Past & Present Collide (2 page)

Chapter 1

PRESENT DAY

Kylie sat at her dining room table sipping on her coffee staring at the latest letter from her fiancé Derek. He was in the Army and was currently was overseas, leaving her alone and confused about him and their life together. She wasn’t sure of the reason, but lately when a letter came from him she dreaded opening it. They were getting married in October and the closer it got the more dread and confusion she felt. The wedding was four months away and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get married.

Placing her coffee cup on the table she reached for the letter taking a deep breath as she prepared to read his words to her. She unfolded it and her green eyes focused on the words as she began to read:

My Dearest Kylie,

I hope this letter finds you well; I miss you so very much. I am comforted by the fact that we will be getting married in only a few more months.

Kylie sighed as she read as usual Derek wasted no time bringing up the wedding. She sighed again taking a sip of her coffee preparing herself to continue.

I have something very important to tell you my love. I am very sorry for the words I am about to write. Please believe me when I say I don’t like keeping things from you, but I felt I needed to wait till the time felt right. Three months ago before I left for overseas I did something that has the guys over here with me thinking I am crazy. I now feel with the wedding approaching that it is time to tell you I bought us a house, a house I know we can begin our future in and build into something wonderful for our lives together.

As the words spilled off the page Kylie’s green eyes fluttered first with complete shock and confusion by his words then it was quickly replaced with anger.

“How dare him!” She shouted to the empty apartment.

As the anger subsided a bit the shock took over again, “He bought a house, he bought a house,” she whispered over and over to herself trying to get it to sink in.  As she processed his words she pulled on her strawberry blonde ponytail. Her green eyes slowly returned to the letter bracing herself for the rest of his words knowing he had kept this from her was slowly depleting the air from her lungs. He had never kept anything from her. She knew he had clear reasons behind his choice, and that thought caused her the most unease.

I know my love you are shocked and confused about this news, and I know I should have consulted you. Please know I had my reasons though. Ones you will understand later, but not now.

Anger took a hold of her again as she stared at Derek’s words realization hit her that he wasn’t going to share his reasons for doing this in this letter. She didn’t understand but decided she needed to give him the benefit of the doubt. Something Derek had always been good about when it came to her and her temperamental attitude. She shook her head pushing her ponytail from her shoulder. She glanced back down at the letter determined to finish
reading his words even though her mind was now spinning in a million different directions.

Inside the envelope is a key. I know what you are thinking believe me when I say I wanted to tell you so many other times and that I did this for us. To give us a fresh start one we could use after we get married. My beautiful girl please know I love you and I only want to make your dreams come true and this house is a perfect fit. You have always been a talented home designer, and even though you have only been out of school a year and we are both only twenty-three; I know this is right. The home, the wedding, our future, everything will be perfect.

Take the key, move in to the house get out of your one bedroom apartment, and believe me when I say this house is your dream house. It is old, but with modern touches to make life easier without taking the charm of the house away, the charm that comes from a house built in the late 1930s and early 1940s. I promise my love that is exactly what this house is. I know that once you clear your head you will fall in love with the house, just like I did when I thought about the memories we could make there. Know; please know there is nothing in this world more important to me then you and all I want to do for the rest of my life is to make you happy.

Love Always,

Derek

The letter dropped to the table and her hands covered her eyes as she felt the tears fall from her eyes. Derek was kind and good to her he had never lied to her once. Come to think of it this was the first time he had kept something from her. It
made her thoughts wander to his reasoning behind it. She wondered why he wouldn’t share them with her. She did love Derek and the confusion she had been feeling since before he left had only gotten worse since he had been away. She dreaded days she had wedding planning stuff to do to the point of feeling ill when she would think about it, and now he had bought a house without consulting her, one he promises she’ll love.
How the hell does he know that?
She thought as she wiped more tears from her eyes, glancing over at the envelope that he stated contained the key to this mystery house. She decided with new resolve and curiosity that the only option was to at least check it out the house for her own peace of mind.

She reached for the plain white envelope that now seemed more like a grenade. She held out her palm and slowly turned the envelope over catching the bronze key as
it tumbled out. Attached to the key was a key chain with a hand written address on it. Her green eyes stared at for a long moment before laying it to rest on the table.

As she finished her coffee she glanced at the key through every sip. Once she was finished she walked to the small kitchen and rinsed the cup out before heading to her room to dress. She returned to the kitchen in fifteen minutes dressed in jeans, white sneakers, and a light blue quarter sleeve shirt. She walked over to her table and slowly picked up the key, once in her hand shed headed for the door grabbing her purse and cell phone right before she exited. She locked the apartment behind her and headed down to her silver SUV.

The drive to the house was twenty minutes long. When she finally pulled into the drive her mouth turned up into a little smile the house was perfect. It was a light yellow two story cottage with light green shutters that shouted to her
‘you’re home.’

She let her thoughts wander to what her life with Derek would be like here
, and she couldn’t deny that the thought made her smile. Maybe Derek hadn’t made a bad choice about the house, she still wished he hadn’t kept it from her, but she understood that something convinced him he needed to wait. She knew deep down that those reasons would reveal themselves in time she just had to be patient.

Chapter 2

She pulled to the top of the drive and stopped the car. Admiring the porch and porch swing, she sighed so far it was everything she had hoped for. She got out of the car, and slowly walked towards the house. She paused to look over the porch swing that had caught her eye when her car came to a stop. As she studied the wooden swing something suddenly caught her eye the initials
K&D 1941
. She gasped a little unsure of what to make of the initials that represented hers’ and Derek’s. It seemed very surreal, and something deep inside told her this wasn’t going to be a coincidence. This meant something, but what exactly? She turned her focus to the door, her unease still very present, and her confusion regarding the house and Derek growing. However, she decided she needed to do this. She needed to check out everything that encompassed this house. As she unlocked the door she took a deep breath closing her eyes as she pushed it open. She exhaled, opened her eyes now focused and determined and stepped inside to what was supposed to be home. She walked through the downstairs slowly admiring the simplicity the house provided. Everything from the furniture to the woodwork in the kitchen and living room was just perfect. As she approached the edge of the kitchen and dining area she noticed the white folded piece of paper on the countertop.
KYLIE
, she rubbed her fingers across her name and proceeded to pick up the letter, retreating to the living room unsure of what to expect now. She unfolded it and her eyes traveled down to his words.

Dearest Kylie,

If you are reading this then I have finally decided the time had come to tell you about the house. I hope that the fact that you are at the house means you aren’t that mad at me for keeping this from you.

The corners of her mouth turned up, Derek was so hard to stay mad at especially when he phrased things that way. She couldn’t stay mad at him if she wanted to. It was something she could never explain except to say that he just had that effect on her. She returned her green gaze to his words hoping to get some answers from him now.

What you want now are answers I get that. I won’t give them all to you, but I will try to explain my reasoning a little bit. You have seemed so sad, and lost lately my love. Every time we go to a wedding vendor I can’t help but notice unease in your eyes. I don’t know what is going on and I hope you can find a way to explain it me so that I may understand. I only want you happy, and I thought this house could be a step in the right direction. I fear this unease could drive you away from me and our future. I can only hope that doesn’t happen. I want you to know I will do anything absolutely anything to give you what you need, even if that is a postponement in our wedding until you are ready.

All My Love,

Derek

She stared at his words her eyes glossing over. She never realized that her unease had been so displayed in front of him. She felt guilty he thought he could lose her, but the truth was she knew that was a very real possibility for her at this present moment.

She began to search the hutch behind her hoping that maybe he had left her a pen and some paper to write w
ith and write on. She finally found in a drawer of the hutch a beautiful old-fashioned stationary and pen set. Definitely not left by Derek but something she could express herself on. She took the set over to the dining room table. A million thoughts were running through her head. She knew she had to express to him how she had been feeling and it would convey to him some of his worst fears. However, she resolved to herself the time had come he understood where her head was at.

Dearest Derek,

I got your letters and the key to the hou
se. It is beautiful, but I do wish you had discussed it with me first. I feel guilty that you felt you had to do this based on things you were feeling from me. However, the truth is what you were sensing from me was not a fluke. The truth is lately I have been feeling so lost and confused and the closer the wedding gets and the more people talk about it the worse the feelings get for me.

I believe I just need time to sort through the mess in my head and in my heart. I love you so very much of this I have no doubt. I guess I am just asking for a little bit of faith and patience. Oh yea, and when you call and write ease up on the wedding talk just a bit.

I
Miss You and Love You,

Kylie

She sealed the envelope and walked it to the mailbox an overwhelming sense of guilt washing over her. She knew this letter was going to make all of his bad thoughts come to life and she didn’t want it to affect his work. However, she justified with herself that he already knew something was going on with her and this was just finally expressing it all to him. It was a way to put it all out there. Secretly she hoped this would be the start of the clearing of her head so her and Derek could begin their lives as planned.

Placing the letter in the mail she turned
back to the house and smiled deciding to take Derek’s advice and move in. She slowly made her way back to her car so she could go get some of her things.

Sighing as she pulled out of the drive
“This house is perfect.” She whispered to herself as the house left her sight.