They pulled up to Dusty’s cottage. After Katie closed her door, Dusty said, “Watch the ice over there it’s—” Before he could finish, Katie let out a scream and hit the ground.
“Shit!” Dusty ran to her side. Panic set in when he found her out cold. Again he chastised himself. Katie had told him about this happening once. Why hadn’t he done something to prevent it? He alternated between swearing in frustration and calling out her name, trying to get her to respond. Scooping her limp body up, he carried her in and placed her carefully on the couch. He thought about calling an ambulance, then he thought about calling Courtney. Katie had said she was pissed at Dusty when it happened in one of her leaps. She also said Courtney wasn’t too fond of him at the time, but he thought they were doing okay this time around. He dialed his phone to call Dean but hit “end.” He didn’t want to interrupt if they were having sex, but Courtney would want to know. He checked Katie’s head for blood, but didn’t see any. He hurried to the kitchen for ice for the lump that was coming up in a hurry. He’d start there, then call if he needed to.
Dusty held the ice to her head with one hand and pulled the afghan over her with the other. He sat down and called her name, trying to get her to come to. Slowly her eyes fluttered open.
“Hey, gorgeous. Nice to have you back.” Katie began to cry.
Dusty pulled her to his chest. “Shh… it’s okay, babe. Please don’t cry. I’m sorry about the ice. I almost called an ambulance. Do you want me to take you in? What can I do for you?”
“Nothing. Take me home please, Dustin.”
“Again with the Dustin. Katie, please…” Something finally occurred to him. “Katie?”
“No games. My head is killing me. Just take me to Courtney. She’s pre-med. She’ll look at it for me.”
He leaned her back. “Katie. Courtney is out with Dean.”
“Dean? Just take me home. I’m fine. It can wait.”
“It’s you!” Dusty pulled her tight to his chest and kissed her forehead.
“Stop this. Please take me home. I don’t want to be here with you.”
“Yes you do, cupcake. It’s me.”
“Will you stop this! I can’t look at you right now. I’ll call her myself.” She tried to stand up but he pulled her back down.
“You just came from a hospital room. You had a miscarriage. It’s not a dream, it happened— happens a few years from now.”
She stared at him, no doubt not being able to believe her ears. “How do you know this?”
He held her tight again. “I’m not the ‘me’ you think I am. That damn geezer did it to me this time, baby.”
“Dusty… I don’t understand.”
He leaned her back. “Do I need to show you my birthmark or make you tell me what Captain Skinnard is about to do to the crew? ’Cause technically I haven’t written that part yet, but if I have the ‘you’ I think you are, you know all about it.”
“How can this be?”
“Beats me, but it sure it good to see you.” He gave her a gentle kiss. “You really gave me quite a scare again. Do you want me to call Courtney?” Katie shook her head no. “The miscarriage was true. It took us by surprise, but we have two wonderful kids now.”
“We do?”
“Yes, we do.”
“I’m at the part where I woke up and discovered little Alyson.”
“You’ve told me everything about what’s happening to you, but right now we’re caught up in some kind of funky time pretzel. Frank sent me back; I hope I’m not making a mess of things.”
“If we’re together, why are you time traveling?”
“It’s not us, it’s Courtney.”
“Courtney? What’s wrong with her?”
“She has an immune deficiency disease. I know what she means to you so I wanted to come back and try to keep it from happening.”
“Courtney gets AIDS?” Katie stood up too quickly and swayed. Dusty rushed to be her support and eased her back onto the couch.
“Please lie down, babe. I really am worried about that bump.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure. Tell me more.”
“Do you remember some Ronald she dated for a bit?” Katie closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. “I can see you’re hurting. This can wait.”
“No. I want to know what I can do to help. My mind is more than scrambled right now.”
“And the lump isn’t helping. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It is. You told me about this and I spaced it. Things are moving a little fast for me here. Can I get you some aspirin?”
“Maybe that’s a good start.” Dusty got some for her. After Katie took them, he picked her up and carried her to the bed.
“Can I help get you more comfortable?”
“One of your t-shirts would be nice.”
He dug through his dresser. The AC/DC shirt was nowhere to be found. It had no doubt already taken a trip to the future and wasn’t going to return anytime soon. He dug out one with a Chevelle in much better shape than the one he drove.
Katie managed a smile. “I’ll think warm thoughts.”
“I’ve been using the Beemer on you this time around, if that helps.”
“The Beemer?”
“Maybe this you doesn’t know that much yet. I think I should keep my mouth shut. I’d hate for anything in our present be altered by me screwing this up.” He helped her get changed before lying her back in bed.
“You going to join me?”
He took his shirt off. “Absolutely.” He stripped down, then cuddled up to her back with his boxers on.
“You never sleep in boxers, Dusty.”
“I didn’t want to push my luck.”
“You’re not getting sex with this doozie of a headache, but there’s no reason you can’t be comfortable.”
He kissed the back of her head. “I’m fine.”
Katie rolled over to face him. “Where were we?”
“Ronald.”
“Right. Yes, I do remember him. He wasn’t such a bad guy in all honesty. I don’t remember her being into him for anything other than sex. I had to scram quite a bit so they had time alone.”
“Why didn’t they go to his place?”
“She never said and I never asked.”
“Was he pre-med, too?”
“He wasn’t in school. I don’t remember what he did, but he was older than we were by a few years.”
“You have a last name at all?”
Again she squinted as if she were trying to concentrate.
“I’m sorry. I’d say let’s do this tomorrow, but I don’t know who I’ll get.”
“I’m okay.” Her eyes popped open. “Are you sleeping with me?”
“I want to, but not with your headache, babe.”
“No. I mean the ‘me’ you’re seeing now.”
He grinned. “Oh. Yes. You’re kind of tough to keep away.”
“Dustin Charles. That’s horrible.”
“Hey… I had to win you over. I wasn’t going to play nice guy and stay away. What if this is my only chance at having you and the time clock gets re-set again? I need you in my life. Of course I fought for you.”
“Why do I feel like you’re cheating on me?”
He kissed her nose. “Never. It’s you, puddin’ pop.”
She sighed. “I can’t believe I fell for you using all those names again.”
“You love me.” He held her face and gave her another gentle kiss. “You’re a little more jealous this time around than I’ve ever seen you.”
“You give me reason to be?”
“Of course not and I can’t explain. I’m not sure this happened yet for you and this is one thing I can’t mess up for sure.”
Again her eyes closed. “I’m really tired, Dusty.”
“Did you think of his last name? Anything else I can use?”
Her eyes were still closed and her voice softened. “It was some restaurant name.”
“Denny?”
“No. It was last name sounding.”
“Crap. That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“Poundstone. No, that’s not it. It’s a P though. I’m sure.”
“Perkins?”
“Ummm…that’s it.” Katie started to breathe heavily after she said that. At least Dusty had something to go on now. He was hoping Courtney and Dean would hit it off and this would be over. If they didn’t work out, he’d have to try and hunt this Ronald down. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to try tomorrow anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to try to find him rather than sit and wait.
Dusty woke just before Katie. They had slept together facing each other, his arms tight around her. “Hey. How’s your head feeling?” he asked when he felt her stir.
Katie sat up, looking confused. She reached behind her head and winced when she touched the bump. “I slipped outside, didn’t I?” Her response answered his next question. His Katie was gone. This one was in their present time.
“You did. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough with my warning. I’ve been on my landlord about fixing that. You seemed to be sleeping okay so I didn’t take you in. We talked for a bit before you settled in bed. I didn’t think you were all there. You were pretty adamant, though, about not going to the hospital.”
“I don’t remember any of this, but it does sound like me.”
“I didn’t want to have Courtney mad, but I didn’t want to interrupt her and Dean if they were, you know, busy. I called another pre-med friend. They weren’t worried when everything else was okay and since you were awake for a while. I trusted you. You have enough medical background to not be stubborn about going in.”
“Never underestimate my ability to be stubborn. It’s almost a superpower with me.”
He laughed and gave her a kiss. “I’m finding that out.”
“Let’s not tell Court. She would probably flip. It’s not a big deal.”
“I won’t. You okay to go to class today?”
“Other than a slight headache, I’m fine. I can’t be skipping classes. I have too many finals coming up.”
“I’ll go start the car.”
Dusty dropped Katie off at her dorm. He wondered how much longer he’d have to do this. He was still here, so that meant nothing had changed as far as Courtney’s health. She and Dean seemed to be doing great, but somehow Ronald had snuck back into the picture. At least now he had something to go on. He had a last name. Dusty was still uncertain what he was going to do with that information. It was not as if living this double life had no consequences. He couldn’t kill the guy and jet back home.
Deciding to cut class was an easy choice again. He had to start looking around for this Ronald. The phone book was an obvious first choice, but a dead end. If he hung around campus girls, maybe he worked in one of the offices. Dusty went to the main office and turned on his smile and charm.
“Sorry, Mr. Andrews. I don’t have any teachers by that name,” the secretary said.
“How about office help. Maybe a custodian?”
She keyed away at her computer again. “I’m not showing anyone by that name. Are you sure it’s this college he’s at?”
“No. Actually I’m not. I dropped my girlfriend off and figured this was a place to start.”
“If this message is so urgent, why don’t you have a location on him?”
“I’m sorry. The last contact my friend had with him was a long time ago. All he knew was that he was in this area. I hope I haven’t taken up too much time from your day. I really appreciate it.”
“No worries. I wish I could have helped you.”
“Thanks again for your time.”
Dusty returned to the car, wishing he’d gotten some kind of description out of the other Katie as well as a name. The fact that he was a few years older didn’t help. He couldn’t come out and ask Courtney anything without her wondering why. After driving to his school and having the same luck with that office, he was at a loss for what to do. There was too much space in between. The guy could work anywhere.
Needing to really kick his brain into gear, he headed to the coffee shop for a strong cup. Art would really flip a lid at the way his tab was growing. There was a person he didn’t recognize today at the counter and he was grateful. He paid cash for this round.
He tried thinking about everything Katie said, hoping something would come to him. She said they never went to his place. They always slept together at Katie and Courtney’s dorm room. Why? It finally hit Dusty like a brick. The son of a bitch was probably married. “That’s it,” Dusty said out loud. One guy turned his way. Dusty waved. “Sorry. Brain fry.” The guy held up his drink in an, “I know how you feel, dude,” kind of toast.
Perkins probably wasn’t even his real last name. Now he was really back to square one.
Dusty wasn’t usually one to wallow, but he was getting increasingly upset and really starting to miss his kids. He wanted this over with. With everything that happened last night, he never got around to making dinner for Katie. He wasn’t in the mood for cooking and didn’t want to do cheap take out or Chez Pauls again. Picking up his phone, he called the one place he could go where he knew he’d get a great meal. If he was when he thought he was, it was time to pay the piper anyway. Might as well get it over with so he could concentrate on his task.
“May? What’s for dinner tonight?”
His parent’s cook practically squealed at the sound of his voice. “Roast beast if you’re coming home, child.”
He laughed. Hearing her call it that after all these years still warmed his heart. “Then I’ll be there will a date. You guys still eat at six?”
“You know it.”
“See you then. Thanks, May.”
He couldn’t hug his kids, but he’d get some family loving from May and his mother anyway.
“You spoiled baby,” Katie teased Dusty on the way to his parents’ house. “You call up your old housekeeper and tell her what to make you for dinner?”
“No. I told her I wanted to show up for dinner. She just always makes what I like when I tell her I’m going to show up.”
“What’s with the change? You said you weren’t going to submit me to your parents so soon.”
“I needed a change of pace. School has really been bumming me out lately.”
“What’s the matter? Is it me? Am I keeping you from your studies?”
“Oh, hell no, babe. You are the one thing that makes sense right now.” Dusty commended himself inside for that one. He sure remembered a lot of details about their past, even though they seldom talked about it. “It’s just…I told you I don’t want to be a lawyer anymore. I never did, actually. I need to talk to my dad someday. I was kind of hoping you’d be my wing man.”
She giggled. “Your what?”
“You know. Have my back. My dad is going to shit an eggroll. Maybe he’ll go easy on me if you’re there. Normally I’d bring Dean, but my dad has no problem yelling at me in front of him. I understand if you don’t want me to say anything tonight. It can try to wait, but he and Mom sort of have this radar. They’ll know something is up.”
“I’m not sure what I can do, but I’m with you no matter what you decide to do.”
“Thanks.”
This time she took his hand and kissed it. “I have never seen you nervous before.”
“It shows?”
“More than a little.”
“Mind if I get drunk tonight?”
She grinned. “Do what you want. I’ll drive home.”
Dusty was hoping he planned this right. With a little luck they’d get snowed in and have pretty damn great sex in one of the spare rooms. Even though he had passed out afterward, Katie often teased him about his “rare form” on the 100 proof Captain Morgan that night. They had a bottle of it at their house, but it wasn’t touched. It was more of a trophy or a fun reminder for both of them.
Dusty had been so hung up on not getting more information about Ronald from his Katie that it hadn’t even occurred to ask this Katie, okay— equally his—about him. He had to figure out a good way to do it, so he didn’t come across as if he was doing background work for Dean. Having all night to bring it up, he had time to think on how to carefully word things. For now, he had to warn Katie about his upbringing.
“Don’t let the house freak you out, babe.”
“Why would it freak me out?”
“It’s a little on the big side.”
“Our house was no rambler either. My parents did okay for themselves. I assume if your dad is a lawyer, they are doing well for themselves, too.”
“That’s an understatement.” As he said that, Dusty pulled into a driveway and stopped at a large wrought iron gate. He leaned over to an electronic keypad and entered a code.
“You’re shitting me.”
“Wish I was. Don’t let Dad intimidate you. He’s sort of rough around the edges. Just be yourself.”
“Thanks for giving me warning on this. You could have said something before we made it through the gate.”
“You would have only jumped out.” He gave her thigh a squeeze before pulling into the last stall of the garage, the one always left available for him and his other sister, Dana. Although Dana and Dusty grew up together with the same parents, he was much closer to and had more in common with Alyson. Alyson had been the result of his father’s affair. They were best friends until they discovered at the age of eight that they were siblings. That fact only brought them closer.
When Dusty and Dana were here at the same time, there was a small garage further down the driveway with another empty stall that he used. If he recalled correctly, she was off in Paris with her current fiancé—her third. She would be on number five before she actually married one of them. That would last eight months. Little Alyson loved her and the gifts she brought from all over the world. Alex was still too young to appreciate the collectible cars she brought for him. It was the one thing his sister had in common with her dad. Their love of fine cars. Dusty guessed she was trying to bond with Alex in that same way. Dusty’s writing would never get him the lifestyle of a garage full of cars like his father’s, nor did he want it. He hoped Alex would be happy with models.
Dana and Katie got along better than he would have expected, but they weren’t as close as she and Alyson were. The bond they shared over what Katie had done for her was beyond measure. Dusty found himself jealous over times when Alyson called wanting to talk to Katie and not him.
Dusty loved Dana a lot, they were just total opposites. She reveled in the glory of the family money, where he had pushed it away his entire life. She thrived on going to different schools, but never did decide on any one major. They never pushed her to get a degree the way they had with him. School and a job were no longer necessities when you had to be “the belle of the ball”, perfect hostess, and wife.
The conversation about Alyson being their sister never happened between Dana and Dusty. His father most certainly never brought it up and Dusty wasn’t an idiot. Dana would have had one of her award-winning fits, and his dad would have spent a fortune to buy her love back. She liked playing the role of spoiled “only” daughter. Dusty would keep that secret from her for the greater good: peace in the household. Alyson was his and his alone. He liked it that way.
He often wished Dana took more interest in their father’s company. Dusty had no desire to take it over in any shape or form. He always hoped Dana would decide she wanted to take it over or at least choose a husband who would do it and remove the burden from him. Things worked out in the end but for now, him taking over the family business was always at the top of his father’s priorities; these days still rode hard in his memory.
Even though he had been down this road before, he was not looking forward to a repeat performance of breaking the news to his dad about leaving school.
“Earth to Dusty.” Katie waved her hand in front of Dusty’s face. They had been parked for over a full minute and he just stared ahead.
“I’m sorry. Coming here always gets my mind wandering. Stay put.” Dusty raced around to her side of the car and helped her out.
“I love it when you go gentleman on me.”
“This place brings out the worst in me. What can I say?”
Katie scanned the garage, taking in all the amazing vehicles. “Wow. This is some car collection.”
Dusty let out a whistle. He had forgotten about the smash on the Aston Martin. “Dad must be pissed about this.”
“Holy hell,” Katie almost shouted. “That Delorean is impressive.”
“Got it up to one-twenty.”
“Dusty! You didn’t.”
“Ticket was three times that. Dad shit a brick.”
“I’ll bet.”
He spun Katie into him and leaned down for a kiss. “I’d rather kiss you than look at cars.” She wrapped her arms around his neck; they shared a lingering kiss until someone cleared their throat behind them. They quickly broke apart. Dusty walked Katie over to his mother.