THIRTEEN FOR DINNER

Chapter 40

The tunnel is dark as I crawl along using my outstretched hand to see. Tears burn my eyes, and I call out just to make sure. "Quillan?"

"I think he's gone Ave," Mike says from behind me.

Taking my hand, he helps me stand. We grope our way through the darkness until we reach the secret door to the carriage house. I can hear the rain even before Mike pushes the door open. It's storming, just as it was the night we time traveled. Sighing, I step into the downpour, my soul crying along with the night sky. Keeping his hand in mine, Mike walks me across the property and to the front of the estate.

The plantation home is lit, nearly every window aglow. A paved circle drive leads to the front and a uniformed parking attendant stands at the valet kiosk, ready to serve the next guest. Twinkle lights decorate the trees, surrounding the mansion, illuminating the hanging moss. A beautiful hand painted sign, growing along with the landscaping reads: Railroad Inn. I begin to cry.

"Come on," Mike says, putting his arm around me. "I'll take you to Dairy Queen and buy you a coke before you go home." I shake my head and sniff. Can life ever be the same?

Everyone looks at us when we walk inside, they did on the bus too, but I don't care. So what if we're both dirty, in complete southern belle and gentleman attire, and have blood splattered across our clothes. Right now, I'm super depressed and don't give a shit.

I wait at the booth while Mike pays for our drinks. He'd had his wallet in his pocket the night he went through time, so he kept it with him, making sure he had it for the transfer back. He's anal like that, but I'm glad he is, cause a big ole burnin' Coke a Cola is gonna hit the spot right now.

I take a huge swallow and my nose turns red and burns, but it feels good. Mike laughs and asks me if I want something to eat, but I refuse. My stomach just can't take anything right now.

"You know Ave," he says, leaning across the table like he has top secret information. "Things may be different now that we changed the past."

"No kidding," I say referring back to the Faulkner mansion.

"But that can be exciting, maybe your life has changed, too. You never know," he slurps his drink up through the straw and shrugs. I contemplate the possibility, he could be right.

Mike calls a cab from the Dairy Queen, sweet talking the cashier into letting him use her cell phone, promising to put his number in her contact list. I give the driver my address, all the while secretly hoping I live somewhere else now that we've changed the past. It's nearly one thirty in the morning when the taxi pulls in front of my apartment complex. Mike asks him to hang close for a minute, explaining we aren't sure if we came to the right place.

Everything looks the same as I make my way down the twisting sidewalks that lead deeper into the complex. Reaching my building, I look upstairs. It's dark, but the porch light is on. I turned it on before I left, but that means nothing. A lot of people leave their porch lights on all night.

Mike follows me up the wooden steps, waiting while I stop at apartment 249. Taking a deep breath I knock. Nothing. They could be sleeping so I knock again, nothing. My neighbor opens her door and peers outside. "Oh hi hon," she recognizes me. "Lock yourself out again?" Defeated, I nod my head. "Yes, sorry."

"No problem," she says, "I'll get your spare, after all, that's why you gave me one."

"I'm sorry Ave," Mike says, as Tabitha disappears inside her apartment.

"Heard from your mom?" Tabitha asks as she unlocks my door.

"Not yet," I force a smile. "Thanks for letting me in, hope I didn't wake you."

"You didn't," she assures me. "I was watching the movie, The Time Traveler's Wife. It's so depressing, glad you interrupted me."

I nod and close the door, everything's the same as I left it. Everything except an envelope, lying on the floor, as if it had been slipped under the door. I tear it open.

We regret to inform you that Mrs. Cindy Cooke...

I drop the paper and cry.

Mike refuses to go home, he insists on staying the night. In one way, I want to be alone but in another way, I am glad he is here.

He takes the couch. Skipping my room, I crawl in Momma's bed. I can smell her in the sheets, so I cuddle up to her favorite pillow and hope I will dream of Quillan. It's been a hundred and fifty years since he was born. He's dead now, and I'm wondering if he ever made it out to the pond and if he ever dreamed of me like he promised. I'm sad I never got my beautiful locket back. I drift off to sleep remembering the day at the beach, and how he looked when he gave it to me.

Mike's up with the sun and is climbing on the bed, waking me up. He has a smile on his face that stretches from ear to ear. "Wake up Ave," he says. "You're never going to believe this!" He slaps his forehead and laughs. "Hell, I can't even believe it."

"What?" I say rubbing my eyes depressed that he woke me already. I didn't really intend on facing today until noon or after.

"Guess who the owner of the Railroad Inn is?" He sits there all toothy, looking as cheesy as ever.

"I have no idea," I say. "And I don't feel like guessing, so just tell me."

"Me!" he announces with his arms stretched out and his hands turned up. "I mean my mother does, but it's ours, can you believe it?"

"That's great," I say, and right now I'm as jealous as hell. How come his cushy life got even better while mine got worse? What law of the universe did I ever break?

"How'd you find that out?" I ask, not really caring, but trying to act like I do.

"I called mom, and she asked if I was bringing you to the dinner there tonight. Then we talked and it all spilled out."

"Oh Mike,' I grimace, pushing the hair out of my face. "I don't feel like working a meal tonight. Not there, you understand don't you."

"You're not working it, you're one of the invited guests, and guess what the occasion is?" He's still toothy, so I give a wild guess. "You're celebrating, cause you won the lottery?"

"No Ave," he laughs. "It's my mom's engagement party. She's getting married and you have to come because you're one of her bridesmaids."

"I am?"

"Yep."

"Mike," I protest. "As honoring as that is, I just can't go back so soon. It hurts, you know."

He stares at me and I realize he doesn't know. "Ave," he says. "It will be good for you, a closure of sorts. You can go and hear the history and find out what kind of life he ended up living."

I hit Mike with a pillow. "Find out who he married and how many kids he had, good idea Mike."

"I think when you see him as an ancestral portrait, and realize he's gone, you will be able to get on with your life. Please, Averie. It will make you realize what good you did and how you were able to help him. It will bring closure."

I sigh, blowing the air out of my mouth long and hard so he gets the point. "Alright, I'll go."

"Great." He beams. "I'll pick you up at eight." He gives me a kiss on the cheek and leaves, and I swear he's walking on air. I sit on the bed, in the same spot, for nearly another hour before getting up. I feel numb and the last thing I want to do it so back to the Faulkner estate, but Mike's right, I desperately need to move on.