, darlin’. Now go have fun and enjoy
your real life. Summer’s over and school has started. No more time
for dreaming.”

Katie decided not to debate Mrs. Johnson on
realistic dreams and what was real for the time being. She got up
and ran downstairs finding her phone in the family room on a
table.

“Where have you been? I thought you’d be
staying here for the weekend.” Lindsey’s voice had a worried tone
to it. “Then Carl tells me you’re out with Mrs. Johnson but he has
your phone?”

“Yeah, I forgot it when we left. Mrs. Johnson
gave me a good alibi and let me stay here. She’s on my side too,
you know.”

“You’re lucky to have her. Now, guess what? I
got asked to Homecoming! Ty’s friend, Brian, called and asked me.
We have to go dress shopping. I’m going to pick you up and we’ll
meet Jordyn at the mall. We are going to shop till we drop!”

“Sounds good. I’m happy for you, Linds. Brian
is a good guy.”

Katie hung up and decided she would get ready
to go even though she wasn’t up for it. She told Mrs. Johnson about
the shopping trip and she seemed extra happy about it.

“Go have fun,” she said, putting two twenties
in Katie’s hand.

“She’s here,” Carl called out from the front
door. “Tell her I said hi.” He called to Katie as she ran by.

She hopped in the car with Lindsey. It was a
bright, sunny day. Lindsey had the sunroof open and the music
blasting. They didn’t talk, just enjoyed the ride. When they got to
the mall, Lindsey did not get out of the car.

“Can you believe this? We’re going to meet
Jordyn in a few minutes. Everything great has happened for that
girl. She has a boyfriend now, we’re all going to Homecoming
together and she’s a basketball cheerleader. How did that all
happen?”

“Luck?” Katie said blankly. Then they burst
out laughing, got out of the car and raced each other to the door
of the mall. It felt good to just be a teenager again.

Jordyn waited at the entrance with her moms.
Katie could tell she was trying to get rid of them but they were
not budging.

“They want to help us shop for dresses.”
Jordyn rolled her eyes.

“That’s fine, Jordyn. They can be our
gophers!”

Lindsey grabbed Ms. White by the arm. Katie
took Ms. Taylor and they were off.

The moms turned out to be a big help. They
helped Lindsey find the perfect dress. They ooed and ahhed at the
right moments and didn’t complain when Jordyn tried on at least
twenty dresses. They were up for shopping for shoes and accessories
after the dresses were picked out. Each girl had a dress, except
for Katie.

“I just didn’t like anything I saw. I’ll keep
looking.”

When Lindsey dropped Katie off at Mrs.
Johnson’s house, Katie saw that the garage door was open at her
house. Her parents must be home. They were sitting in Mrs.
Johnson’s family room when Katie walked in.

“Mom, Dad, you’re home.” Katie hugged them
both.

“No luck with a dress?” her mother asked.
“Maya told us you were shopping for Homecoming.”

“No, but that’s alright. I still have
time.”

Her father stood up. “Are you ready to go
home with your mean old parents?”

“Dad!” Katie felt like that fight was so long
ago.

The family walked home on the Katie path. It
felt good to be going home. Katie’s mom offered to shop with her
the next time she was up for it. Her dad announced there would be
fish for dinner. No surprise there.

Katie decided to go up to the attic while
dinner was cooking. She wanted to look around plus it felt like a
safe refuge. Plopping on the sofa, Katie looked around. She noticed
the long closets and decided it was time to explore what was inside
of them.

Slowly, she opened the doors. Her mom’s
wedding dress was in a protective bag and so was Katie’s
christening gown. There were old shirts of her dad’s that he
wouldn’t give up, some old winter coats, and dresses that were
dry-cleaned and stored away. At the very end of the closet was a
white bag. It looked vaguely familiar. Katie pulled it closer to
her. She took it out of the closet and over to the loveseat.
Peeking inside, Katie caught sight of a beautiful sapphire blue
dress just like the bridesmaid dress she wore this weekend. She
quickly ran down to her bedroom and closed the door. Immediately
she slipped on the dress and turned to look in her mirror.

Oh my gosh, this is the proof. My dress is
here. Sitting on the edge of the bed she opened her nightstand
drawer looking for the book, hoping it was there. She gasped. My
necklace! How did it get there?

Katie grabbed it and quickly put it on. It
went perfectly with the dress—the dress she would wear for
Homecoming.

“Dinner!” Her father knocked on her door. He
slowly opened it and saw Katie admiring herself in the full-length
mirror. “You like it?”

“Yes, I love it all! Where did it come
from?”

“The dress, I believe, belonged to your
Great-Grandma Rett and the necklace is from me. I’m glad you found
it.”

Katie turned to her father. “From you? The
necklace is from you?”

“Yes, pumpkin, it is. I put the necklace in
the drawer hoping you would find it. Happy back-to-school.” Jackson
kissed her lightly on the cheek. “See you downstairs.”

She couldn’t believe it. There was an answer
for everything. She slowly changed back into her own clothes to go
down for dinner, but could not stop thinking about the whole
weekend.

Katie knew she had to talk to Carl before he
went back to California. Reaching for her phone, she dialed Carl’s
number. “We have to have one of our secret talks.”

“Ooo, a secret talk. You really mean
business, don’t you?”

“Outside. After dinner. Give me a half hour.”
Katie hung up and ran downstairs.

After dinner Carl and Katie met at the glider
in Maya’s garden. They slowly pushed back and forth not saying
much.

“What do you want to know?” Carl finally
broke the tension.

“Everything! Why is everyone lying to me? I
know this is real. I can feel it. You can’t have the same
reoccurring dream time after time in such chronological order.
Everything makes sense too. Usually dreams start out making sense
but then something bizarre happens. You wake up and tell yourself
that was quite a dream.”

Carl laughed a hearty laugh. “You can say
that again. Why just last night...”

“Carl, not to be mean or anything but I
didn’t come over here to listen to a silly dream. Let’s get back to
what this meeting is all about. You’re going to spill it. Tell me
all you know. Start talking!”

Katie tried to be forceful but it was hard
after looking at Carl and the slight smile on his face. They both
burst out laughing. Finally Carl calmed down, and became
serious.

“I think you’re old enough to know. If my mom
and your parents are going to expose you to something, you should
be told the facts. It’s real, Katie. Reading that book is as real
as it gets. That book has the magical powers of time travel. My mom
checked in on you when you returned, saw you were still sleeping
and removed your necklace. She gave it to your father after your
parents returned from Salt Fork. He was going to destroy it but my
mom insisted you get to keep it in some way. She told your dad how
upset you were about losing it. He then decided to tell you the
necklace was from him.”

“Then Drew did give me this necklace.” Katie
touched it with love.

“Yes he did, and don’t tell anyone I told you
so.” Carl patted her shoulder. “There is so much you don’t know and
so much you need to know. I’ll be here for a couple more days. I’ll
let this sink in and will tell you more tomorrow.”

“Thanks, I knew I could count on you,” Katie
said, then she walked back home. She tried to wrap her head around
everything Carl had just told her. Time travel? It sounded so
science fiction.

With every step she took, the madder she got.
My father wanted to destroy the necklace. What if Maya didn’t stop
him? But she did, thank goodness.

Katie stopped in her tracks. She couldn’t let
on that she knew anything and would have to be the good daughter
until she had all the facts. Katie breathed slowly through her
mouth until she was calmer. Her parents were sitting on the deck
when she got back.

“Have fun with Carl?” her mom asked. “It’s so
good to have him home.”

“Yeah, we had a great talk. The weather’s so
nice; I think I’ll stay out awhile longer.”

Her parents got up, hugged her and went
inside. “School night, don’t stay out here too long,” Her father
said as he slid the door shut.

Katie curled up on the chaise lounge and
stared at the night sky. There was a full moon and many stars out.
Her eyes went back to the moon. There he was, the man in the moon.
Her Drew was looking down on her. She didn’t know how she would get
back to him but she knew she would some way, somehow, even if she
had to break into Maya’s antique bookcase.

Katie’s phone buzzed. She picked it up, and
read a text message.

How was the wedding. That Lindsey!

Katie answered back. Awesome. Then added I
luv Drew.

How immature is that? She thought but didn’t
care and hit ‘send’.

Lindsey answered with—fill me in 2moro.

Chapter Twenty

The next day at
school Katie and Lindsey decided to find a quiet place to have
lunch. Since students were allowed to go to the outdoor courtyard
for lunch hour, they chose to go there. They picked a grassy place
away from the crowds to have their private conversation. Katie
filled Lindsey in on the whole weekend. Lindsey stared with her
mouth open the whole time.