the most incredible thing she had ever seen. Then Walter escorted her farther into the room and she saw something a tad bit better.
Grace held Walter's arm until they reached the center of the chamber. She stopped, released his arm, and turned toward a couple of sofas, where Katie stood next to a dream. For several seconds, she could do nothing but let her mind go. It remained in a better place until the woman who had set up this incredible reunion brought her back to the here and now.
"I believe you two know each other."
Grace wanted to say something but couldn't. Just the mere sight of Joel had left her speechless. He was dressed for a hike in a sweatshirt and jeans. He needed a shave and probably a bath. But he was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.
"It's you," he finally said.
"It's me."
Grace smiled as the tears rolled down her face. Gripped by a hundred different thoughts and emotions, she found it nearly impossible to move forward. But move she did. With a few brisk steps she raced toward a man, not an illusion, and met his embrace at full stride.
Joel smothered her with a hug and a kiss, the kind she had wanted the night he had left – the kind she wanted the rest of her life. He pulled back, shook his head, and repeated his greeting.
"I am so sorry, Grace. I can't even find the words."
"Then don't," she said, wiping her eyes. "Don't apologize. I understand why you left. Just tell me you love me. Tell me I haven't made a mistake."
Joel smiled broadly as tears of his own began to form.
"Are you kidding? I love you so much it hurts. I've thought of nothing else since I left. I've been miserable." He grabbed her hands. "It's really you."
"It's really me."
"But how?"
"I opened your card on December 7 and flew to Helena that night with money Katie gave me. I said goodbye to Aunt Edith and Ginny and left. Your letter was like a road map."
Grace saw the sheer joy on his face and lapped it up. If there was ever any doubt that he loved her – and only her – it was gone. But she could also see confusion in his face. Katie had not told him her entire story and he had not figured it out.
"But it's not possible. It's not. Even if you left in time, you could not have known where to go. I never named the mine. There must be hundreds in Montana."
"There are thousands," she said. "But there was only one Buick dealer in Helena. He remembered you and where he picked you up. He was very helpful."
Joel gave a smile to Grace and another to Katie. Then he looked at the ceiling as if giving his thanks to God or a guardian angel or the grandmother who would have loved this moment.
Grace didn't wait for him to inquire more. She didn't want to answer questions. She wanted only to put an exclamation mark on an incredible day. She put her hands on his face, met his eyes, and gave him a tender kiss.
"You left me some crumbs," she said, "and I picked them up."
CHAPTER 20: JOEL
Sunday, June 18, 2000
The waves were smaller than the last time around, the air was cooler, and the morning sun loomed higher in the sky. But in so many other, more meaningful ways, the setting was the same. Seaside was Seaside, Grace was Grace, and 2000 was 1941. Joel had the love of his life at his side, a love he thought he had lost. Nothing else now really mattered.
"I can't believe you wore the dress," Joel said as he led Grace by the hand on the Promenade, which they had walked for more than an hour. "That was a nice touch."
"You remembered."
"How could I forget?"
How could he forget? Joel thought as he laughed to himself. She had worn the blue gingham dress on an incredible night that was permanently etched in his mind – a night just five weeks distant, or at least five weeks distant as the crow flied through time.
They had stopped at his place to get money for a movie but never made it out of the house. Responding to Joel's depression over losing a fight to three thugs and losing a roommate to the Army, Grace had
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