Christy wished he had said he was thinking about her. Still, why should she be surprised that Todd would think of something spiritual and bizarre on Christmas Eve? After all, I was thinking about Jesus watching stars from His manger. Oh no, maybe I'm starting to think of everything in spiritual terms like Todd!
“Remember how God made him a promise?” Todd interrupted her thoughts.
“Wasn't he supposed to become the father of a great nation?” Christy asked.
“Right. Father of a great nation—a guy who had no kids. It seemed like a big joke. Then God told him to step outside his tent one night and said, 'Look up in the heavens, Abe. Count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you're going to have.'”
“I remember that story,” Christy said.
'Well, did you know that after God made that promise, He turned silent? God didn't speak to Abraham again for years and years.
She had always enjoyed Todd's insights into God, and tonight they seemed even more wonderful with the sky above them ablaze with the very same stars God had pointed out to Abraham that holy night thousands of years ago.
“Don't you see?” Todd said. “God made one promise, and He disappeared. Can you imagine how Abraham felt year after year? He had no kids. He had no proof God had ever talked to him. All he had was a bunch of silent stars up in the sky to keep counting and keep believing that God really did make him a promise.”
“That takes a lot of faith,” Christy said.
“I want to have faith like that,” Todd said, turning to Christy.
His voice became low and serious. “I don't know exactly what it is God has promised me about you, about us, and about what the future holds.”
Christy could feel her heart pound faster. She had waited two years for Todd to verbalize some kind of commitment to her. Could this be it?
“I believe that God has planned for us to be friends— close friends. I promised you I'd be your friend forever, Kilikina. I want to have faith like Abraham that whatever that means to God, He'll work it out for us in His time. I want to keep listening for God's voice.”
Then, slipping his arm around Christy and drawing her close, Todd said, “For now I guess we keep counting stars.”
Christy snuggled her head on Todd's shoulder and whispered softly into the starry night, “Then this is where I want to be. Right beside you, forever counting stars.”
To Ethel Herr,
who taught me with her life
that I can never love too much.
And to The Parts of Speech Critique Group,
with wonderful memories of all the years
we sat together with our feet beneath Ethel's table.
I thought we were learning to write.
Now I know we were learning what love looks like
when it's dressed in grace.
we were coming this afternoon?” redheaded Katie Weldon asked her best friend, Christy Miller, as they ascended the outdoor steps of the apartment building.
“Of course. I told Todd yesterday we would leave right after church. He said it would take about an hour to drive down here,” Christy answered, her long legs taking the stairs two at a time. “The directions were really clear. I'm sure this is the place.”
“Number twelve is at the end there,” Katie pointed out. Then striking her usual athletic stance, she knocked on the door. No one answered. Katie looked into Christy's distinctive blue-green eyes with an unspoken, “Well? What do we do now?”
Christy bit her lower lip and scanned the piece of paper in her hand. “I know this is right. Knock again. Louder.”
Katie pounded her fist on the door and called out, “Hey, Rick, Doug, Todd. We're here!”
Still no answer.
Christy brushed her nutmeg-brown hair off her forehead and cautiously peered in a window. From what she could see, no one was inside. “What should we do?”
“They're probably playing a joke on us. They know what a big deal it was for you to talk your parents into letting you come to San Diego. They're probably trying to freak us out. You know, the 'big college guys teasing the little high school girls' trick.”
Katie sounded so confident of her answer that Christy almost believed her. But then Katie usually sounded confident.
“Should we find a phone and try to call them?” Christy suggested.
“Lower your voice,” Katie warned. “If they're in there, they can hear what you're saying.”
“I don't think they're here. Maybe they ran to the store or something.” Christy looked around.
Below them she noticed a cement courtyard with a swimming pool surrounded by lounge chairs. “Why don't we go down by the pool and wait for them?”
Katie surveyed the situation, her bright green eyes scanning the apartment complex for any sign of life. “Doesn't it seem weird to you,” she whispered, “that for a place that's supposed to be crawling with college students, nobody's around?”
Christy was starting to get the heebie-jeebies. “Come on. Let's go down by the pool. At least we won't look so obviously lost standing by their door with our luggage.”
“Oh yeah, we'll look real natural lounging around the pool wearing jeans and clutching our luggage. If anyone from these other apartments sees us, they'll probably think we're homeless and call the police,” Katie sputtered as she followed Christy down the stairs to the pool.
“Then let's put our stuff back in the car.”
“Good idea. I'm starting to feel like an orphan. Why would they ditch us like this? You'd think one of them could manage to leave a note or something.”
The two girls stood at the trunk of Katie's car while she fished for her keys. “Did I give you my keys?”
“Very funny,” Christy said. “Of course I don't have your keys. Stop goofing around and open the trunk.”
“I can't find them.”
Christy let out a sigh. “Did you leave them in the car?”
They both peered in the front window and at the same time noticed the keys dangling from the ignition. Of course, all the doors were locked.
“Good, Katie. Real swift! Now what are we supposed to do?” Christy snapped.
“Hey, relax, will you? I've done this before. All I need is a coat hanger.”
“And where are we supposed to find a coat hanger?”
“Let's try the Dumpster over there.”
She opened the gates to the garbage area and began to rummage through trash bags.
Christy stood nervously beside the car, guarding their gear. Now they really looked like a couple of bums with Katie sifting through the trash.
This was supposed to be a nice, simple Memorial Day weekend in San Diego to visit the guys' God-Lovers Bible study and to have a fun trip to the zoo. It's turning into a disaster!
“Found one!” Katie lifted her prized coat hanger into the air. A rotten banana peel clung to her arm.
“Nice work,” Christy said. “Now why don't you try to leave the rest of the garbage in the Dumpster?”
Katie beamed a victory smile as she shook off the banana peel and straightened out the hanger. She cheerfully gave Christy a rundown of the last time she had locked her keys in the car.
“I was at work, and I had to go in the mall to find a clothing store that would give me a hanger. I figured out that time how to make the loop on the end just right so it'll catch on the knob there. Good thing my car is so old. Your car doesn't have locks like this. We'd be stuck if it was your car.
Christy kept glancing around, aware that now they looked like homeless, garbage-digging hoboes and car thieves.
“Can you hurry it up, Katie?”
“I almost have it.” She gingerly wedged the hanger between the window and door frame, then maneuvered the loop over the lock button. Her tongue stuck out slightly, and she squinted her eyes.
Christy thought Katie looked like she was playing one of those games at the video arcade where the player has to manipulate a metal claw inside a glass cage to pick up a small st
uffed animal. Christy could never win that game. She had ceased wasting her quarters on it long ago.
Not Katie. She was always up for a challenge. Anytime, anywhere.
“Almost,” Katie breathed between clenched teeth as the two girls pressed their faces against the car window, pleading with the loop to connect with the black peg.
“Hey!” a loud voice called out behind them.
They jumped and spun around. They were surprised to see that the big voice belonged to a petite Asian girl.
“Are you Todd's friends?”
She had a bag of groceries in her arms and apparently had arrived on foot, which explained why they hadn't heard her approach. Her long, silky black hair hung over her shoulders, and she peered at them with a delicate smile.
“Yes!” Christy said eagerly. Then feeling obligated to explain what they were doing, she quickly added, “We locked the keys in the car, and we're trying to get them out.”
Katie continued recounting their adventure. “We went to the guys' apartment, but no one was there. We thought maybe they were playing a trick on us, which would be typical of those guys, but they never jumped out and said 'Boo,' so we thought we would put our stuff back in the car.”
The girl listened as they rattled on with their nervous explanations.
“That's when we found out the keys were locked in the car,” Christy said.
Then becoming aware of how silly they must sound, like two inexperienced high school girls babbling on to this independent college woman, Christy lowered the pitch of her voice and tried to sound calm. “So do you know where the guys are?”
“At the hospital.”
Christy felt like a huge fist had just reached into her chest and squeezed the air out of her lungs. She found just enough breath to ask, “Is it Todd? Is he okay?”
“It was Rick,” the girl replied.
The fist released her lungs, and she let out a wobbly sigh.
“Rick?” Katie said, looking like the invisible fist had just grabbed her by the heart. “Is he okay? What happened?”
“I'm sure he'll be fine. He hurt his arm when the guys were in the pool this afternoon. They were doing handsprings off the diving board, and Rick had some kind of competition going. He twisted his arm the wrong way.”
“Sounds like Rick,” Christy said under her breath.
“We'd better go to the hospital,” Katie said, urgently returning to her mission of retrieving the car keys. “Do you know how to get there?”
“I don't think it would help much for you to go. Todd and Doug took him more than an hour ago. I imagine they'll be back before you could get to the hospital.”
“Got it!” Katie popped the door open and reached for the keys. “Are you sure we shouldn't go?”
“I guess you could if you wanted. I think they'll be back any minute though. Or you could stay here and help me with dinner. I told the guys I'd have a spaghetti feast for them when they came back.”
Christy turned to Katie, who still looked worried, and said, “The way this afternoon has been, I don't think you and I should be driving around San Diego trying to find the hospital. It seems to me we should stay here and help…” She paused, realizing she didn't know the girl's name.
“I'm Stephanie,” the girl filled in the blank for her. “And you must be Christy. I've heard a lot about you.”
Christy felt her cheeks warming. “And this is Katie.”
“Did you happen to hear anything about me, say, from Rick maybe?” Katie asked.
Stephanie smiled a delicate, mysterious smile. Her face reminded Christy of a soft pink apple blossom.
“Rick has lots to say about a lot of things. Perhaps he has mentioned you.”
Christy glanced at Katie, concerned about the way her friend might take such an answer. A bit of a relationship had sprouted between Rick and Katie at the Rose Parade on New Year's Day, but that was five months ago. Katie had tried to further the relationship since then, but nothing had brought Rick back into her life. This weekend was designed to be the test. Christy could tell it hurt Katie that Rick hadn't spoken of her the way Todd had talked about Christy. But then Christy and Todd had almost two years of relationship history to draw from.
“I guess we'll stay then,” Katie decided, locking the door again, this time with the keys in her hand.
“Bring up your suitcases,” Stephanie said. “You're both staying with me tonight. I'm in number ten. Two doors down from the nuthouse.”
“Thanks for letting us sleep at your place,” Christy said. “Todd told me he would make arrangements with one of the girls in the complex. I'm just glad you're the first one we ran into!”
“It's pretty quiet around here,” Stephanie explained as they headed for her place. “School was out more than a week ago, and almost everyone has gone home for the summer. I work at the same restaurant as the guys. The Blue Parachute. Did they tell you about it?”
Christy nodded. Katie looked a little left out.
Stephanie unlocked her apartment door. “We all agreed when we took the jobs to stay until June so the restaurant could switch over to its summer help. Here we are,” she announced, opening the door and revealing a tidy, nicely decorated apartment.
“Welcome to my humble home. Please make yourselves comfortable. My roommate left yesterday, so the empty room is all yours.”
Christy and Katie lugged their bags into the bedroom on the right. The only thing in the room was a standing lamp in the corner.
“Todd didn't tell me we were supposed to bring sleeping bags,” Christy whispered.
“1'11 ask Rick if I can borrow his,” Katie said. “Maybe Stephanie has one too.”
Soft classical music floated into their room, and the girls followed its sound back to the living room where Stephanie had turned on the stereo.
“This is a really cute apartment.” Christy surveyed the blue and white striped futon couch, the hanging lamps covered with blue and peach flowered fabric, and the variety of intriguing pictures on the walls.
One of the larger pictures caught Christy's eye. A young woma was wearing a long, pink, lacy dress, with her hair puffed on top of her head like a cloud. From the surrounding garden scenery, it looked like summer, and the woman was seated on a bench, wistfully looking out to the ocean.
“I love this picture!” Christy said.
The scene stirred something inside her. It was the hint of another time and place. A time when women were praised for looking feminine and being dreamers. A place for tea parties and parasols and wearing long, white gloves for a stroll in the garden.
I think I was born a hundred years too late.
“Thanks,” Stephanie called out from the kitchen, where she was unloading her groceries. “Would you two like something to drink? Have you ever had iced ginseng tea?”
The two girls made a face at each other and cautiously approached the kitchen.
“Whatever you have is fine,” Christy said graciously.
“Do you happen to have any Coke? Pepsi?” Katie ventured.
“I don't,” Stephanie said. “But I'm sure the guys do. I have a key to their place. Do you want to go over and get
“Are you sure it's okay?” Katie asked.
“I'm sure they won't mind. They gave me the key because they kept locking themselves out. Sometimes those guys seem like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, and they think I'm their Wendy.”
Christy liked Stephanie. She seemed awfully sweet. There was an international flair about her, and she was intriguing.
“Come on,” Katie said. “Let's go raid the guys' refrigerator. This ought to be fun.”
Stephanie handed them the key. As Christy turned it in the guys' door, she looked over her shoulder to make sure they hadn't returned.
“Doesn't this feel sneaky to you?” she asked Katie.
“Yeah, it's fun! Let's freeze their underwear or something. “
“Katie!”
“What? It was only a suggestion.”
“Where do you come up with these things?” Christy asked as the door opened, and the two of them glanced around the room. 'What a mess!” Christy said under her breath.
The two spies entered slowly and took in the full spectrum. To their right, in the kitchen area, were folding chairs at a card table with a box of sugary cereal in the middle. Surrounding the box were three bowls with puddles of pink soured milk from the dissolved cereal. A half-full bottle of generic cola stood next to the cereal box.
“I feel like Goldilocks,” Christy whispered.
“Me too,” Katie giggled. “Let's see where the three bears sleep.”
“Katie!”
“I'm not going to steal their underwear, I promise. I was only kidding. Come on. I'm curious.”
They stuck close together as they made their way through the living room, which hosted a long brown couch, an overstuffed plaid chair, a small TV balanced precariously on a cement block bookcase, and an old trunk covered with surfing magazines, which served as a coffee table in the center of the room.
“Very stylish,” Katie quipped. “It's the ever popular 'early slob' decor.”
Christy noticed Todd's orange surfboard in the corner, serving as a coat rack at the moment.
“This must be Rick and Doug's room.” Katie peeked around the half-opened door on the right.
Two unmade beds hugged the walls. The floor between the beds was covered with clothes, books, empty potato chips bags, and a neon yellow Frisbee. A bike was tucked behind the door, and a guitar was propped up in the corner with a Padres baseball cap balanced on top.
“How can you tell?” Christy asked.
“Easy. The guitar is Doug's, and the bike is Rick's.”
“Todd plays the guitar too.”
“This doesn't look like Todd. Come on. Let's see what the room of a surf rat looks like.”
Christy felt hesitant to follow Katie. Doug and Rick were two of the neatest dressers she knew. If they could live in such a messy room and appear so tidy in public, then what would “Mr. Casual's” room look like?
“Christy,” Katie called from the bedroom on the right, “you have to see this!”
Christy looked into Todd's room but couldn't believe what she saw.