Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Girl Next Door Chapter 61

A week later, Kate and her parents were in the car on their way to Minneapolis (a sixteen hour drive), and they stopped in Chicago on the way to visit old friends for a night, breaking up the awful drive. The next day, they made it to Minneapolis in the early afternoon, and stayed at her mother’s parents’ house for two days before heading up to Roseau to see her dad’s family.
During their week in Roseau, Kate water-skied, drove her family’s boat, and had a chance to hang out with her cousins whom she had not seen for a long time. But soon, it was time to head back down to Minneapolis to spend more time with her mom’s family. On the drive down, she got a phone call.
“Hello?”
“Hey Kate, it’s Trina.”
“Trina, hi!” Kate replied
“How’s Minnesota?”
“It’s good. Nice and warm. It’s only rained once so far, so it’s been great. How’s Cole Harbour?”
“Good, it’s actually why I’m calling. Sidney won’t admit it, but I know he misses you terribly. He’s having fun and all, but he misses you.”
Kate didn’t know what to say.
“I know you miss him too, so I’m inviting you up for the week. I’ve already talked to your parents; this has been planned for a few weeks now. You’re taking an eight o’clock flight tomorrow morning to Toronto, and then flying into Halifax, and you’ll be getting in around three-thirty.”
Kate had a huge smile on her face, and was speechless.
“Now,” Trina continued, “Sidney has absolutely no idea you’re coming up, and I’d like to keep it that way. His training is later tomorrow, so he won’t be home until around five. Taylor and I will be waiting for you outside of security, and at that point we can take you to baggage claim and head home. Does that sound good?”
“It sounds amazing! Mom, Dad, why didn’t you tell me?” she asked her parents.
“We agreed to keep it a surprise until we were heading back down to Minneapolis,” Sarah explained, also with a smile on her face.
“Trina, thanks so much! I can’t wait to see you guys tomorrow!” Kate said, grinning from ear to ear.
“Not a problem, sweetie, see you then!”
“Okay, bye!” Kate clicked her phone shut.
“So, I guess you have some laundry to do, right?” Sarah asked.
“Dad, can you pick up the speed a little bit? I have some stuff to do,” Kate laughed. “Mom, Dad, thanks so much.”
“We knew you’d like that,” Tom said as he picked up the speed. “You’re welcome.”
*****
The next morning, Kate was at the airport by six, but had no trouble getting out of bed and getting ready. Her clothes were washed, her bags were packed, and she was excited to be going to Cole Harbour. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Sidney’s face when he walked through the door and saw her there.
Miraculously, Kate’s flight left on time, and adding an hour with the time change, Kate got into Toronto a little before eleven. She had to run to make her connecting flight to Halifax, which left at eleven-thirty. She arrived in Halifax at three-thirty, and sure enough, waiting outside of security were Trina and Taylor. Taylor ran up to Kate and gave her a hug.
“Hey Taylor!” Kate said, smiling. “How’s it going?”
“Good,” Taylor said as their hug ended. “I didn’t tell Sid you were coming!”
“And you did a great job,” Trina replied. “How were your flights?”
Kate hugged Trina as she replied, “Good. I slept for most of my flight to Toronto, so that made it go a lot faster.”
“Well, let’s head down to baggage claim! How many bags?”
“Just one,” Kate replied. “But it’s big.”
They retrieved Kate’s bag and then headed out to the car. As they drove to Cole Harbour, Trina and Taylor played tour guide, and pointed out a lot of things on the way. Kate couldn’t believe how beautiful it was; she loved it.
When they got home, they showed Kate where she would be staying, and she unpacked her belongings, putting them into drawers and hanging a few things in the closet. When she was done, she walked into the family room, where Taylor was watching television. She sat down with her as Trina did some ironing. Kate told them new stories about her family, which made everyone laugh. They didn’t have too much time to talk, because a little after five, Kate heard the front door swing open.
“I’m home!” Sidney called out.
“Kate, go hide in his room, he always drops his bag off in there before doing anything else,” Trina whispered. “It’s right next to yours. Go!”
Kate hustled to Sidney’s room, closing the door and sitting on his bed.
“I’ll be right back Mom,” she heard Sidney say. “I just have to drop my gear off in my room.”
Kate heard footsteps coming towards her, and then she saw the door swing open, and as Sidney saw her, he dropped his bag, as well as his jaw.

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