Bob checked his watch. "ll:27, to be exact. Will you be needing help with your luggage, ma'am?" He played the part of the hotel doorman perfectly, but Christy could tell she was in trouble.
Rick unlocked his car and handed Christy's overnight bag to Bob. With a friendly smile, Rick said, "Good evening, sir. I'm Rick Doyle."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Christy said quickly. "Rick, this is my Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob, this is Rick. But then, you probably figured that out already."
As she stumbled over her words, the two men shook hands, and Rick explained that he would be back to pick up Christy tomorrow.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow night," Christy said, feeling unsure of how to say good-bye to Rick with her uncle standing there. She waved, and Rick waved back.
"Five o'clock," Rick echoed and then got into his car.
Christy followed her uncle to the front door, and even though she didn't try to think of Todd, she couldn't help being flooded with memories of when he had walked her to this front door. He had kissed her while they stood on this porch.
The minute Christy and her, uncle stepped inside the house, petite, dark-haired Aunt Marti appeared, wagging her finger at Christy. "You'd better count your lucky stars that you have an uncle who covered for you tonight, Christina! Where were you? Your father called at 11:05 to make sure you were here, and we had no idea where you were!"
Christy felt sick to her stomach. "What did you tell him?"
Bob's calm voice overrode Marti's anxious scolding. "I'd seen you pull up a few minutes earlier, so I knew you were here. I figured you two were taking a little moonlight stroll. I was young once. I know these things."
"All I can say is, it's a good thing your father didn't ask to speak to you, or you would've been in real trouble!" Marti warned.
"I'm sorry," Christy said. "I wasn't wearing a watch, and Rick said we had enough time."
Bob and Marti exchanged a look that Christy didn't know how to interpret. Marti remained silent, and Bob picked up her bag and began to carry it up the stairs.
Over his shoulder, Bob said, "Guess you might as well decide now."
"Decide what?" Christy followed him up the stairs.
"Decide if you're going to believe everything that young man tells you."
It didn't take Christy long to fall asleep that night. She wanted to put Rick's rose under her pillow but discovered she had left it in his car along with her purse. That didn't bother her, because she knew she'd see him tomorrow and they'd pick up where they had left off.
Even though she went to bed after midnight, she woke up at five-fifteen and couldn't go back to sleep. After rolling around for half an hour, she gave up and got out of bed. Drawing back the sheer ivory curtains, Christy looked out at the beach, feeling like a bird surveying the land from its lofty perch.
The deserted beach had always intrigued her with its vastness. She especially liked it in the early morning light, when a thin puff of fog floated in from the ocean, giving the sand a soft, hazy halo. Everything outside her window looked like a dream world, and this morning it beckoned her to come walk in its stillness.
Following her impulse, Christy slipped into her jeans and sweatshirt and tiptoed downstairs, out into the morning mist. The brisk dampness made her shiver, and she wished she had a jacket. To warm up, she began to jog, feeling the sand fill her tennis shoes.
She trotted along the firmer sand by the shoreline and thought of how fun it had been racing to the water's edge with Rick last night. Maybe they could go for another walk tonight. She wanted to feel his arm around her again and hear him say how much he liked her.
Yes, Rick definitely makes me feel things I've never felt before with any other guy. This must be what Heather was talking about-it's the difference between a crush and a real relationship.
Her lungs filled with damp air as she ran. Then a fit of coughing made her stop and sit for a moment in the sand. She had come quite a way down the beach and decided to catch her breath before jogging back. Hopefully, she would be able to sneak into the house unnoticed and go back to sleep for a few more hours.
Her mind and emotions didn't feel any more settled than when she awoke. At least the jogging had helped to tire her body some.
Christy was about to leave when she noticed another jogger coming toward her through the lifting fog. For the first time, she felt afraid of being alone on the beach. She realized it had been a foolish thing to take off on her own like that. She also realized that she would be more noticeable if she suddenly jumped up and started to run ahead of this person. With her heart beating rapidly, she decided to stay put and hoped the person wouldn't notice her.
Wrapping her arms around her drawn-up knees and keeping her gaze down, she thought, Keep going, keep going, who-ever you are. You can't see me. I'm invisible.
The thumping of the jogger's feet approached. To her terror, the foot-pounding stopped right in front of her. She knew the person was now standing still, examining her.
"Oh, Lord God, protect me!" she whispered under her breath.
The person slowly stepped closer and sat down beside her. She could hear heavy breathing.
Without looking up, and before a word was spoken, Christy knew the person sitting next to her was Todd. All her feelings crumbled like a sand castle does when the rising tide rushes in on it.
What is he doing here? Why is he out at six in the morning? Did he have trouble sleeping too? Is this a nightmare or a God-thing? I can't look at him. What am I going to say?
They sat silently for a long time as Christy listened to Todd's breathing slow to an easier pace. He didn't move. She didn't move. Her back began to hurt from being hunched and looking down for so long.
Worst of all was the way she shivered uncontrollably from the damp cold while everything inside her shouted, Todd, can't you see that I'm cold? Why don't you put your arm around me? But she knew he never would. She knew Todd well enough to know that he was probably praying right now and not thinking of how to make her feel more comfortable or secure.
Christy practiced a dozen opening lines in her mind. None of them made it to her lips. What could she possibly say? "I want to break up?" How, when they weren't really going together? She couldn't symbolically hand him the Forever bracelet and take off running down the beach, because she'd left it in her purse in Rick's car.
She could feel the thumping of another jogger coming toward them and used the opportunity to lift her head and look at the passerby.
"Good morning," the older man called out to them. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?"
"Good morning," Todd yelled back, breaking the silence.
To her surprise, the instant she heard Todd's rich voice, something rumbled deep inside her, and she began to cry. She blinked and swallowed hard, but the tears kept coming. Struggling to find her voice, Christy whispered, "I'm sorry."
Suddenly, everything seemed to clear in her mind, and she prepared herself to say the truth that was on her heart. She had ignored it until this moment. Now was the time to speak it as openly as she felt it. She wanted to go back to the way things were with Todd. Last night had been a one-night date with Rick. She was not going to go steady with him. She was not his girlfriend. She would never go out with him again, ever. She only wanted to go out with Todd. She wanted to be Todd's girlfriend. She'd always wanted to be Todd's girlfriend.
"I...I know last night it looked like I was trying to be Rick's girlfriend or something, but that's not how it is. It was just a date. I'm not going with him. It doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you."
"I know," Todd said.
Christy caught a small breath and kept going, afraid that if she stopped she'd never say what was on her heart. "I don't know exactly how to say this, Todd. I've tried before, and I've never been able to find the right words." Christy took a long, deep breath. "I really, really like you. I care for you in a way I've never cared for anyone else in my life. I..." She wasn't ready to use the word love, yet there had to be something stronger to say than like. She couldn't produce such a word. "I really, really like you, Todd. I hope you can understand what I'm saying." Christy felt as if she'd just ripped her heart out of her chest and was holding it in her hand, waiting for Todd to take it.
"I do understand what you're saying." Todd paused, then spoke quick, deliberate words, as if he'd practiced them all night. "But you've got two more years of high school ahead of you, and you should feel free to date whomever you want and not think you have to apologize to me for it. It was selfish of me to think I could hold on to you and wait for you to grow up."
His words hit her like a bucket of icy saltwater in the face. All her vulnerable, transparent feelings of a few seconds ago flip-flopped to instant fury.
Wait for me to grow up? What does he think lam? A baby?
The tears changed too, into hot, angry pellets. Without thinking, she blurted out, "Well, that's fine. I'll mail your bracelet back to you then."
"No. It's yours to keep. Remember what I said when I gave it to you? No matter what happens, we're going to be friends forever. I meant it then, and I mean it now."
This is unbelievable! Christy thought, wiping her tears. I pour out my heart, and he tells me to grow up! And I can't even have the satisfaction of breaking up, because he won't take the bracelet back.
They sat in silence, with apparently nothing else to say. Then in true bizarre, Todd-like fashion, he placed his cool hand on Christy's forehead and said, "May I bless you?"
"Bless me?"
"Christy," he began, without waiting for her approval, "may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and give you His peace. And may you always love Jesus first, above all else."
Bless me? Christy thought as Todd pulled his hand away. Make His face shine on me and give me peace? I'm anything but peaceful right now! Todd, you spiritual geek, why don't you take me in your arms and tell me you love me and that you U fight to get me back?
Todd stood up.
What? That's it? I hand you my heart, you tell me to grow up, and then you give some kind of benediction to make it all rigid? Now you're going to go, just like that?
Todd wedged his feet in the sand and surveyed the waves with his arms folded across his broad chest. "I'm going to Oahu."
Christy sprang to her feet. "What?" It was one thing for him to give his "blessing" to her to date other guys, but news of his moving away filled her with a desperate sense of losing him forever.
"I've decided to hit the surfing circuit with Kimo, like he and I always talked about when we were kids. I called him last night, and there's room for me at his house on the North Shore. I'm leaving tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Todd!" Christy's fearful, angry feelings ignited her words. "Why? What is going on here with you?"
"I'm going to U of H; registration is Monday."
"You mean the University of Hawaii? Why are you going there?"
"So I can get in a semester of school before the local surfing competition cranks up. That should keep my dad happy."
Keep your dad happy? What about me? I'm not happy you're leaving. And what about you? Do you really want to do this, or did you just decide last night when you saw me with Rick?
"Todd, what's going on? With you, with us? What's happening here?"
He turned to meet her tearful gaze. Those silver-blue eyes that had embraced Christy's a hundred times now held her at a distance as they clouded with a watery mist.
"We're changing, Christy. That's all. We're both changing."
Before she saw it coming, Todd's arms surrounded her in a fierce hug. Then he turned and forced his way across the sand.
"Todd!" she called out, but he kept moving away from her.
Run after him, Christy! Throw your arms around him. Talk him out of going to Oahu. This is your last chance! Do something!
Her mind barked its commands, and her emotions raced at a terrifying speed, yet her feet refused to move. Her throat closed up, and she stood frozen and speechless as Todd, with each step, moved away from her.
"Bye, Todd," she whispered into the thin morning air.
When he was several yards down the beach, Todd turned around, and wiping his eyes quickly with his forearm, he gave his usual chin-up gesture.
"Later, Christy," he called out, and the sound of his hoarse voice hung heavy in the air like a call from across a great chasm.
Sleep, Christy told herself as she trudged through the sand back to Bob and Marti's house. I need some sleep. Then I'll be able to think this whole thing through, and I'll know what to do.
Her plan to slip back in bed backfired when she encountered her aunt and uncle seated at the breakfast table.
"Are you trying to give me gray hair, Christy?" Marti snapped. "First, you push your curfew last night, and then you're not even in our house six hours before you sneak out again! Where were you, and who were you with?"
Christy had never seen her aunt this furious. "I...I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk."
"Alone? Do you know how dangerous that is? What were you thinking, young lady?"
Bob stood up and put his hands on Christy's quivering shoulders. Looking into her tearful eyes, he calmly asked, "Are you okay?"
Christy couldn't decide if she should clench her teeth and turn into a rock or break down and sob all over her uncle. She ended up slipping by with a question. "Could you please excuse me? I need to use the bathroom."
She exited quickly and heard her aunt say, "That's it? You're going to let her go just like that?"
Christy locked the door to the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. Curling up into a shivering ball in the corner, she cried until she had no tears left. Everything inside and outside ached. She forced herself to take a steamy shower and let the hot water massage away the pains.
When the tips of her fingers began to wrinkle, she shut off the water and wrapped her pink flesh in a thick terry cloth robe. Her bed had never felt so inviting before. Now, if only her aunt would leave her alone long enough so she could get some sleep. She rolled over on her side and curled up, falling into an exhausted sleep.
A persistent tapping on the bedroom door awoke her some time later.
"Yes?" she answered, trying to focus her eyes.
"Tracy's on the phone for you," Uncle Bob said through the closed door. "Do you want to talk to her?"
Christy propped herself up on her elbow. "Sure, I'll be there in a minute."
"I have the phone right here," Bob said. "You want me to bring it in?"
"Sure, thanks."
Bob stepped into her room and, before handing her the cordless phone, said softly, "You ready for me to bring up some breakfast?"
Christy smiled and nodded at her tenderhearted uncle. "Thanks."
He winked and disappeared, closing the door behind him.
"Tracy?"
"Hi. What did I just hear? You're getting treated to breakfast in bed? You never told me you had a personal slave."
"My uncle's like that, Tracy. You know him; he likes to baby me, and I let him. Believe me, this morning I need all the babying I can get."
"It's almost afternoon, I hope you know. And how rough could your morning be if you're still in bed?"
Christy explained her early morning encounter on the beach, carefully choosing her words, since Todd and Tracy were such close friends. For some reason it didn't sound as much like the end of the world as it had felt a few hours earlier.
"Todd called me an hour ago," Tracy said. "He didn't even tell me he saw you this morning."
See? Just like Heather said. I'm taking this much harder than Todd. He's already acting like nothing happened.
"But you know," Tracy continued, "he didn't seem completely himself. I mean, he acted all excited about going to Oahu, but I wasn't convinced he really felt that way. He'll probably get more into his adventure once it starts happening. He's definitely leaving tomorrow though. Did he tell you that?"
"Yes."