“That’s why we left Heather’s early. I wanted to make sure everything was cleared up between us.”
“Is it?” Christy asked.
“As far as I’m concerned it is. Nothing’s changed. Is everything okay with you?”
Christy leaned back. “This is probably really stupid to ask, and I’ll probably regret it, but, Todd, what hasn’t changed? I mean, what are we?”
“What are we?” he repeated, glancing in her direction.
“Are we just friends or more than friends or buddies or what?”
“I don’t think there’s a word for it. It’s something between ‘friends’ and ‘boyfriend-girlfriend,’ like you and Tracy were saying the other day at my house.”
“So, what does that mean?” Christy hoped she wasn’t pushing this too far.
“It means I really care about you, Christy. It also means I don’t want to cut you off from any of your other friends.”
“Like when we went ice-skating?”
“Exactly. You and Doug were having a great time together. I didn’t want to come between you. But to be honest, I felt pretty sorry for myself. I guess I assumed you and I would be together that afternoon.”
Christy felt awful when he said that. “Todd, I wanted to be with you that day too. I guess I also had big expectations of what the day should have been like. Everything got messed up. And then the next day, when you drove by and Doug was smelling my hair—”
Todd laughed. “Is that what he was doing?”
Christy nodded. “I got a perm that day, and my hair smelled like green apples.”
Todd laughed again. “Man, when I drove by and saw you two I felt as though I’d been eating green apples!”
Christy laughed. “Todd, I’m sorry everything got so mixed up.”
“I think it was good. It made me think through a bunch of stuff. I ran into your uncle later at the gas station, and he invited me for dinner tonight. Said I’d probably be able to take you to Heather’s party if I asked your dad in person, which I did this afternoon. When your dad said it was okay, I was going to ask you because you sounded freaked when you called. But David told me you were in your room and that he wasn’t supposed to ever mention my name to you again.” Todd grinned, and Christy hung her head.
“I can’t believe this! I was in my room all upset over nothing, and the whole time you were downstairs. Can you believe that? I feel so immature right now.”
“That’s all right. That’s kind of how I was that night at Richie’s.”
They were both quiet for a few minutes; then Christy said, “I guess we still don’t know what we are.”
“We’re friends, Christy. True friends. Real friends. What that means exactly, I guess we’ll have to figure out as we go along. One thing I know for sure is that no matter what happens to either of us, no matter what the future holds, we’re going to be friends forever.”
Christy’s voice came out delicate and sincere. “Todd, I feel the same way. No matter where we are between ‘like’ and ‘love,’ and no matter where we end up, I want to be your friend forever too.”
At that instant, Todd pulled up at a red light. Without any warning he stopped Gus, opened his door, hopped out, and ran to Christy’s side. Yanking her door open, he grabbed her by the hand and said, “I can’t believe it. This is perfect!”
“What?” Christy squawked. “Todd! What are you doing?”
Taking Christy by the hand, Todd tugged her out of the van and led her to the front of Gus the Bus, where the headlights spotlighted them.
“This is it!” he said. “This is where we are. Somewhere in the middle. Kind of like being right in the middle of the street.”
Christy’s eyes shot past Todd to the stoplight. Then it hit her—this was “their” intersection! They were standing right in the middle of their intersection on New Year’s Eve, dressed in their best clothes and stopping traffic.
“Todd!” Christy laughed. “This is crazy!”
“I know,” he said. “Isn’t it great?” Then Todd reached inside his tux and pulled out a small, rectangular box wrapped with a white ribbon. Excitedly, like a little boy, he said, “I didn’t know when to give this to you, but, hey, now’s as good a time as any. Go ahead, open it.”
Cars zipped past them, and Christy kept laughing. Only Todd would do this. She tore off the ribbon and paper. Inside the box she found a delicate gold ID bracelet. “Todd, it’s beautiful!”
“Read what it says.”
She held it toward the headlights and read the engraved inscription: “ ‘Forever.’ Oh, Todd, this is so perfect. I love it! Thank you so much. It’s exactly what we were just saying about being friends forever.”
“You noticed that too?”
The light turned green, and the car behind them honked. Todd stepped around the van and waved them past like a patrolman.
Christy knew the passengers were staring at her, standing there in her fancy black dress, with her aunt’s real diamond earrings, clutching the gift box in one hand and the gold bracelet in the other. But she didn’t care.
At that very moment Christy knew where she was for perhaps one of the first times in her life. She was right in the middle of the street, right in the middle of her relationship with Todd, and that’s right where she wanted to be—nothing more, nothing less. And right now nothing else mattered.
“Let me help you put it on,” Todd said eagerly, stepping back to Christy’s side. He slipped the bracelet around her wrist, pinched the tiny clasp open, and tried several times before securing it around her wrist.
Then Todd took Christy’s hand in his and said, “I really mean it, Chris. No matter what the future holds, no matter how many other guys you go out with or how many miles separate us, a part of you will always be right here.” He patted his chest.
“You’re in my heart,” he continued. “You’re my friend. I honestly don’t know where we go from here, but I’m not worried. God knows. All I know is we’re going to spend eternity together with Him. This bracelet is my way of saying, ‘Here’s my friendship. I promise it to you. It’s yours forever.’ ”
Christy melted. She never imagined Todd had such a romantic side to him. Yet it wasn’t all emotions. It was solid and well thought out. The amazing thing was, although she felt incredibly close to Todd at this moment, she also felt incredibly close to God.
Suddenly a loud boom echoed from a few blocks over, followed by honks and hoots and a screaming cherry bomb sailing through the air.
“Must be midnight,” Christy said. “Happy New Year, Todd.”
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. “Happy forever, Christy.”
Then he kissed her, twice. First on the lips, quick and tender, in the middle of the street, in front of Gus’s headlights. The second kiss came after hustling her back to her side of the van and opening her door. He kissed her this time on the right side of her forehead, partly in her hair, partly on her eyebrow. It was sweet—a tender, caring, protective kind of kiss.
Todd ran to his side of the van, waving at the car behind them and shouting, “Happy New Year to you too, buddy!” He popped Gus into gear, and they charged through the intersection, barely making it through before the light turned red.
Christy twisted her wrist back and forth, watching her bracelet catch glimmers of light. “I love this bracelet, Todd.”
His jaw stuck out a little more than usual with a proud, satisfied look. “I’m glad you do. Sorry it’s late. It was supposed to be your Christmas present, but it took me a while to figure out what to have engraved on it.”
“How did you think of ‘Forever’?”
“Believe it or not, I got it out of First John. Remember Tracy said she wanted us to read it and talk about what we learned when we got together? Well, even though that never happened, I read it through a couple of times.”
“I read it too,” Christy said. “Well, not all of it, but I started it.”
“What I got out of it was that God’s lo
ve for us goes on forever, and that’s how He wants us to love each other.”
Christy knew Todd was right. She also knew she’d learned a little about being more loving to her friends and family week. That thought made her feel sad at the opportunities that were lost. “It’s too bad we never got to all talk about it together.”
Todd shrugged. “Tracy said the same thing when she and Doug were over this afternoon. They wanted to go with me to pick up your gift at the jeweler’s, and then they came over to help me wrap it. I told her there’s always the next time we’re all together.”
Christy realized that was why Doug and Tracy were at Todd’s house when she called. They weren’t having a special get-together and leaving her out. They were helping Todd with her present. Now she felt even worse about the things she had said to him on the phone. But that was in the past. Todd had already told her it was okay. She knew they needed to move forward and start fresh in this brand-new year.
“Thanks, Todd,” Christy said, reaching over and squeezing his shoulder.
“Sure. You’re welcome.”
“I mean, thanks for the bracelet, but thanks too for not giving up on me, even though I acted like a brat.”
“Hey, I already forgave you. Let’s leave it back there, all right?” He nodded over his shoulder. “Let’s give us a second chance.”
They pulled up in front of Bob and Marti’s, and Todd came around to open her door. Slipping his arm around her shoulders, they walked slowly to the front door.
Todd tilted his head back, looked up, and stopped walking. Christy put her arm around his waist and looked up too. The night sky stretched above them like a long, extravagant garment of black velvet dotted with thousands of glittering diamonds.
“It’s beautiful,” Christy murmured.
“You know,” Todd said, “that’s where God scatters our sins when we confess them to Him. He says, ‘As far as the east is from the west,’ that’s how far He’s removed from us all the stuff we’ve done wrong.”
They gazed at the vastness in quiet awe.
“When I was little,” Christy said softly, “I used to think that the sky at night was a big, black blanket that separated heaven from earth, and the stars were a whole bunch of little pinholes that the angels poked in the blanket so they could look down on us.”
Todd squeezed her shoulder and gave a little chuckle. “Sometimes, Christy, you totally amaze me.”
“Oh yeah?” she said, pulling away just enough so she could face him. “Most of the time, Todd, you ‘totally amaze me’!”
“Good,” he replied, confidently pulling her back to his side and walking up to the front door. “That’s the way it should be. Hey, do you think your aunt and uncle would mind if I went in, even though it’s late? I left my mandolin in the living room.”
“I’m sure it’s okay,” Christy said. “My aunt might even give you a sobriety test.”
They both laughed and went in, finding her whole family still up, sitting in the den. As soon as they walked in, Dad looked at his watch.
“You’re early,” he said.
“Should we leave and come back?” Christy teased.
“Of course not!” Mom said, turning her head from her stretched-out position on the couch. “How was the party?”
“It was great!” Christy said. “We played some games, then roasted marshmallows outside over a fire pit. Doug brought a big box of sparklers, and that was really fun.”
“I must say, that’s a much better way to welcome the new year than to drink yourselves silly!” Marti commented. “You should be thankful for such good friends, Christy.”
“I am,” she said, smiling at Todd. “Believe me, I am.”
Todd returned the smile and said, “I need to pick up my mandolin. Is it still in the living room?”
“Why, yes, it is,” Marti said.
Then Todd did something that made Christy feel proud. He walked over and shook hands with her dad and with Bob, then kissed Marti on the cheek and thanked her for the dinner. He slapped high five with David and leaned over and gave Christy’s mother a quick peck on the cheek too.
“Thanks for letting me be a part of your family tonight,” Todd said.
Perhaps only Christy knew how much being with family on the holidays meant to Todd.
“You’re welcome at our house anytime,” Marti said graciously. “And I mean that.”
“Same goes for us,” Dad said.
Christy couldn’t believe her ears! Is my father actually inviting Todd to come down to our house?
“You’ll have to come to Escondido sometime and see us,” Dad said. Christy knew he meant it.
“Thanks. I’ll do that. I’d better get going. Happy New Year, everyone.” Todd slipped into the living room while Christy waited for him at the front door. With his mandolin in one hand, Todd gave her a one-armed hug and said, “I guess I’ll have to come down to Escondido sometime.”
“You heard what my dad said. You’re welcome anytime.”
Todd opened the front door, then turned and said, “Well, I’ll see you, then.”
“Later?” Christy teased.
Todd smiled and said, “Yeah, later, Chris.” He leaned over and gave her one of his warm, brotherly kisses on her temple, partly in her hair. Then, as he closed the door, he said with a slight wink, “Green apples, huh?”
The door was all the way closed before Christy understood, and when she did she laughed aloud. Her heart felt as it never had before: warmed, happy, content.
“Don’t worry, everybody! He only kissed her on the head,” David reported in a blaring voice to the others in the den. His scrunched-up nose stuck out from around the corner.
“Why, you little hamster!” Christy yelled and chased him through the dining room and into the kitchen. “I’m going to short-circuit your bow tie!”
“Just try, Beetle Face,” David challenged from behind the kitchen counter.
“That’s enough, you two!” Dad’s voice boomed from the hallway. “It’s time for bed for both of you.”
Regaining her dignity, Christy smoothed back her hair and paraded past her dad with David hot on her trail, still trying to torment her.
“Good night, everyone!” she called from the bottom stair. “And good night, David,” she said, turning to face him. “I hope you don’t dream about big black beetles that like to eat little hamsters!”
His face puckered up, and he said, “Oh yeah? Well, I hope that …” He searched for some jab. “I hope that … that you don’t dream at all!”
Christy turned and floated up the stairs, murmuring, “Who needs to dream?” Tonight was real life, and it was better than any dream.
Then, just to make sure tonight really happened, she reached for her wrist and ran her finger over the etched “Forever” on her smooth, gold bracelet. Forever, Lord. Her heart melted into the words as she prayed them. No matter what happens, no matter what You’ve got planned for me, no matter how things end up for Todd and me, I want You to know that I am Yours. I’m Yours, God. Yours forever.
About the Author
Just like Christy, Robin Jones Gunn was born in Wisconsin and lived on a dairy farm. Her father was a school teacher and moved his family to southern California when Robin was five years old. She grew up in Orange County with one older sister and one younger brother. The three Jones kids graduated from Santa Ana High School and spent their summers on the beach with a bunch of wonderful “God-lover” friends. Robin didn’t meet her “Todd” until after she’d gone to Biola University for two years and had an unforgettable season in Europe, which included transporting Bibles to underground churches in the former Soviet Union and attending Capernwray Bible School in Austria.
As her passion for ministering to teenagers grew, Robin assisted more with the youth group at her church. It was on a bike ride for middle schoolers that Robin met Ross. After they married, they spent the next two decades working together in youth ministry. God blessed them with a son and then a daught
er. When her children were young, Robin would rise at 3 a.m. when the house was quiet, make a pot of tea, and write pages and pages about Christy and Todd. She then read those pages to the girls in the youth group, and they gave her advice on what needed to be changed. It took two years and ten rejections before Summer Promise was accepted for publication. Since its release in 1988, Summer Promise along with the rest of the Christy Miller and Sierra Jensen series have sold over 2.3 million copies and can be found in a dozen translations all over the world.
Now that her children are grown and Robin’s husband has a new career as a counselor, Robin continues to travel and tell stories about best friends and God-lovers. Her popular Glenbrooke series tracks the love stories of some of Christy Miller’s friends. Her books Gentle Passages and The Fine China Plate are dearly appreciated by mothers everywhere. Robin’s best-selling Sisterchicks novels hatched a whole trend of lighthearted books about friendship and midlife adventures. Who knows what stories she’ll write next?
You are warmly invited to visit Robin’s websites at: www.robingunn.com and www.sisterchicks.com. And to all the Peculiar Treasures everywhere, Robin sends you an invisible Philippians 1:7 coconut and says, “I hold you in my heart.”
Robin Jones Gunn, Christy Miller Collection, Vol 1
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