Call of the Canyon (8 page)

Chapter Five

Kate woke
with a start and gazed around the room, heart pounding. “I’m back.
I’m in my boardinghouse room.”

It seemed so strange to be there because it
was months since her last visit. Would she need to start over and
meet everyone again or would they know her? She never really asked
her father what the protocol was and how she should conduct
herself. Too late now. She’d just find out on her own. There was no
way Maya knew she was coming so she had no reason to be here unless
she missed Carl Sr. She only showed up every day last summer
because Kate was here and wanted to watch over her.

Quietly, she tiptoed out to the hallway and
looked around. Everything appeared the same. She looked to the
right and saw the front door. Glancing to the left, she noticed
three doors closed on her side and the kitchen still across the
hall. Her heart beat fast for some reason and she was startled when
Anna’s door opened. Her blonde head popped out of the door.
“Kathryn, there you are. Are you headed outside?”

She shook her head no. Anna could use the
outhouse first. It wasn’t her favorite place at the boardinghouse.
Kate was surprised Anna knew her but decided she didn’t have time
to question anything. Grabbing clothes from the hall closet, Kate
quickly dressed and stepped back out in the hall. The smell of
coffee wafted from the kitchen so she knew Carl Sr. was already in
there.

It was a perfect time to take advantage of
no one being around. Kate snuck down the hall toward the front
door. She noticed stairs last year, realizing there was an
upstairs, but never was given an invitation to visit. Now,
uninvited, she crept up those stairs. The second floor of the house
wasn’t as large as the first but still spacious. There was a long
hallway, with three bedrooms–one huge room on one side of the house
and two smaller ones on the other. The large bedroom had a small
sitting room at one end.
That must be the master...Maya and
Carl’s room.
Not wanting to get caught, Kate hurried back down
and went right out the front door.

As Kate stood in the yard, something caught
her eye. Attached to the back of the barn was a small housing unit.
She ran over to the building and looked in the window. It was a
small bunkhouse with two bunks, a table and a stove. Carl Sr. was
planning for the time when he finally owned the ranch. Little did
he know that wasn’t his future.

The walk back to the boardinghouse was slow.
Kate wanted to take her time, breathe it all in. She loved the
place and the people so much. Some things didn’t make sense but she
decided not to question how it happened. Kate had made the decision
long ago to just go along for the incredible ride. When she got
back to her room, Anna was sitting on her bed.

“Kathryn, are you ready for your second day
of work? I saw how Andrew Martin looked at you yesterday. Girls
have tried to get that look, but no one has succeeded.” Anna jumped
up and went out the door. “You’d better get your uniform on. We’re
going to be late.”

Her Harvey girl uniform lay on the bed next
to where Anna sat. Kate picked it up and pulled on the long-sleeved
black top, skirt and stockings. Everything smelled freshly
laundered just as she remembered. The next step was to tie the
long, white crisp apron around her waist to finish the outfit.
Ready for work, she ran out the door and hopped into the Buick with
Lucinda, Ruthie and Anna.

Oh, it’s so good to be back,
she
thought. “Hi! Good to see you all again!” Kate had a hard time
holding back her excitement.

“We saw you yesterday, Kathryn.” Ruthie
patted her arm. “It’s good to see you, too.”

“Yes, how was your first day?” Lucinda
smiled at her.

“Wonderful!” Kate knew they must think she
was a little crazy. The three stared at her all the way to work.
She knew Drew wouldn’t be there to take her to lunch like last
year. He was still in present day New York City with her father.
She wondered how his absence would be explained.

“Hi, Thomas, is Drew coming in today?” Kate
asked innocently as she strolled over to the stove.

“He should be stopping by for lunch like
usual,” Thomas answered. “He wouldn’t miss one of my lunches.” He
gave her a large, friendly smile and went back to work.

Oh, no, was Drew here and didn’t tell
me?
Why should he? He has a life here, too...but we agreed
to come together on my first day.
Kate paced the floor.
Besides, how would he get here? He didn’t pack the book for the
trip and if he did, he would’ve told me. We’d meet and everything
would be the same.

Tears filled her eyes as she walked over to
the kitchen sink to start on the stack of dishes. She noticed a
pile of vegetables waiting to be prepared and knew she had to
tackle those next.

This was not how it was supposed to be.
Everything was messed up. Kate didn’t make it back for her first
day because she wanted to wait for Drew. After mulling it over many
times back in Ohio, Kate came to the conclusion that Drew decided
to go to New York instead of coming to the canyon. Why shouldn’t
she make the decision to come back on her own?

Kate scrubbed the dishes harder and chopped
the vegetables vigorously, getting all her frustrations out on the
poor china and carrots. She heard the backdoor open and turned her
head in that direction.

A gorgeous, dark-haired young man stepped
into the kitchen, greeting people as he walked along. He seemed to
know everyone and stopped to chat before finally reaching Thomas
who stood at the stove, stirring the soup of the day. They had a
long conversation and Kate was shocked he had not acknowledged her.
Not able to take her eyes off him, she held the chopping knife in
the air and studied him carefully.

So handsome, his emerald green eyes shined
as he talked with his friend. Kate was overcome with love for him.
On the other hand, she was really mad at him for how he was acting.
He took the book to New York and didn’t even tell her, making her
fume all the more. Just then Drew looked her way, pointed toward
the canyon, just as he did on the original second day, and
left.

Kate seethed for the rest of the morning.
He never told me he took a book to New York and could’ve called
or sent a text that we should meet at the canyon. What was he
thinking?

Before she knew it, Anna was telling her it
was lunchtime and gave her the choice to go outside or the
employees’ room. She put a bottle of cold, sweet tea in Kate’s hand
just like she remembered. Thomas handed her a lunch bucket and she
headed out the door. Kate couldn’t run fast enough around El Tovar
to find Drew sitting on the porch of the hotel.

“Drew! You’re so sneaky! Why didn’t you tell
me you were coming?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about,
Kate. Didn’t we make a date for lunch today?”

Kate stopped in her tracks. Drew didn’t seem
to remember her. She didn’t expect that to happen. Her father said
he retained his memories so she never thought that could be a
problem. Everything she felt inside disappeared...the anger, the
confusion. She crumbled to the first step and cried. “I can’t start
over again!”

“Kate! I’m just kidding! Yes, I know it’s
you and I figured you’d come here with or without me so I thought I
better get myself here for our date.”

“Drew! Don’t ever do that again! I thought
you didn’t know me, love me...” Kate was crying now.

“I’ve always loved you, Kate. You can count
on that.” Drew ran down the steps and pulled her to her feet. He
took her pail and bottle and set the table for their lunch.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Why didn’t
you
call
me
?” Drew
responded.

“Okay, we’re even, but let’s always make
sure we know what the other is doing.” Kate put out her hand and
Drew kissed it.

“Drew, people could be watching.”

“So let them. I want to scream to the world
this woman is going to be Mrs. Andrew Martin.”

They talked and laughed during their short
lunch break. It was over before they knew it.

“I have to get back to work now.” Kate said
sadly.

“If you remember, I took you to the canyon’s
edge before you went back.” Drew slipped his hand into hers. “You
know I even came back yesterday in case you were here.” He squeezed
her hand. “It was lonely without you.”

They walked to the closest edge and stood
gazing out at the beautiful colors of the canyon and the deep blue
sky. It was so perfect Kate wanted to keep everything that happened
back in Ohio to herself, but knew she had to tell him.

“Drew, we don’t have secrets, right?” She
gazed up at him and he nodded. “Tyson came over while you were gone
to tell me he was going to New York City for the summer...”

“Good riddance to him!” Drew seemed to enjoy
the thought of Tyson in another state.

“Let me finish. He tried to kiss me.” She
knew she was setting off a small explosion and was ready.

Oddly, Drew was quite calm. “He did, did he?
He never gives up, does he?”

Kate decided he saw humor in the situation
and went with it. “Nope, he never does. Don’t worry. I pushed him
away and yelled at him.”

“Good to hear.” Drew’s voice trailed off as
if he was in deep thought.

“And Jordyn’s pregnant.”

“What?” Drew took a step back. “Wow, what’s
she going to do?”

“Right now she’s really confused, but I know
she’ll work through it. Jordyn’s always been the planner of the
group. She’ll have her life mapped out before we get back.” Kate
smiled at Drew, as if to make herself believe it, too.

“I can see you’re worried about her. We’ll
be there for her, support her, the best we can.”

“Can we sit down before I go back?” Kate
took Drew’s hand which felt so familiar and walked over to a grassy
spot. Last year, everything was new between them and now they had
an unspoken bond that was indescribable. “The girls, Lucinda,
Ruthie and Anna, knew me although I didn’t come back yesterday.
They all knew it was my second day. How do you explain that?”

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know. Remember
this is my first year back, too. Let’s discuss it with Jack after
we get home from New York.”

“When will that be?”

“We leave tomorrow and should be home before
dinner.”

“Are you ever going to tell me my father’s
deep dark secret?” Kate suspected there was something everyone was
keeping from her.

“No, it’s your father’s story to tell. I’m
sorry, Kate.” Drew looked as if he wanted to tell her.

“That’s exactly what my mother said. I will
find out, you know.”

Drew let out a long laugh. “I’m sure you
will. You never give up on anything that’s important to you.” Then
he got serious and put his arm around her. “And I’m glad you
don’t.”

The couple stood and hugged each other
tightly. “There’s one more thing. Carl’s decided to come to the
boardinghouse tomorrow night. I want you be here, too.”

Drew wrinkled his brow for a second. Kate
could tell he saw no way to prevent it from happening. “You’ve been
a busy girl since I left. I guess there’s no stopping Carl. I can
see why he would be curious. Maya kept him away his whole life. It
could be a good thing. I’ll definitely be here.”

Kate was surprised he was in agreement.
“Carl will only come back once to see the ranch, his father and
visit the canyon. That’s what we agreed on. I know he will stick to
his promise.” A large cloud covered the sun and Kate shivered. “I
better get back inside. They’ll be looking for me. See you at home.
Tell Dad I said to drive safely. Precious cargo!”

She ran back to the restaurant to finish her
work shift and head back to the boardinghouse with the other girls.
She was ready for her summer adventure to begin.

Chapter Six

The morning
sun streamed through her windows as Kate woke up in her sky blue
bedroom in Ohio. She sleepily gazed around the room, studying the
walls adorned with her beautiful butterflies. The book worked just
as she remembered. She went back in time to the canyon and now she
was home in the present. Resting in bed was not an option, there
was too much to do. She wanted to keep herself occupied until Drew
and her father returned from New York.

To pass the time, Kate decided to do a
little investigating on her own. She grabbed her laptop and propped
herself up in bed, ready to do some research. Typing her
grandfather’s name, Robert Woods, into the search engine, she knew
it was a common name and added ‘1920’ and ‘New York City’. She held
her breath and hit ‘enter’.

An article popped up on her very first
search. It contained a brief history of the family. Robert had two
sons, Albert and Jack, and was married to Lillian for twenty-six
years. The story stated that Robert was a successful criminal
defense attorney in the city. It sounded as if he was a prominent
man of his time. Jack was in college and Albert had just received
his law degree and worked for his father. There didn’t seem to be
anything scandalous in the story, just a run of the mill society
piece about a rich man, his family and some charity event. Kate was
confused as to why she hadn’t heard about any of the family. She
had an uncle, too. Uncle Albert. Her father never mentioned having
a brother.

Kate was determined to learn more. She
continued reading articles on many websites, scanning for mention
of the law firm and finally found one linking her to an interesting
article. It said Robert Woods was no longer part of the law firm he
founded due to a huge scandal. It appeared Albert had something to
do with his father’s removal and took his place as head of the
firm. Kate now understood why her father never talked about his
brother. What a betrayal to the family. As soon as her father and
Drew got home, she was going to tell them what she discovered.
Couldn’t her father have stopped his brother? He was still living
in New York at the time.