Christy remained silent.
“The only exciting thing I've done in my whole life is go to Lake Tahoe with the ski club last Thanksgiving. Now all of a sudden I have a chance to go to places like San Diego and Big Bear, and you're mad about it.”
“I'm not mad,” Christy said.
“Then you're jealous. Why? Because some of your friends are being nice to me and including me in their group! Is that so hard for you to accept?”
“No, that's not it at all! I'm glad you're getting to know some of my beach friends. They're all terrific, and I know they'll like you. It's just that you're being included and I'm being left out.”
“Not on purpose, Christy. We're both being included. You can't go, that's all.”
“That's what I'm upset about. I want more freedom. I want my parents to trust me more. I don't want to be tied down to a job. And most of all, I don't want to have all these responsibilities.”
Katie paused before summarizing. “You want to be treated like an adult while you still have the freedom to be a kid.”
“Yes, something like that. Seems to work for you.”
“Sometimes. Maybe that's what happens when you're the youngest of three kids. It's probably harder for you since you're the oldest, and you have to be the first to break into new territory. It'll be easier for David.”
“Don't talk to me about David. He just got away with this stupid wisecrack at the table, and I know if I would've tried something like that at his age I would've been sent to my room.”
“Like I said, it's easier on the younger kids in a family.”
“It's still not fair.”
“So, what's fair in life?” Katie challenged.
“I don't know,” Christy mumbled. “Not much, I guess.”
“God is fair,” Katie added thoughtfully. “Things that happen to us aren't fair from our perspective. I think in the end God evens things out when we leave the results to Him.”
“I guess so,” Christy said with a sigh.
“Come on, Christy,” Katie said. “Snap out of it! You need an attitude adjustment, girlfriend. And quick!”
“Oh, thanks a lot! Now you sound like my mother.”
“Then erase that from your memory. You don't need an attitude adjustment. You need a friend. And I just happen to be one.”
Christy let a smile lift her lips out of their pout.
Since Katie couldn't see Christy's response over the phone, she ventured another offering to her friend. “Remember? We're peculiar treasures, you and me. We have to stick together. And I've decided that because you have to work tomorrow, I won't go to Big Bear either.”
“No, Katie, you should go. I want you to go. Really! You stayed home from San Diego because of me and that turned out to be a mistake. Don't turn down this opportunity. Go! Have a good-time.”
“Are you sure?”
'Yes: But will you do me one favor?”
“Anything! What is it?”
“Make a huge snowball and smash it into Rick's face for me!
“Oh, my!” Katie joked. “Getting a bit feisty here, aren't we? I thought Rick no longer had the power to fire up your feelings.”
“You're right,” Christy agreed. “Forget I said that. You go and have a wonderful time and forget I ever said anything about Rick. Pretend I never met him.”
“Pretend you never met whom?” Katie teased. “Rick? Rick who? I don't recall Christy ever mentioning a guy by that name.”
Christy laughed. “Thanks, Katie.”
“No, thank you for inviting me into your group.”
Christy was about to say that it was originally Rick's idea to invite Katie to God-Lovers, but then she would be mentioning that name again, and she had more self-control than that.
“And we'll go to the Rose Parade together,” Katie said.“You'll see. I'll call you when we get back tomorrow night, or if you're still at work I'll try to stop by.”
“What about your job?” Christy asked. “I thought you had to work this week too.”
“I do. But since I worked every afternoon and evening last week, they gave me Sunday and Monday off.”
“Of course,” Christy muttered to herself after she hung up. “Katie has Monday off, no problem! Not me. She's getting all the breaks lately. Why is God paying special attention to her and ignoring me? Not that she doesn't deserve it, but I deserve it too, don't I?”
Work on Monday wasn't too bad. Christy spent most of the morning in the back room marking sale prices on Christmas specialty items. The work was easy, and she didn't have to deal with the mob of customers out front. Still, she felt sorry for herself knowing that her friends were out having fun while she worked.
She had brought a sack lunch with her and didn't even leave the back room when Jon told her to take her break. Settling in at the card table with her peanut butter and honey sandwich, Christy picked up a magazine from Jon's mail pile.
Without realizing it, she had selected a surfing magazine. The cover copy announced, “This Month, the Big One's at Waimea.”
A picture of a gigantic wave dotted with at least a dozen miniaturized surfboards took up the rest of the cover. It looked like a huge blue fist was about to curl up its fingers and crush the antlike surfers.
Christy quickly found the feature article and pored over the photos and details of the surfing competition to be held that month on Oahu's North Shore.
Todd. He's there right now. Doug said it was this week. Todd's surfing waves like this!
She turned back to the cover and tried to imagine Todd on his orange surfboard, in the clutches of the ominous wave monster. It frightened her. Todd could die trying to surf a wave like that. He could die, and it would be weeks before any of them would ever know.
Oh, God, keep him safe! Protect Todd and don't let him get hurt. I want You to bring him home soon. Katie said You are fair. Please be fair to Todd and protect him. Don't do it for me though. Do what's best for Todd. But keep him safe, please!
behind the counter in the pet store. Six o'clock. Time for me to get out of here. Where's Jon? I can't leave the register until he relieves me. I wonder if I should buzz him or just wait. He knows I'm off at six.
Two customers stood in line. She decided to hurriedly ring up their purchases, hoping no one else would join them in line. The first customer had a large aquarium tank that Christy found awkward to get into a bag.
“Have you got it?” she asked the customer as she placed it in his arms.
“Yes, I do now. Thanks.”
“You're welcome. Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas to you,” the customer responded.
The next customer slapped a bag of birdseed on the counter and muttered, “Tookyou long enough.”
Christy recognized him as a frequent customer who seemed to love to complain. She and Jon referred to him as “Mr. Grouch.”
Quickly punching the buttons on the cash register, Christy turned to the man with her brightest smile and said, “That will be $5-78, please.”
The man handed her a five-dollar bill and a dollar and fumbled in his pocket. “Hold on, hold on. I have three pennies here somewhere.”
His search produced two pennies and a button. “Hold on,” he said, sounding even more irritated.
Christy remembered feeling some change in her jeans pocket earlier. She stuck her fingers in and found a penny, which she presented to Mr. Grouch with a smile.
“Here, I have an extra penny.”
He scowled at her but ceased his pocket search. Christy quickly made the change and popped his birdseed in a bag. She handed it to him with another big smile and said, “Merry Christmas, Mr. Grou—”
Oh no! she thought in a panic, when she realized what she had done. I almost called him Mr. Grouch to his face!
The man snorted and strode into the mall as if he hadn't heard her or he didn't care.
Christy felt her cheeks burn red as she turned to the next customer, ready to ring up the person's purchase. To her s
urprise, that person was Doug.
“Hi. I didn't even see you come in. How was the sledding at Big Bear?”
Doug's cheeks were rosy from the wind. He wore a red-plaid flannel shirt and bib overalls that made him look like a kid who had been outside playing all day.
“Awesome! We had a blast. Everyone is over at the pizza place across the street. Katie said you finished work at six, so I thought I'd chance it and see if you could have pizza with us.”
“She'd love to.” Jon stepped behind the counter and reached for the phone.
“Yes,” he said into the phone, “we have four Japanese fighting fish, and they're on sale until Christmas.”
Christy smiled at Doug and said, “I guess my boss says I have to go. Let me grab my stuff. I'll be right back.”
She slipped behind Jon and scooted to the back room to retrieve her purse. What she really needed to do was call her parents, and the phone in the back would allow her more privacy. As soon as she was sure Jon was off the phone, Christy dialed her home number. Her mom answered.
“Hi, I'm getting off work right now, and I wondered if I could have pizza with Katie and some other people.” There. That wasn't so hard. Why do I make asking to go places so hard? Wonder what she'll say. At least Mom answered rather than Dad.
Her mom asked where Christy wanted to go and who would be there. Then she said, “Sounds like fun, honey. Think you'll be home by nine?”
“Yes. So it's okay?”
“Sure! Have a good time. Lock the car, and don't give anyone a ride home.”
Christy hung up and thought how nice Doug was to include her in their get-together. Maybe she'd have a chance to talk to Rick. If not at the pizza place, then he might suggest they get together tomorrow before she left for the mountains. She didn't want to go through Christmas without resolving their relationship. Grabbing her backpack and jacket, Christy joined Doug up front, where he and Jon were laughing together.
“I'm parked out that way,” Christy said, pointing behind her. “Do you want me to meet you at the pizza place?”
“Why don't we both go in my truck?” Doug suggested.
“I have a parking place right by the entrance. Then I'll bring you back here afterward to pick up your car.”
“Okay,” Christy said, fully aware of Jon's look of approval.
“Merry Christmas, Jon,” Christy said as a customer stepped up to the counter. “I'll see you next year.”
“That's right. You don't work again until the Saturday after New Year's. Hang on a second.”
Jon totaled the customer's purchase of three doggie stockings and handed her the change. As soon as the woman stepped away from the counter, Jon pulled an envelope from the cash register drawer and handed it to Christy.
“May it never be said that I'm a total Scrooge. Here's your year-end bonus, Christy.”
“Thanks, Jon!” She felt horrible for not buying him anything for Christmas. Even a plate of cookies would have been nice.
“Oh, and just to make you really happy—” Jon cleared his throat and glanced around to make certain no one could hear him except Doug and Christy—“May you have a joyful celebration of the birth of your God.”
Christy, full of surprise, glanced at Doug and then back at Jon. “Thank you, Jon. And may you have a joyful celebration of the birth of my God.” Then leaning closer and touching Jon's arm, she quietly added, “And may He become your God too.”
Jon smiled his touche to Christy.
She waved and headed out into the crowded mall with Doug beside her and Jon's gaze following them.
“Amazing how irresistible you are,” Doug said.
“What?”
“To Jon. There's something mysterious and appealing about a person who knows God and doesn't hide it. I can tell that you and Jon have talked about God, and Jon knows you're a God-lover. That's irresistible to people who don't know God.”
“Oh,” Christy said as they walked out the door to his truck. “I never thought of it that way. Jon knows how I feel about my relationship with God. He also knows I've been praying for him, and I think it makes him nervous.”
“That's awesome.” Doug unlocked the passenger door of his yellow four-wheel-drive truck.
Christy smiled to herself and climbed up into the seat while Doug jogged around the front of the truck and slid in on the other side.
“What?” he asked when he saw her grin.
“I can't believe you still say 'awesome.' That's one of the first things I remember about you when we met on the beach. Everything was awesome to you.”
Doug laughed. He had a great laugh that came from a gurgling brook inside him, and when it splashed out, it refreshed those who heard it.
“Most things are awesome, when you think about them. It's because of God. He's an awesome God. I don't know a word that says it better.”
Christy smiled back. It felt good to be with an old friend. It was a familiar, safe, contented feeling.
'“Who ended up going with you guys today?” Christy asked.
“Your friend Katie, Rick, Heather, Tracy, and a guy named Mike, who's a friend of Rick's. We had an awesome time. Katie sure is fun. How come you never brought her up to Newport Beach?”
“I guess it never worked out. I'm glad she got to go with you guys. Sounds like she fit right in.”
“She did. What a sense of humor!”
Doug's words proved true as they stepped into the restaurant and spotted the group at a large booth in the back. Katie had something on her ears, and the rest of the group was cracking up at her antics.
As Doug and Christy approached the booth, Christy saw that Katie had poked the bottoms out of two Styrofoam cups and placed a cup over each ear. Using her best Santa's-little -elf voice, she was coaxing them all to smile for the camera.
“Hi!” Doug greeted the merry group.
Rick and Mike barely noticed them. Tracy and Heather, two of Christy's beach friends, acted happy to see Christy, but they were so busy laughing at Katie that they merely scooted closer together in the booth and patted the corner for Christy to sit down and enjoy the show. Doug pulled up a chair at the end of the booth.
Katie continued, unembarrassed and apparently unaware of how ridiculous she looked and sounded. Christy could never act like that.
“Ah,” Katie squeaked as she pointed to Christy, “my wardrobe assistant. May I borrow your earrings?”
With all eyes on her, Christy undipped her dangling earrings. They were little green gift boxes tied with red ribbons. Tiny bells on them jingled when she shook her head.
Christy reluctantly handed them to Katie. They weren't valuable earrings, but she had bought them with her own money. She worried that Katie might unwrap the little boxes now just to get a laugh, and that would be the end of her earrings.
“Perfect!” Katie chirped, snapping the earrings onto the large, outer rims of the Styrofoam cups. The earrings now hung from her handmade elf ears, and the bells jingled when she wobbled her head back and forth. She looked so silly that even Christy started to laugh.
Out of nowhere, a guy from their high school stepped in front of their booth and snapped a picture of Katie. Katie, Christy, and Rick recognized him as Fred, the school yearbook's candid cameraman.
“Fred!” the three of them exclaimed in unison.
“Great!” Fred said. “I bet the school paper will be interested in using this as their January cover. I can see it now: “What I Did During Christmas Vacation, by Katie Weldon, the Elf.”
“Give me that camera,” Katie squawked from her closed-in spot in the booth. “I want that photo destroyed. Get it, Rick!”
Rick stood up and spoke to Fred in a low voice. Fred smiled and nodded his head. Before Christy knew what was happening, Rick slid in next to Christy and, practically sitting on her lap, wrapped his arm around her and pressed his cheek against hers just as Fred snapped another picture and took off.
“Rick!” Christy shouted, pushing him off the edge of the boot
h seat. “He's going to put that in the yearbook!”
Rick dusted himself off and strutted back to his spot at the opposite end of the booth. “That's what I'm counting on, Killer.”
Christy was furious. She wanted to tell Rick off right then and there. He had no right to push himself on her like he owned her. Everyone was looking at her, waiting for her response. Even Mike, who she hadn't met yet, looked amused at her expense.
“Come on,” Doug suddenly said, grasping Christy by the wrist and urging her to her feet. “We haven't ordered our pizza yet. Do you like Canadian bacon and pineapple?”
Christy rose and let Doug hold her wrist as he led her to the order counter. Tiny tears bubbled up in her eyes as the anger over what Rick did surfaced.
As soon as they rounded the corner and were away from the group, Doug put both hands on her shoulders and said softly, “Are you okay?”
Christy blinked the tears back, looked up at Doug, and nodded. “I guess so.”
“Rick thinks the world of you. You know that, don't you? I mean, talk about a godly woman being irresistible! You are absolutely irresistible to him. He doesn't know how to act around you because you're so different from all the other girls he knows. He doesn't mean to hurt you, really.”
“I wish I could believe you.”
Doug brushed his finger across her cheek to stop a runaway tear. “The problem is that you two need to talk things out. I know having your relationship unresolved must be killing you. Having lived with Rick all semester, I know it's been eating him alive. You both need to talk.”
“I'd like to,” Christy said. “But it hasn't worked out yet. I've told him I want to talk, but he can't seem to schedule it. We were supposed to talk today.”
“Maybe you still can.” Doug opened up his arms and welcomed Christy into his comforting hug. “You relax and leave everything up to ol' Uncle Doug.”
and Doug returned to the booth, the first two pizzas had arrived, and everyone was eating as if nothing unusual had happened.
Katie had removed her elf ears, and the earrings, unscathed, waited on a napkin at Christy's place.
“I wish you could have come with us today,” Heather said to Christy. “We had so much fun. These guys are maniacs!”