Til We Meet Again (3 page)

              “
Where are we going?” she asked nervously.  She had never before left the house without permission, let alone after dark and possibly for several days.

              “I know someone in the next county who agreed to marry us,” he told her.  “Actually my father knows him and when he heard our story he was more than willing to make us man and wife.  I can’t wait.  I love you so much Grace,” he said quietly.

              “I love you too,” Grace replied.  She took a few deep breaths relieved they weren’t going far and her heart stopped pounding in her chest and she began to relax.  “Will we be back by morning?” she asked.

              “We should be but we better go, I don’t want the poor man to wait up for us all night,” he replied.  “Why do you ask?”

              “I just thought it might be easier if I’m back in my bed by morning and then tell my parents.  They’ll probably disown me but it might be easier that way than for them to wake and find me gone,” she told him.

              “How about we both stay in your room when we get back,” he suggested.

              Grace thought about that and how her father would probably react to a man in her bed and then try to explain he was her husband.  She wasn’t so sure about that.  “I’ll think about that some more but my father might kill you and listen to the story later.”

              He took the reigns and they left with a jolt.

              “You don’t want to stay with me tonight?” he asked after a few moments of silence.

              “I do, but I thought it might be best to at least tell my parents,” she replied.  “We don’t have anywhere to stay anyway.”

              “My father has arranged for us to live in the cottage on his land,” he told her.

              “Really?” she asked.  She had only ever met his parents once and couldn’t figure out why they were being so kind.

              “Yes.  He thought I could work for him until I get a job and we can afford our own place,” he told her.

              “I was only going to have you drop me in the morning,” she said again.  “Let’s think about it, okay?” she implored.

              “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

              They rode on in silence for a while before he began to slow the carriage and they came to a stop outside a small house.  Grace could barely make out the number ‘13’ on the door.  The place was aglow and she took a deep breath.

              “Are you ready my love?” he asked her.

              “I am,” she replied quickly before she could change her mind.

              He helped her down from the carriage and reached blindly back inside looking for something on the floor.

              “What are you doing?” she asked in a whisper.

              “Looking for…aha…here they are,” he said.  He produced a bouquet of yellow and white flowers.  “For you my darling.  My bride.”  He held an arm out for her.

              She accepted the flowers with a smile and slid her arm into his.

He led her to the door where he rapped the door knocker.

              “Good evening,” a man said in a monotonous voice when he opened the door.

              “Good evening to you, I am Donald and this is Grace.  We have come from…”

              “I know where you’re from,” the man said gruffly.  He stood back and waved an arm for them to enter.

              Donald led Grace inside to an immaculate living room area with a grand piano.  They knew instantly where the ceremony would be performed.

“Ah, good evening,” another man said startling them.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“That’s okay, we didn’t hear your…um…friend leave,” Donald said.

“Not my friend, just my butler.  Now, you’re here to be married,” he said more as a statement than a question.

They both nodded.

“Then let’s begin.  Would you like music?” he asked pointing to the piano.

“That would be lovely,” Grace said quietly.

The man, who never introduced himself, sat at the piano and began to play.

Donald helped Grace out of her cloak and after a kiss on the cheek, left her to go stand near the piano.  The man played on and Grace slowly began walking towards Donald.

The man stopped playing, nearly jumped off the bench and grabbed a book from a nearby table.  He smiled at them before he began.  “Do you Donald take Grace to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love her and to cherish her all the days of your life?”

“I do,” Donald said. 
This guy gets straight to the point,
he thought.

“Do you Grace take Donald to be your lawfully wedded husband to love him and to cherish him all the days of your life?”

“I do,” she replied quietly.

“He proceeded to bless the ring Donald had handed him and said a few words for Donald to repeat as he slid it onto Grace’s finger.

Donald smiled at Grace and mouthed ‘I love you’.

“By the power vested in me by the Christian Church of Christ, I pronounce you husband and wife.  You may kiss the bride,” the man said. He presented them with a piece of paper which Donald proudly tucked into the inside pocket of his jacket before he took Grace into his arms and kissed her.

The man jumped back onto the piano bench and began playing more music as Donald and Grace walked, as husband and wife, to the entryway.

“Thank you very much, sir,” Donald said to the man as he reached for Grace’s cloak.

There was no reply so they turned and found the room empty once more.  Donald helped Grace on with her cloak and quickly ushered her out of the house. 

He helped her into the carriage and they left heading in the direction of home.  It was quite some time before they spoke. 

“What was that?” she asked.

“I don’t know.  I’m still trying to figure that out myself,” Donald replied.

They made it back to the cottage in good time and Donald once more helped Grace down from the carriage.  This time he took her case out as well and handed it to her before he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the dimly lit cottage.

From what Grace could see, the room had been completely redone and was beautifully decorated.  “Wow, it looks wonderful,” she said.  “Much nicer than the last time I was here.”

“My mother and father worked hard on it,” he told her.  He led her to the bedroom and his expression became very serious.  “I love you so much,” he told her.

“I love you too,” she replied.

He helped her out of her cloak and stood back to admire the deep red velvet gown she’d worn.  “You look absolutely beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you,” she replied.

They slowly and lovingly undressed each other before he led her to the bed where he made love to her. 

Donald wrapped Grace in his arms after.  “Welcome home,” he whispered in her ear before he nibbled her earlobe.

She giggled and looked around her.  This would be her home.  It was so nicely done.  Then the thought of her parents came back to her and she moaned.

“What?” he asked.

“I just thought of my parents,” she told him.

He moaned then too.  “What are you going to tell them?” he asked.  He had been warned by her father once to stay away.  What would he do when he found out Grace had married him?  “You better go home.”

They dressed quickly and he took her home.  “Good luck,” he said.  He kissed her.  “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

With a wave she disappeared inside and Donald sat for a moment before he took the reigns once more and returned home alone, to the home he was supposed to be sharing with his wife.  He hated taking her home and leaving her there.

He had just stepped out of the carriage when something hit him on the head.

Chapter 3

              Katie woke with a start.  She turned and looked at the clock.  “Damn,” she groaned.

              “What’s wrong,” Dean asked groggily, startling her further.  He looked at her then and smiled as he remembered the previous evening.  “Morning sexy.”

              “We slept in,” she told him.  The events of the previous night flooded her mind. 

“That’s okay, we’ll be a little late.  Is that all?” he asked.

“But, well, no,” she stammered.

“Did you have another dream?” Dean asked.

She nodded.

“Tell me about it,” he urged.

“I will but we need to get ready to go,” she replied and started to get out of bed.

“Forget that,” he said, pulling her back down.

“But…” she trailed off.

“I’m the boss, what I say goes, okay?” he told her.  “At the library that is,” he quickly added.

She smiled and told him about the wedding and what had happened to Donald.  “Do you think he’s okay?” she asked.

“I don’t know but you could spend some time at work today going through the old records looking for a ‘Grace and Donald.”

“But I don’t know dates, places, or last names.  It could have happened in Bolivia,” she said.

“You’re right, you don’t.  Guess you’ll have to stay in bed all day to do further research,” he teased before he leaned down and kissed her.

She moaned at his touch and took his hand in her own and led it to her breast. 

They made love and held each other for a while before they finally got out of bed and quickly ate breakfast before showering together. 

“Do you think anyone will notice I’m wearing the same thing I wore yesterday?” Dean asked.

“It’s Saturday.  I don’t really think anyone will care, unlike this smile I can’t get off my face,” she told him.

He laughed.  “I’ll know what it’s all about and maybe I’ll call you into my office later and make sure that it doesn’t fade.”

              She giggled as she slid her feet into a pair of shoes and they left, traveling in the same car just to save some time.

The day dragged on for what felt like forever to Katie.  She found very little in the old records she searched through.  There were thousands and she’d only gone through a very small percentage of them.  Near the end of the day, Dean called her into his office. 

She closed the door behind her and soon Dean was kissing her.  Katie felt a little nervous about being caught but then Dean pulled away.

“I asked you in here to see if you’d be interested in dinner at my place tonight,” he asked.

“I have church in the morning,” she told him.

“So do I, I’ll drop you at home after,” he offered.

Katie agreed with a nod and finally a smile crept across her face.

Over dinner Dean brought up the subject of Katie’s dreams again.  “Did you find anything out today?” he asked.

“No, it was almost pointless.  I don’t have enough information,” she replied. “And there are thousands of records.”

“Maybe you’ll have better luck tonight,” he said with a grin on his face.

Katie rose and went to him.  She sat on his lap and kissed him.  “Is this what you had in mind Mr. MacKenzie?” she teased before she kissed him again. 

Dean lifted her up as he stood and carried her to his bedroom.  “I am going to make wonderful love to you,” he told her as he gently put her down on the bed.

“Sounds wonderful,” she said quietly and those were the last words they shared until morning.

“You were amazing last night Katie,” Dean whispered the next morning as he ran a hand down her leg.

“So were you,” she replied seductively running her hands over his chest.  “I think we should see if we broke anything after that.”

Dean chuckled.  “I think it all still works but if you insist…” he trailed off and kissed her.

They made love again before they got ready for church and it was after the service that Dean drove her home.

“Call me later,” he told her. 

“I will,” Katie promised and blew him a kiss before she went inside.

Katie ate lunch in silence still trying to figure out the puzzle of her dreams.  She realized that she hadn’t had a dream at Dean’s throughout the night and made a mental note to point that out to him later.  She put her plate in the sink to clean up later and started tidying up a few more things around the house instead.  Before long she came across the dusty box she’d set on the table two nights ago and opened it.  Inside was an old black and white photo of a woman who looked like Grace from Katie’s dream. 
My great grandmother,
Katie thought.  But the man in the photo didn’t look like Donald.  She picked up the phone and called Dean.