Call of the Canyon (11 page)

Kate couldn’t wait for the day to end and
was relieved to see the Buick pull up behind El Tovar. The girls
ran out to greet Carl Sr. He seemed to be looking around for
something or someone. “Girls, have you seen Joseph? I’d like to
give him a ride home.”

They all shook their heads no. Carl started
up the car to head back to the boardinghouse. He continued scanning
the landscape as he drove away, but Carl Jr. was nowhere in sight.
Kate crossed her fingers everything would work out as planned.

After dinner, Kate went outside to sit and
wait for Drew. In the distance, she spotted him and his horse,
Canyon, coming down the road. She got up to greet them. Someone was
on the back of the horse, behind Drew. As they came closer, Kate
saw it was Carl.

“I’m so glad to see the both of you.” Kate
ran to Drew as he slid off the horse.

“I’ll take him to the barn for you.” Carl
took the reins of the horse and headed toward the stable.

Drew appeared to be in shock. Kate grabbed
him and spun him in her direction. “What’s wrong?”

“You’ll never guess whose Carl’s date
was.”

“It will be a little hard to guess because I
don’t know any of the maids at the hotels.”

“Yes, you do.”

“Drew, stop it! Just tell me. Who is
it?”

“Rachel.”

Kate couldn’t believe what she heard. “You
mean Thomas’ Rachel?”

“Yes, that’s who I mean.”

Carl walked toward them, looking pleased
with himself. “Kate, I met the most wonderful girl. I think it’s
love at first sight. She’s smart, beautiful...brilliant in fact. In
our time, there’s no way she would be a maid. It’s not fair. I plan
to do something about it.”

“Carl, no! You can’t. Rachel’s taken.”

“Not according to her. She has some date
tonight with the cook at El Tovar but that’s just a casual thing.
They aren’t exclusive.”

“That cook is my best friend.” Drew looked
like he wanted to punch Carl.

“Guys, let’s sit down and talk this out.”
Kate took both of them by the arm. A group of trees away from the
boardinghouse looked like the perfect spot. She pulled them both
down to the ground, facing each other, when they arrived. “Carl, we
said you’d come one time. You can’t change Rachel’s life by coming
back.”

“No, Kate,
you
said I should come one
time. I never agreed to that. I like it here. I’m planning on
coming back no matter what you say.”

Drew stood up. “I’ve had enough of this.
Carl, you can’t come back. I won’t let you ruin Thomas’ life.”

Carl stood, too. “I won’t. If Rachel is
meant to marry Thomas, she will.” He stormed off toward the
house.

“This isn’t the practical Carl I know. Give
him some time to cool down. He’ll come to his senses.” Kate reached
up to Drew and he pulled her to her feet.

“If you say so, I’ll try to believe it. But
those were the eyes of a determined man.” Drew walked slowly with
Kate back to the boardinghouse. “Carl decided to sleep in the
bunkhouse tonight and I will, too. The bunkhouse is part of the
ranch, so it should bring us back to the present. Hopefully, I’ll
see you tomorrow back home.”

Chapter Eight

Relieved to
be home, Kate was happy everything had worked out as planned. Drew
and Carl woke up in their bedrooms right where they’d left their
books—Drew in the guest bedroom and Carl at Maya’s house. Although
she was back, Kate still had an eerie feeling. She reached for her
phone to call Anna. There was so much to talk about. They used to
talk daily. Now that Drew was there, so much of Kate’s time was
spent with him. Anna understood, but sometimes Kate felt guilty
neglecting her.

“Hi, Anna, I knew you’d be awake already.”
She tried to sound upbeat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just haven’t talked to you in
awhile.”

“You never call this early so I know it has
to be something. Start talking.”

And talk she did. Kate told Anna all about
her dad’s family and evil Uncle Albert. Because of that, she
informed Anna, she wouldn’t get married in September as previously
planned. Kate wanted her grandmother to attend the wedding and
didn’t want to miss out on Anna’s one hundred-and-first birthday.
Kate decided to pick a date after those events.

“You don’t have to put off your plans for
me. I think a summer wedding would be so beautiful.”

“It’s already decided.” Kate laughed and
then grew somber. “Now I have something else to tell you.” She went
on to tell her about Carl’s visit to 1927 and that he fell in love
with Rachel.

“Rachel marries Thomas. He can’t interfere
with that.” Kate could tell Anna was upset. “Wait a minute...now
that you mention Joseph, I seem to remember him. He was looking for
Maya, if I remember correctly. I thought he resembled Mr. Johansson
instead. Oh, now I know why.”

“Anna, is this the first time you had a
memory of Carl, er, Joseph?”

“Why yes, it is. I can’t say I ever thought
of him till now. That’s strange.” Anna grew quiet. “No, it’s not,
is it? That’s because Carl just went to the canyon and I have a new
memory.”

“You’re getting good at this. I’m still
trying to figure it out myself. So let me ask you, do you have a
memory of Drew and me getting married?”

“No and I would have told you if I did. So
make a new memory for me, Kathryn, make some beautiful
memories.”

“That sounds so profound. I think I’ll make
a lovely memory for all of us.” Kate smiled into the phone. “I’ll
call you later with more news. Right now, I’m going to wake up my
1927 fiancée. Love you!”

Kate went into her bathroom to shower and
get ready for the day. She closed her eyes and let the hot shower
beat down on her. The steam rose up and suddenly she felt Drew’s
hands slip around her waist as he joined her in the shower. This
was too good to be true. She slowly turned around to give him a
good morning kiss.

“Kate, are you in there?” There was a knock
at the bathroom door.

Kate’s eyes popped open to an empty shower.
“Drew, yes, I’m here.”

“We knocked for twenty minutes and were
getting a little worried.”

“I’ll be out in a minute!” Kate shut off the
shower, grabbed her bathrobe and towel for her hair and ran out to
her bedroom. “Sorry, I was daydreaming, I guess.”

Drew kissed her and then told her some
exciting news. “We’re all going back to shop for the wedding, even
your mother. Come on down for breakfast and we’ll fill you in.”

He left her to get ready. She was sorry she
didn’t get to finish her fantasy but this was good news. Hurrying
to dress, Kate ran downstairs to find her mother in the
kitchen.

“Mom, I’m so happy you’re going with us. I
know Lucinda would do everything she could to help us, but it’s too
early to tell her. I’d love to include her, but in her world I’ve
just met Drew. It wouldn’t make sense for me to say we’re getting
married. What am I saying?” Kate hit her forehead. “Lucinda just
met Henry and will marry him soon.” She recalled what happened last
year. Lucinda married Henry within two months of meeting him. “Mom,
I guess it will be just the four of us. Where can we shop in
Arizona?”

“Drew arranged for us to go to New York City
for a day to pick everything out. He’ll have it shipped to Arizona.
It takes a few days to travel to New York and back to the canyon so
we thought we better go now.” Her mom seemed excited about the
trip.

Kate was glad everyone had something
positive to focus on. The family would be together to plan a happy
occasion. She hoped it would distract her father. “Mom, do you
think Dad has hurt feelings because he can’t walk me down the
aisle?”

“He knows he can’t. So regardless of how he
feels, that’s how it has to be.”

“I wonder if there’s a way we can. Couldn’t
I say, because my parents can’t make it, I’ve asked him to do
double duty?”

“You know... that could work. You’re the
best, sweetest daughter there ever was.” She kissed Kate on the
cheek. “...oh, and don’t forget thoughtful!”

Kate hugged her tightly. She only hoped her
mother felt that way after she learned Carl went to the canyon and
it was all her fault.

* * * *

It was a busy two months. The family trip to
New York City went well. Kate picked out a simple wedding dress and
found the perfect lavender color for the girls in the wedding
party. Drew and her dad were fitted for tuxes at Martin’s Menswear.
Drew made plans to have a tailor come to the ranch to measure
Daniel and Thomas. It was such a quick trip Kate never got to meet
Drew’s parents or her grandmother and regretted it happened so
fast. Staying in 1927 New York and seeing the sights were on her
wish list for the next time they visited.

The rest of the summer went by pretty much
as the summer before at the canyon. The only difference was Carl
kept popping up. He wouldn’t give up on Rachel and continued seeing
her, acting very secretive about their relationship. Every time
Kate reminded him Rachel would marry Thomas, Carl shut down and
wouldn’t talk anymore. She tried not to antagonize him any further
because she wanted to keep tabs on him.

When Maya returned from her cruise, Kate
even threatened to tell her but that didn’t stop him from returning
to the canyon. Since Maya always informed Carl of her trips back to
the past, he was able to talk her out of going until Lucinda’s
wedding. He used the excuse he was home for the summer and wanted
her full attention. His only hope was no one would mention him to
his mother at the wedding.

Kate was asked to be in Lucinda’s wedding
just like before. Lucinda discovered Anna and Daniel secretly loved
each other. They kept it from everyone because they didn’t want to
hurt Lucinda. Of course, Kate already knew but acted surprised.
They finally came to the wedding as a couple, which upset
Lucinda.

The Hasting wedding took place the first
weekend of September. Kate knew the marriage was going to happen no
matter what she said, even though she still had the talk with
Lucinda about finding true love. She decided to add one more thing
to their conversation. She told Lucinda Drew asked her to marry
him. Lucinda immediately wanted to take over the whole affair and
Kate had to rein her in. Of course, Lucinda wanted them to get
married at the Circle H but Kate promised Anna she would have the
nuptials at the Circle J ranch. She was pretty sure Daniel would
make the offer to Drew, too. He told Daniel during the Hasting
wedding reception and Daniel did not hesitate, insisting they get
married at his ranch.

After Kate returned to Ohio from the wedding
weekend, she got a call from Anna. Her voice sounded excited. “I
have a great idea and hopefully it will solve the Carl problem at
the canyon. Bring him to Arizona for my birthday. He can meet
Thomas III and his family. That might make him think about what
he’s doing.”

“If he sees Thomas with his own two eyes,
he’ll realize it’s wrong. A whole generation won’t be born if he
continues with his plan. Good thinking, Anna.” Kate paused for a
moment. “There’s something I want to confide in you. Jordyn lost
the baby.”

“Oh, no, I’m sorry to hear. When did it
happen?”

“A few weeks ago, mid-August. Matt planned
to move into the Taylor-White house around that time. He never got
the chance to tell his parents about their situation. He kept
putting it off and now they’re glad he did. Jordyn seemed truly
upset she lost the baby. Being the planner, she charted out the
school year with her moms and Matt. She was determined to make
things work. In the end, she decided she was happy about having the
baby.”

“Are they still together? That can put a
strain on a couple.”

“They say they’re fine but I have my doubts.
I feel Jordyn’s staying with Matt more out of loyalty than love.
She’s confused right now.”

“You and Lindsey need to be there for her.
Give her extra attention.”

“Good advice as always, Anna. Linds and I
always felt she was the lucky one. She was the one having the great
high school experience. Obviously, we were wrong.” Kate felt sorry
for Jordyn but knew she was capable of bouncing back. “You know
what? When school starts, I’m going to nominate her for Homecoming
Queen. Last year, she joked all three of us could be in the
Homecoming parade.”

“What a wonderful idea. You’re a good
friend, Kathryn.”

“I try. I’ll see what I can do and keep you
informed.” She said her good-byes and hung up the phone. Staring
out her bedroom window, Kate thought how much her friends had
helped through the past year. It was time to return the favor. If
Jordyn wanted to be Homecoming Queen, maybe Kate could make it
happen.

Chapter Nine

Drew, Kate,
Lindsey and Carl landed at the airport in Flagstaff, Arizona. Kate
couldn’t believe it was already October and she was back for
another one of Anna’s birthdays. Last year she had no idea what she
would discover and this year was full of anticipation. Anna’s help
with the wedding plans was on their to-do list and they also
intended to have Carl and Thomas III meet, hopefully ending Carl’s
obsession with Rachel.

There was so much going on during their
short visit, Kate’s head pounded. She took a deep breath to calm
herself. The image of last weekend came to mind and she smiled to
herself. Lindsey and Kate had managed to make Jordyn smile again.
They’d nominated her for Homecoming Queen and she won. She got to
be in the parade and be the center of attention. All three girls
went to the dance just like last year, only Kate had Drew as her
date and Lindsey came with Charlie. Although he started his
freshman year in college, Charlie flew in for the weekend. Kate was
still surprised by that. Lindsey could deny it all she wanted, they
were a serious couple.