Badland Bride (29 page)
As if she knew they stared at her, the girl stood, turned their way.
"Lila?” Kendra whispered.
The girl cocked her head, looked at them quizzically. Her features were close to Lila's but not identical. Her eyes were a grey-green instead of the bold, spring green their daughter's had been.
He tugged on Kendra's hand, forcing her to step forward as he did. “Excuse us, we didn't mean to disturb you,” he offered.
The girl smiled. It was a smile he'd seen before. “You aren't disturbing me. I brought flowers to my great-grandmother's grave.” Her gaze went to the large headstone.
He walked closer, until he could read the names engraved in the granite. Lila and Steven “Skeeter” Quinter, July 4, 1950 was etched below the names.
He took a deep breath to get past the chill rippling over his body. She hadn't died until nineteen-fifty. If they had moved to Kansas as youngsters they may have met her—known their daughter as an old woman. His mind twirled. The whole escapade was so intriguing. He believed in parallel universes, knew they existed, but to know his daughter lived in one was mind boggling.
Kendra let go of her husband's hand. Stepped closer to the girl who could almost have been her daughter's twin. “Lila Quinter was your great-grandmother?"
The girl nodded. “I'm named after her."
"Lila. Your name is Lila?” she asked, questioning if she'd heard right.
The red curls bobbed as the girl nodded, then she frowned as her gaze settle on the picture Kendra clutched in her hands. “Hey, we have that exact same picture. My mother recently had it restored.” She shrugged. “It had been in the attic for years, but now it hangs over the fireplace. The exact spot it did when Lila and Skeeter built the house."
Kendra flipped the picture around to gaze at the smiling face of her daughter, the happy, handsome face of the son-in-law they never met. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “The house they built?"
"Yes, it's only a few miles from here. Been in the family since they built it.” The girl glanced between Charles and her. “Are you two extended family? The Quinter's are a large bunch, come across a new one every now and again."
"Your mother was Lila's child?” Kendra's heart lifted with a warm flow of joy.
The girl shook her head. “My grandpa was their oldest son. They had six children, Kendra was the oldest, next was Charles, my grandpa, then Steven, Alex, John, and Grace."
Kendra grabbed her husband's elbow. Their daughter had named her children after them.
"Where do you guys live?” the young Lila asked.
"Hays,” Charles sounded like he had a frog in his throat.
"Oh, I'll be attending college there next fall.” She bent down, rearranged the small bouquet of flowers the wind had already twisted about. When she stood she said, “Are you two going to stop out at the ranch?"
Kendra wished she could say yes, but said, “Oh, we wouldn't want to impose."
"Impose? You wouldn't be imposing. The house is so full two more won't be a problem. Lila set the tradition, every year family from all over gathers here.” She glanced to the headstone. “The town was named after them you know."
"It was?” Charles asked.
"Yes, they made friends with the band of Indians who'd been keeping folks from settling the little town that was then called Me-lo-te Switch. Once folks were no longer afraid of the natives, people began settling in, and after Skeeter found oil on his land the town became quite well-known."
"Really?” Charles bent down to pick something up from the ground. He twirled a little black thing between his fingers.
"Oh, you found a Mosasaurs tooth,” Lila said.
"Yeah, I guess I did."
"I find them every now and again. That's why Skeeter bought the land in the first place,” she said, pointing around. “For the fossils. But the Bone War became too dangerous, and he put a stop to the excavations."
"You seem to know a lot about your great-grandparents,” Kendra said.
"Yes, I've read Lila's diaries so many times, I have them almost memorized."
Kendra's heart was racing. The note her daughter had left for them to find in her backpack had been hard to believe at first, but during the last six months, she and Charles had come to believe every word. Believe Lila had found a portal to the past and fell in love with the man of her dreams. The authorities, unable to find any clues to her or a man by the name of Pete Hawkins, had closed the missing person case, said the two must have ran off together.
Only she and Charles knew the truth. That Pete had been stalking her, had followed her into the past where he lost his life. She glanced to the headstone. The past was also where Lila had found her life, and lived it with all her heart. A warm, happy wind brushed over her, made her skin tingle. She knew the breeze was her daughter, letting her know everything was going to be fine—in both the future and the past.
Charles wrapped his arm around her shoulder. His smile said he felt the breeze as well.
"There's one really odd thing though,” Lila said.
"Oh, what's that?” Kendra asked.
She pointed to the headstone. “They died together. Just went to sleep in their bed one night and never woke up, we know that from family history. But there are no birthdates on the stone because Lila didn't have one. Nowhere does anything ever say when or where she was born. We know she was from Hays and met Skeeter at the Badlands, because he called her his Badland Bride, but we've never found any information about her before then.” Lila shrugged her shoulders then pointed to the picture. “My mother would love to see that. She's as obsessed with family history as I am.” She glanced at their faces for a moment. “Tell you what. I'll go wait by my car, let you two look around a bit, and when you're ready you can follow me to the ranch."
Kendra followed the direction Lila pointed. On the other side of the fence, a bright red Mustang, exactly like the one in their garage in Hays, was parked in the shade of a weeping willow tree. Her gaze floated to her husband.
Tears glistened in his eyes, and he gave a slight nod.
"You're sure we wouldn't be intruding?” she asked, fighting the water in her eyes as well.
"Of course not! Once a Quinter always a Quinter."
Kendra smiled. The first real smile she'd felt in months. “Thank you, Lila. We'd love to meet the rest of your family."
"Your family.” Lila stepped forward, laid a hand on her arm. “You'll be meeting the rest of your family."
Kendra knew the words to be true. Somehow Lila had orchestrated this moment, had devised a plan for her parents to meet her great-grandchildren, their great-great-grandchildren.
Only Lila, their considerate little girl, could have orchestrated this so perfectly.
She had always put others before herself, and evidently, still was.
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