Without needing any extra prompting, Peter hurried into the kitchen.
In the space of ten minutes, The Lakeside Inn went from serene, early morning tranquility, to chaos.
Katie watched Penny’s worst nightmare unfold. Their mom had decided to pack everything except the kitchen sink. The four suitcases she’d brought with her not only upset the carefully allocated number of bags per vehicle, it would earn her parents’ extra luggage fees.
Barbara’s arrival did nothing to calm an already excited family gathering. Although she encouraged their mom to downsize, nothing she said or did made any difference.
After Diana hobbled into the inn, Ethan, Wyatt, Theo, and Peter began their next challenge; getting ten people, twelve suitcases, ten sets of carry-ons, and their jackets, scarves, and anything else they’d forgotten into two trucks.
By the time they were ready to leave, Katie should have been exhausted. But the thrill of seeing the exhibition, of spending five days with the people she loved, was too much.
With a grateful smile, she locked the back door and hurried down the steps.Washington, D.C. Here we come!
CHAPTER21
Katie checked her watch, then looked over the second-floor glass balustrade at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Peter was supposed to meet them here half an hour ago, but he still hadn’t arrived.
Apart from him not being here, the rest of their visit to Washington, D.C. was going well.
Yesterday, Chloe met them at the entrance on Constitution Avenue and took them on a wonderful tour of her department.
Although most of the designers, fabricators, and model makers were based in Maryland, there was still a lot of conservation work taking place at the museum. With Katie’s entire family, including her aunt, uncle, and cousins enjoying the tour, Chloe had almost needed a megaphone to be heard over the excited chatter.
“Has Peter texted you, yet?” Penny asked.
Katie shook her head. “He should be here soon. The meeting he’d organized finished an hour ago.”
“The traffic in Washington, D.C. can be horrendous,” Diana said from the wheelchair she’d borrowed. “He might be sitting in a taxi somewhere.”
“He would have called if he was.”
Ethan stood behind the wheelchair. “He won’t be far away. We should go into the exhibition before Chloe gives her speech.”
As Katie followed Diana and Ethan, she sent Peter a quick text telling him she’d meet him inside the exhibition room. She just hoped the museum hadn’t locked the doors.
* * *
Flinging off his seatbelt,Peter sprinted toward the row of doors opening into the museum. With the rest of the building closed for general admission, he was profoundly grateful Chloe had emailed his entry pass to him. After cramming a week’s worth of work into the last couple of days, he never would have remembered to bring it with him.
Before he stepped inside, a guard studied his electronic ticket and asked him for additional ID. For a moment, Peter didn’t think he was going to get in. Thankfully, after a lot of consideration, the guard let him through.
Standing in the middle of the lobby was like being in a big shopping mall. To his left and right, wide corridors branched off to different exhibitions. But that wasn’t where he needed to be tonight. Wasting no time, he climbed the stairs to the second floor.
It didn’t matter how many times he came here, he never grew tired of seeing the silver, stylized rendition of the star-spangled banner hanging on the far wall. It was huge, bold, and held his attention from whatever floor he was on.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to admire it tonight. Checking his watch, he turned toward Unity Square and the home of the American Democracy Exhibit. The space where Katie’s great-grandparents’ exhibition was being held was relatively easy to find. Especially with the large banners and red carpet directing the attendees to the correct location.
He stopped when he saw the name of the exhibit.Lost and Found:the journey of a speech that changed the world.Whoever had chosen the name had put a lot of thought into it. The words were poignant, laced with different meanings for Katie’s family and the people who would visit the museum.
He jumped when another security guard stopped in front of him. After checking Peter’s pass, he waved him forward, straight into the exhibition room.
This was the first time he’d been to an opening night. Invited guests, dressed in tuxedos and evening gowns, listened attentively as Chloe explained how a letter addressed to Robert Todd Lincoln had made its way across American to a small town in Montana. And how the words inside the letter would come to mean so much to the world.
His gaze swept across the guests, searching for Katie and her family. Mabel and her sister, Beatrice, were standing beside Allan. He scanned the faces of people he’d met at Diana’s wedding; cousins and close friends who were as emotionally involved in the life of Katie’s great-grandparents as she was.
As soon as he saw Katie’s red hair, he smiled. She was standing on the far side of the room, between Wyatt and Penny. Her blue dress shimmered under a set of spotlights angled toward some exhibition pieces. It reminded him of the gown she’d worn to Diana’s wedding.
He looked at the other side of the room and breathed a sigh of relief. The staff had remembered to place a barrier in front of the dresser where Katie’s family had found the letter.
