Chapter 179: Swimming with Beth and Grace

Saturday, June 26, 1971

However, I never did scan her and I never got the opportunity to ask her what she had meant. By the time my big brain could function again, Kathy Lynn was fast asleep. It was dark outside, but the small square clock beside my bed said it was ten after eight. This time of year, it should have been light outside, regardless of whether it was eight o’clock in the morning or evening. Confused, I looked again and saw that the second hand wasn’t moving.

“Damn, I have got to get me a watch!” I thought to myself.

“Shhh. You’ll wake everyone!” came the thought to my head. I knew it was Catherine and was just about to reply when another thought entered my mind.

“It’s a miracle anybody ever gets any sleep when you’re around,” came the sarcastic voice in my head.

“Allie?” I asked in surprise. I hadn’t heard her thoughts enough to identify her, but it had to be. She’s the only one I didn’t know well.

“It’s not enough you keep me up half the night with all ‘those’ kind of feelings you kept shooting through my body,” Allie chastised me. “Now you gotta go and wake me up cussing like a sailor before the sun’s even up.”

I decided not to argue that one ‘damn’ wasn’t the same as cussing like a sailor. “Meet me for coffee?” I asked.

“Sure ... why not,” she sighed. “It’s not like I’m gonna get any sleep.”

“Catherine, would you like to join us?” I thought as I rummaged through my drawers for something to put on. I finally settled for a pair of boxers.

“I’m putting on a fresh pot of coffee now. Was that Hanna’s sister?” Catherine asked.

“I think so,” I replied.

“You want to give it to me?” she asked as I bounded down the grand staircase.

What Catherine wanted was my mental replay of how I had discovered that Allie could ‘overhear’ my thoughts. And of course, every word we had ever spoken together before and since. As I guy, I could barely remember what the two of us had just said. However, as an empath, all I had to do was replay my memories for her. Don’t ask me how it works. I don’t have a clue. I’m just glad it does. It would be impossible to deal with two dozen women if I wasn’t able to give them all the details.

Catherine was standing in the kitchen, finishing up processing what I had just replayed for her while she waited for the teapot to start its whistling scream. I started opening cabinets, looking for a mug. I wasn’t in the mood for one of those dainty little coffee cups this morning.

“What’s going on with your sword?” she asked as she poured the boiling water over the Earl Gray tea bag.

“What?” I asked as I brought the fresh mug of coffee to my lips. I frantically tried to remember the last place I had been in possession of the sword.

“It’s still lying on the dining room table where you left it. None of the girls wanted to touch it,” she told me.

I peeked through the door. It was still there. I had put the case in the back of the limo at the airport, but kept the sword with me on the ride home. I made a mental note to go get the cases myself. Anna had made a big deal of it to Wilson, telling him never to touch them.

“So the chauffeur can’t touch them either?” Allie asked as she entered the kitchen. She was wearing one of the Twin Springs robes. “I hope you don’t mind that I brought this one with me. I wanted to wash it before I returned it.”

“That reminds me,” I said. “After we get back from Washington, could we look into adding a washer and dryer on board the train? Also, I’d like to convert the area in the front of the Dining Car into a small work-out area, if you’re okay with it?”

“That’s fine. Why don’t you put your assistants on it?” Catherine said. I looked up in time to see a wry smile on her face. “Allie, what can I get you?”

“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?” I teased.

“You should look at it as a compliment,” Catherine told me. “The three of them make a great team, and I do not say that lightly.”

“May I have some tea, please? Whatever you’re drinking is fine. Did you grow up in this house?” Allie asked Catherine.

“Oh, yes. I was born here, grew up here, and even got married here. After we got back from our honeymoon, my husband and I lived here with my parents and my grandfather,” Catherine told her. “If you’d like, I would be glad to show you through our home later.”

“Oh, would you? I know my mom and aunt would love to see it as well,” Allie said.

I recognized that Catherine was drawing Allie out, so I listened closely as I got up and began whipping up some French Toast and sausage. I was half-way through when Prissy came in the kitchen.

“Land sakes, child! What are you doing?” Prissy exclaimed.

I did my best imitation of teenaged shrug as I grinned at her, then went back to my French Toast. Prissy had been the cook in my grandmother’s home since before Michael was born. She had quickly figured out that I was not the same boy she had helped to raise, so I had given her a short version of my story when she caught me making omelets one morning.

“I still can’t get over you cooking for yourself,” Prissy said as she set about starting her morning routine, preparing for the large number of guests that now filled the stately home.

Catherine continued to draw Allie out, while I devoured my breakfast. I listened with half an ear as I thought about my life. Almost six weeks had passed since I had killed myself in 2011, only to wake up in the brain-dead body of a sixteen-year-old in 1971. I once again marveled at my luck and the love-filled life I now led.

Allie was Hanna’s younger sister. I had met her for the first time this past Monday. She would soon be turning twenty years old, and hadn’t decided what she wanted to do with her life. Raised in Longview, Texas, this was her first time to travel to the east coast. She had been amazed with the shopping experience yesterday in New York, as most girls would be. However, she seemed to be unimpressed by the trappings of wealth that now surrounded her. She was more interested in the history of the family and our family home.

I made another mental note to ask Nicky to make sure that Allie and Hanna, along with their mother and aunt, had everything they needed for the state dinner on Tuesday night.

Finally, I shoved my empty plate away and announced I was going for some exercise. The sun was up and it looked to be another hot day.