Chapter 31
I return to West Lake a new woman. It feels clichéd to think about it, but something inside me has changed.
Maybe it’s hope. I’ve given up my knockoff Ray-Bans in favor of rose-colored glasses.
Where before I refused to let myself even think about the possibility of getting into medical school, now I’m making plans.
The Thursday of the week I get back, I hire Mrs. Hail’s granddaughter, Miranda, as my real estate agent. She has her grandmother’s blue eyes and easy laugh and, as Mrs. Hail promised, a lust for blood when working with developers.
She convinces me to list the property publicly, instead of entering into a private deal with Mansfield Properties. “If they want it badly enough, they’ll make it worth your while,” she tells me. “I can think of only one scenario where you want your back up against the wall, and this ain’t it.”
The following week, Miranda refers me to a real estate lawyer she’s previously worked with who agrees to take a commission once the property is sold. They put up the official listing on Wednesday morning. By Thursday afternoon, we have a meeting set up with Reeve and his boss for the following day.
The night before my meeting, I’m a nervous wreck.
I know that selling the property to Mansfield is my right.
It’s legal. The property itself will be beautiful, and I could—if I really wanted to—focus on the “pros” side of the list: It will drive up property value…
for those who already own property. It will encourage retail businesses to move to the area…
where they will cut prices and drive out local businesses.
It will allow me to afford school finally.
I concentrate on that last shining pro as I put on my pajamas and climb into bed.
Kitty’s diary sits in its usual spot on my nightstand.
I reach for it instinctively as I slide under the covers.
I tell myself that I’m giving it one last try—a final chance to find a reason behind her mysterious gift, but I’d be lying if I also didn’t admit it’s an unfinished story and I want to know the ending.
Dear Diary,
The most wonderful thing in the world has happened.
Mr. Scott, who owns the dance hall, has decided to retire.
He is almost seventy now and finds the late nights too long.
But guess who he thinks is perfect to run the dance hall in his place?
Knots! It’s such fabulous news. I have never seen Knots happier.
His new job comes with a big raise, too!
He loves the dance hall more than anyone in West Lake and has all of these wonderful ideas for bringing more and more tourists to the town.
I think this is the beginning of something extraordinary for Knots, me, and everyone here in West Lake.
Yours forever,
Kitty
—
I awaken in Dot’s bed, in that same dark room, wearing that same white dancing dress, yet there is no Kitty sleeping beside me.
I don’t call out for her this time.
The bed is cold, and I can sense she isn’t there.
But I know exactly where to find her.
I run all the way to the dance hall, toward the music and the yellow light, until I’m inside and weaving through the dancing bodies. I spot her next to the stage, her lips curved into a dreamy smile, watching the dancers as they spin and sway.
I don’t recognize Knots beside her until I’m almost upon them.
He is in a new black suit with his hair slicked back and smart.
However, it’s not the suit that’s thrown me off.
It’s the notable difference in how he carries himself from just a few dreams ago.
His head is a little higher, his stance a little wider, and his smile seems to say, Welcome to my party.
Knots spots me first, calling me over with a friendly wave of his hand. “Evening, Dotty. You’re looking lovely.” He reaches for my hand and kisses it, causing me to fight an unexpected blush.
“Hey,” I say back. “Good to see you, too.”
Knots inclines his head toward the stage. “Have you had a chance to listen to the band yet? What do you think? Swell, aren’t they?”
The band in question are all dressed in white jackets with thick black lapels and matching tiny bow ties.
A tall Black man stands as he plays the piano, periodically pausing to point at the trombonist and trumpeter, who seem to be squaring off in a back-and-forth battle of the horns.
But it’s the drums that capture my attention.
It’s not the usual steady rhythm I’ve gotten used to here at the dance hall.
The wild, syncopated thumping seems to capture the essence of a summer night.
“Are those bongos?” I ask.
“It’s called the mambo.” Kitty shakes her shoulders to the music. “It’s all the rage in New York City, and now we have it here in West Lake, thanks to Knots.” She smiles, nudging Knots with her elbow.
“Just wait until you hear the band I am bringing in next weekend,” Knots says. “They are a sensation down in Chicago. We’ll be the first to have them up here in Ontario. I heard their new record on the radio, and I thought—”
Knots is interrupted by a young rope boy who has intruded into our tiny circle, pulling something from his pocket.
“Hey, Knots…I mean, sir…” he stammers, handing a note to Knots. “I’m supposed to give this to you. It’s from the boss. I mean, the old boss.” He shakes his head. “It’s from Mr. Scott.”
Knots unfolds the paper. His smile slowly fades, and then his mouth presses into an expressionless line. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment.” He tucks the note into his jacket pocket. “Mr. Scott needs to see me in the office. I may be a little while.”
He cups Kitty’s elbow, holding it and her gaze for an extra beat before turning and following the young rope boy back into the crowd. We watch as they bob in and out of view then eventually disappear entirely behind a door next to the ticket booth.
The band starts up with another lively tune. Kitty turns to me, inclining her head toward the quickly filling dance floor. “Shall we?”
She reaches into her evening bag and pulls out a long strip of tickets. “There are benefits to going steady with the manager, you know.”
She laughs and rips two from the strip, handing one to me, then pauses as if waiting for me to put two and two together.
“You’re going steady with Knots?”
Kitty rolls her eyes. “Don’t look at me that way, Dotty.
I know I might have said a few silly things about how I imagined our life.
But I’ve come to realize it’s not going to be like that.
Knots is going to run the dance hall and I will help him.
We are going to bring all sorts of fabulous people here to West Lake.
I can practically see our future in my head. It’s going to be grand.”
She twirls around, her smile so hopeful and bright that it makes me suddenly sick. I can see her future, too. The dance hall abandoned. Kitty living her fabulous life but far away from West Lake and far away from Knots.
“What happened to Beau?”
Kitty’s smile falters. “What do you mean?”
She hasn’t mentioned him in her diary since that trip to Toronto.
“Does he know about this new life plan?” And how he’s no longer a part of it, I want to say.
Kitty’s cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. She brings her fingers to her face as if she, too, is aware that she is flushed.
“I haven’t told him yet,” she says quietly. “I haven’t had a chance to. He has been back in Toronto the last little while, and it’s not something I want to explain in a letter. But you’re right.” Kitty’s hand reaches for mine and squeezes. “I will tell him the next time I see him.”
She keeps hold of my hand, pulling me behind her. We weave and dip between dancing bodies on our way to the dance floor entrance, but just as we reach the velvet rope, Kitty stops.
I step quickly to the right to avoid running into her back.
“What’s going on?” I try to see past her to the problem, but the crowd is too thick. “Are we not dancing?”
My question remains rhetorical because the crowd thins enough for me to see the office door is open again.
Knots is reentering the dance hall. Following him is an older man with two tufts of white hair and wearing a summer suit.
The older man pats Knots on the back and whispers something in his ear.
Knots responds with a slow nod of acknowledgment, his eyes fixed on the floor in front of him.
The scene is brief and unextraordinary.
Under any other circumstance, I wouldn’t look twice.
But as I watch them, I feel the significance of the moment.
This is when it happens.
This is when Kitty learns what I have known all along. That you can dream all you want of something bigger and better, and just as you feel that future within your grasp, life comes along and knocks you hard on the ass.
Kitty stiffens beside me, as if she, too, can sense something has changed.
We both watch as Knots shakes the man’s hand and then watches him leave out the front door.
The moment it closes, Knots’s eyes find Kitty’s.
His shoulders deflate. His complexion turns an eerie shade of gray.
There is no trace of the man who stood so proud only minutes ago.
“What’s wrong?” Kitty asks when Knots gets close enough to hear her.
“The dance hall.” His voice is thick. He coughs to clear his throat. “Mr. Scott is selling the building. He says he can’t afford to keep it running any longer.”
Kitty stifles a gasp with her hand. “Oh, Knots.” She steps toward him, ready to wrap him in her arms, but he holds out his hand.
“I can’t right now, Kit. I need to tell the guys. This is going to be an awful blow for all of them. Zeb’s pop is out of work, and Stu has a new baby on the way. I gotta let them know before word gets around and they hear it from someone else.”
Kitty’s hand reaches for mine. Her palm is hot and clammy.
She nods. “Of course,” she says, and swipes the corner of her eye with her hand, dislodging a single tear that rolls down her cheek.
She stands stiff and stoic as we watch Knots make his way to the dance floor, where the rope boys have begun taking tickets for the next dance, tapping their feet to the mambo music, blissfully unaware of everything that has happened.
“This is going to be awful for the whole town.” Kitty tips her head to rest it on my shoulder.
“The Minards just built three more summer cabins to accommodate all the weekend tourists, and Lou just opened his diner. He was counting on a busy summer to bring in enough extra money. I don’t know if it will be the same without a dance hall, do you? ”
I open my mouth to tell her I’m not exactly sure but stop as a familiar face appears in the doorway.
He steps inside, and there is a moment where he is completely swallowed by the crowd, but I know exactly where he is headed, and we have only moments.
“Kitty.” I poke her hard with my elbow. “Beau—”
“I know. I said I’ll talk to him,” she hisses back. “But there are far more important things I need to worry about right now.”
“No. He’s—”
I don’t finish the sentence.
Because he has made his way to us. A dazzling smile breaks across his face as he closes the last few steps.
“Kitty. Darling.” He leans down to kiss her on the cheek.
I don’t see her reaction.
Because a terrible sound yanks me back.
I open my eyes and wake up.