Waiting for Dusk (8 page)

“Oh,” was all Katie could say.

They ate in silence for awhile.

“But they loved each other, didn’t they”
Katie broke the silence.

“Who are you talking about?” her mom seemed
to have forgotten the earlier conversation.

“Henry and Lucinda.”

“Um, I don’t really know. They weren’t talked
about too much. When I saw them, they were old by then. I would say
Henry really loved Lucinda. I think she loved him. They had three
children, girls. Two of them never married and lived at home with
Henry and Lucinda. The youngest got married and left the ranch. I
think her family left Arizona entirely. I never met her. I only met
my two older cousins, Lucy and Henrietta. We may have some
pictures. There’s a box that says ‘Grandma Rett’ somewhere in the
attic and there’s probably pictures in it. Not too many, I don’t
think, maybe none at all.”

“Is it alright if I look after dinner?”

“Sure it is. I’m glad you’re taking an
interest in your roots.” Her mom patted Katie’s arm.

Katie’s dad told them stories of his trip
while they ate. She was used to him being gone. He always had
stories to tell when he got back. She faded in and out of the
conversation.

“Am I boring you?” Jackson looked intently at
his daughter.

“Um, no, Dad. It’s so-o-o interesting.” Katie
pushed her food around her plate.

“Well, Joanna, I think you are right about
our daughter being bored this summer. I think I may go for an
evening swim. You should join me, give you something to do.” Her
father laughed, pushed back his seat, then disappeared into the
house.

Now that Katie had her mom alone, she decided
to ask a few more questions. “Do you think that Lucinda was
happy?”

“My goodness. All these questions about
Lucinda. Where is this all coming from?” Her mother poured them
some more lemonade.

“I was just thinking about her and how you
said her husband wasn’t too attractive. He was rich, wasn’t he? Was
that why she married him?”

“Maybe so. The family didn’t talk about it
too much. Lucinda was always known for her great personality. I
heard she was very happy and bubbly as a young girl. Not so much as
she grew older, according to Grandma Rett. She had a very good
life, was a devoted mother and very helpful running the ranch.

I think she had something to prove. Loretta
was the pretty sister, and Lucinda was the personality sister. I
think she wanted to one-up her sister.”

“Grandma Rett stayed in Chicago her whole
life, didn’t she?”

“Yes. She met Grandpa Stan there and lived a
very happy life. I just wish she would have lived to see you,”
Joanna sighed.

“Grandma Rett had Sandra and Richard, and
Sandra was your mother.” Katie tried to put all the pieces of the
puzzle together in her mind.

“And my mom met Mitchell in college and ended
up here.” her mother continued. “You know the story.

“I love to hear you tell it.” Katie leaned
forward.

“Fine. Then I went to college here at
Oberlin, met your father, traveled with him and then ended up back
here. End of story.”

“You left out your two older brothers. I
don’t think they would appreciate that. You moved back here because
you missed them all, your mom, dad, and brothers.”

“Guilty as charged. Now help me clean
up.”

After they cleaned up, Katie ran up to the
attic. “Don’t spill that lemonade on anything old.” her mother
hollered up the stairs. “I’m going to join your father in the
pool.”

“Okay. I won’t bother you two lovebirds
then.” Katie teased.

“Stop it, Katie. You can join us.” her mother
teased back.

“Nope. I have plans.”

She went up the next flight of stairs to the
attic. Katie always loved it up there. She loved the way it
smelled. She loved the coziness of it. Her mother had done some
decorating so it didn’t feel like a real attic. There was a blue
and white pinstripe loveseat against the wall, and a pastel braided
rug on the floor. Pictures of family hung in floral frames on the
walls. Her mother had painted the walls a creamy white so it would
feel bigger. Everything was neatly stacked or hung up, not your
average attic. Katie turned on the ceiling fan, a couple lamps for
light, set her lemonade on the small table next to the loveseat and
then went to work.

She went to the shelves where the old photo
albums were and was tempted to start looking through them but
thought better of it. She was on a mission. Behind the albums was a
stack of boxes. The bottom one said ‘Grandma Rett’.

Katie was so excited her hands trembled as
she reached for the box and carefully pulled it out as she tried to
picture Grandma Rett. She had passed away before Katie was born, so
all she ever saw were pictures of her grandmother. In most of the
pictures, Rett was older and had white hair. That’s how Katie
remembered her. She always seemed lovely to Katie with her kind
face, soft blue eyes and an endearing smile.

Katie slowly pulled the lid off the box. On
top of the pile was one of those pictures Katie remembered seeing.
It was of Katie’s mom when she was a teenager, Joanna’s mom Sandra,
and Grandma Rett. She set the picture aside, making plans to frame
it and put it in her room. Picture after picture were of the
grandchildren, her mother and her brothers.

Where are the pictures of Loretta when she
was younger? As Katie went through the pile, she came across older
black and white pictures. There were pictures of Grandma Sandra and
Great Uncle Richard from their school days. There were holiday
pictures of Sandra and Richard as children. It made sense that Rett
would have lots of pictures of her children, but there had to be
more. The pile kept getting smaller and smaller. Katie felt
frustration overwhelm her. Didn’t they take any pictures back in
the old days?

She sat on the floor with all the pictures
spread out around her. She leaned back on the loveseat, reached for
her lemonade and sipped, staring at all the history in front of
her. There has to be something in this pile. I am not giving
up.

Katie grabbed the last handful from the box.
Bingo!

There was a picture of Loretta and Stan when
they were young. That was the face Katie recognized from her
dreams. Katie then saw a beautiful picture of Grandma Rett in her
wedding dress. She set that one aside for herself, too. Loretta and
Stan looked happy in all of the pictures. There were many pictures
of them at the beach, posing with old cars (new cars to them, Katie
laughed) and group shots with family and friends. No Lucinda in any
of the pictures. Did she ever visit? Did she ever send pictures of
her and her family? What’s going on?

There was only one picture left. Katie slowly
pulled it out from behind the one she was holding, and gasped.
“That’s it. The one I’ve been looking for.”

She gazed in awe, Lucinda’s wedding picture.
It was a posed picture of her entire wedding party. Katie turned
the picture over and on the back was written September 3, 1927.
Turning the picture back over, Katie looked at it again. She must
have seen the picture before. Lucinda looked exactly the same as in
Katie’s dreams. No one was really smiling in the photo except for
Henry. There was a slight gap between his two front teeth. He was a
short stocky man, maybe an inch or two taller than Lucinda. Katie
rated him as just average looking. From what she heard, he was a
nice man. Her mother said he loved Lucinda very much. His face
beamed. The more Katie looked at him, the more she liked him.

Then she moved on to the other two men in the
picture. They looked very much like Henry. Brothers?

Lucinda looked beautiful in a traditional
wedding dress. She had a long veil that wrapped around her and was
draped on the floor in front of her. She wore a crown of flowers
around her head. Then Katie looked at Grandma Rett. She was young
and pretty, well stunningly beautiful actually. She had the short
hairdo of the twenties–the bobbed look with those waves and short
pin curls.

Katie looked at the other bridesmaid and a
cold chill went up her back. She felt like she was looking in a
mirror. This girl looked exactly like her. Her hair was long but
pulled back. The front wisps of hair had been made into ringlets.
She shook her head to focus because the more she looked at the
girl; Katie thought it could really be her. Grabbing her lemonade,
she took a few sips to cool down and face reality. It wasn’t her;
it was silly to think that.

Katie slowly traced her finger over the
picture, looking carefully at the girls, trying to figure out why
it all felt so familiar.

“Katie?” a voice broke the silence.

“Yes, Mom?”

“You’ve been up there a long time. I thought
maybe you fell asleep. It’s past midnight. Is it alright if I come
up?”

“Sure.”

Her mother came up the attic stairs. She was
showered, and in a tank and pants pajama set.

“Mom, do you know who this girl is?” Katie
pointed to the bridesmaid in the picture next to Grandma Rett.

“Why, yes I do. That’s Kathryn.”

Katie gasped, then she swallowed hard.
“Kathryn?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. My Grandma Rett gave
me the box of pictures right before you were born. We knew you were
going to be a girl. When we got to that picture, Grandma Rett told
me the girl’s name was Kathryn. I thought it was a beautiful name.
I said I was going to name you Kathryn. Grandma Rett smiled and
said ‘She is a beautiful girl’. I was a little confused by the word
‘is’ about you but Grandma was getting old by then and did get her
past and present mixed up sometimes. She was probably still talking
about the other Kathryn. I only wished she would have lived a few
more months and then she would have met you.”

Maybe she already has,
Katie thought.
She was getting her past and present mixed up, too. Or should she
say her dream world and reality?

Studying the picture once more, Kate noticed
the two bridesmaids wore dresses that she guessed would be called
flapper-style. It was hard to tell the color but they were
beautiful. Intricate beading covered the sleeveless dress. It hung
straight, no waistline, stopping at the knee with a handkerchief
hem. The girls also wore headbands that wrapped around their heads.
All three girls wore choker pearl necklaces, but Lucinda’s was more
ornate. It had a large rhinestone in the center, and the pearls
were connected to it. Why did the picture have to be black and
white...well, actually, brown and white? “These are beautiful
dresses.”

“Yes, they are.”

Katie yawned, and stretched her arms. “Thanks
for straightening that out. Look at these other photos I found. I’m
going to frame them, and put them in my room.” She grabbed the
wedding party picture and included it with the other two.

“That’s really nice.” Her mom hugged her.
“Maybe we can go shopping together and pick out some frames for
them.”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Katie hugged her
back. “Good night!”

They turned off the lights, and left the
attic. The house was quiet. Katie entered her bedroom and sat down
on her bed. She was suddenly too tired to change. She slid into
bed, picked up her book and opened to the next chapter. Her eyes
felt so tired she could hardly stay awake.

“Kathryn! Kathryn! It’s me, Lucinda. Are you
awake?”

“I am now, Lucinda. Come in,” Katie sat up in
bed.

“Sorry to disturb you so early but I have so
much to tell you. The dresses are going to be delivered this
afternoon for out fittings. We only have to work the lunch shift
today so we don’t have to go in early or stay late. It works out
perfectly.”

Lucinda’s cheeks were flushed with
excitement. Katie wondered if she was more excited about the
wedding plans than the actual marriage itself.

“Sit down, Lucinda. Let’s talk.”

Chapter Twelve

Katie patted her bed
and Lucinda obeyed. “First, I really have to talk to you about me
being in the wedding. What about Ruthie? Shouldn’t she be in the
wedding too?”

Lucinda nodded. “I did ask her. She said no.
She said she would be too nervous in front of everyone. It will be
a huge wedding. After all, Henry’s father owns the largest ranch in
Arizona. He wants his son to have a wedding that measures up to the
family’s wealth and social standing.”

Lucinda jumped up and started for the door.
Just then a small card fell out of her sleeve and fluttered to the
floor.

“You dropped something, Lucinda.” Katie slid
off the bed, and picked it up.

“Give me that!” Lucinda said sharply.

“Whoa. I’m just picking up a piece of
paper.”

“I didn’t mean it to sound like that. It’s
just the wedding jitters. That’s a list of things I need to do for
the wedding.” Lucinda held out her hand.

Katie looked down at the blank side of the
card. She couldn’t resist and turned it over. It was not a wedding
to-do list. It was a picture. It was a picture of Lucinda and a
young man. It was definitely not Henry and looked like it was taken
at the Grand Canyon outside of Kolb Studio. Katie looked up at
Lucinda. Lucinda had tears in her eyes. She had her hand out. “May
I have the picture, please?”

Katie felt sorry for Lucinda but wasn’t going
to let it go. “This isn’t Henry, is it?”

“No.” Lucinda collapsed on the bed. She began
to cry. “It’s someone named Daniel. It’s someone I used to love and
Anna took him away from me!”

“Is that why you are mean to Anna?” Katie
already knew the answer, but she would like to hear her Great-Great
Aunt Lucinda’s side to the story.

“Yes,” Lucinda’s face crumpled. “I know it’s
horrible of me. I can’t stop myself. I don’t know why I can’t
forgive her. Anna and I were best friends in high school.”

“Lucinda, you seem to still have feelings for
Daniel. How can you get married to Henry if you do?”