“A little bit.”
“Do you need to go home?” Anne asked. “We can take you. We just need to find Tess first.”
“You want me to take you home?” he asked.
“Nobody needs to take me home. I want you guys to stay and have fun. I can stay.”
“No, I don’t mind,” he offered. “I’ve had my fill anyway. This really isn’t my scene.”
“What is your scene, Riley?” I asked.
“Sitting on the couch watching movies.”
“Sounds thrilling,” Tammy said.
We ignored her.
“I am pretty tired. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind leaving?”
“Positive.”
“Do you girls care?” I asked. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“No, go ahead,” Anne said cheerfully. “Go home and get some rest.”
He stood up and pulled me to my feet.
“Will you guys tell Tess I said good-bye and I’ll see her later?”
“Sure. Hey, you have any plans for Monday during lunch? Maybe we can all get together,” Anne said.
“Monday?” I couldn’t hide my growing anxiety.
Anne looked surprised. “It was just a suggestion; we don’t have to.”
“Oh, no, Anne. I would love that. Thanks for asking. It’s just Monday’s the anniversary of the accident … ”
Riley wrapped his arm protectively around me as the girls’ eyes grew large and filled with sadness.
“ … and I don’t know what the day’s going to be like yet.”
“Oh my gosh, Attie! I’m so sorry I didn’t realize.”
“Don’t worry about it, Anne. How could you have known? It’s no big deal. If I don’t have anything planned, I’ll call. I’d love to go to lunch with you guys. It’ll probably help.”
“Good.” Anne sounded hopeful.
“All right, see you guys later.”
As we turned to go, I heard Riley whisper, “She’ll be okay,” over his shoulder. He kept his arm around my waist until we made it to the car.
“Do you think that’s why your nightmares have been getting worse? Because of the anniversary?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” I wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. Consecutive nights of hours without sleep were catching up with me, and my mind was a complete crow’s nest. My thoughts were jumbled, and sentences were slow to form.
He pulled me to him, and without thinking twice I laid my head on his chest. He kissed the top of my head several times as my body relaxed into his.
“You know, one day we’re gonna look back on all this and not believe we’ve come so far. The pain and the nightmares will be a far-off memory.”
“Promise?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, can we stay like this until then? I don’t want to move.”
“Trust me. I’m game if you are. I don’t wanna move either.”
“Then let’s not. Not right this second anyway.”
He wrapped his arms more tightly around my body, and I allowed my eyes to close. We stood silent and still for several minutes, and when I opened my eyes, I caught a glimpse of Tiffany standing next to a tree watching us.
“We better get home,” I whispered as I removed my head from his chest and looked up at him.
The look on his face was one I’d never seen before. Somehow I could sense the battle raging in his mind. He wanted to kiss me, that much was obvious, but he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t break the promise he’d made to his father no matter how much he wanted to or I secretly wished he would.
I ignored Tiffany as he rested his forehead on mine. “Riley, if we’re going to leave, then you have to let go of me.”
“I realize that.”
“So I take it we aren’t leaving then?”
“No, we are.” He released his grip and reached behind me to open the car door. “Hurry and get in before I change my mind.”
I laughed as I hopped in and took one last look at Tiffany before we drove away.
chapter 16
(Riley)
“Kids! We’re gonna be late!” Dad yelled up to us from the bottom of the stairs.
“Come on, get your butts down here!”
“Go without us then,” I yelled. “We’ll meet you there!”
“No, sir! We’re going as a family. Now get your butts down here!”
I knew when my dad meant business, and he meant business. “Come on, Attie, we’ve got to go. Dad’s gonna bust a gut.”
“I’m coming,” she said through her bedroom door. “Go on down. I’ll be right there.”
I obeyed and made my way down to the foyer where Mom and Dad were both waiting.
“What in the world, son?” Dad asked.
“She’s nervous; give her a second. Besides, it’s best that we’re a little late; otherwise, she might run into Mitchell. He does the greeting each week.”
“Well, that’s true. I didn’t think about that.” He nodded. “Molly, let’s go on out to the car. Riley, go get her and bring her down this instant.”
“Yes, sir.”
I was nervous for Attie. Gramps called the night before to let her in on a secret. Today would mark forty years to the day that he sang in the church choir for the first time. The worship pastor decided to celebrate by asking him to sing a song at the end of service, and Gramps agreed but made the request to do a duet rather than a solo. A duet with Attie.
“What?” she shrieked over the phone when he called to ask her to sing with him. “Have you lost your mind? I haven’t sung that song in years, and I haven’t sung it in front of people ever! Gramps, don’t ask me to do this!”
He asked anyway. This was his one wish, he told her. He would never ask her to do another thing for him again.
After getting off the phone, she went into a complete panic, and I joined her.
“Have I ever heard you sing?” I asked.
“I doubt it. It’s not like I’m that good, and I only sang with him or my mom, and it was always in the car.” She searched iTunes for the Sandi Patty song on our family computer.
“I can’t even believe this song is on here; it’s from the eighties, which would make it a classic in your eyes.”
“I don’t even know who Sandi Patty is,” I admitted.
“Most kids our age don’t.”
After downloading the song, she spent the rest of the night practicing outside in the pasture so that none of us could hear her.
“Come on, Charlie! We’ve got to go!” I peeked out the door and saw my dad’s scowl. “So glad we’re all in such wonderful moods for church today.”
I heard her footprints on the steps and turned to tell her to hurry. “Gorgeous,” slipped out instead of “hurry.”
Her chin dropped, and she looked at me through squinting eyes. “Nice try, Riley.”
“I’m dead serious. You look amazing.”
“Thank God your mom took me shoe shopping yesterday. I don’t know what I would have worn on my feet.”
“You could have gone barefoot,” I suggested. “Personally, I love the red toenails.”
“They’re crimson, and no way, some of those old geezers would think I was going to hell if they knew I wore crimson polish on my toes.”
“Does that make you a harlot or something?”
“Probly.”
“Did you say ‘probly’ instead of ‘probably’? Ya getting a little Okie in ya finally?” I teased.
The car horn honked.
“Jesus Christ,” Dad screamed. “Get your butts out here!”
“Nice talk for Sunday morning, Dad!” I locked the door behind us.
“You do look gorgeous. Everybody’s gonna love you.”
“I wouldn’t bet on it. They’re going to wish that God never gave them eardrums by the time I’m finished. Gramps is the singer in the family, not me.”
I closed the car door behind her, ran around to the other side, and jumped in before Dad could leave without me.
“Sorry about the J.C. comment earlier,” Dad mumbled while Mom stared at him in contempt.
“You gotta watch that stuff on Sundays, Dad. I think it’s a double sin to say the Lord’s name in vain on the Holy Day.” I felt compelled to give him a hard time; plus I needed to keep Attie’s mind occupied.
“Enough out of you, Riley.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, sir.”
“Oh, Attie, I can’t wait to hear you sing!” Mom was gushing. “Your mom used to brag about your singing all the time.”
Attie looked like she was about to vomit. “Did she now?”
“They should have done the duet early in the service so you could get it over with instead of having to suffer through,” I said.
“Tell me about it.” She started fanning herself. “I should have brought a brown paper bag to breathe in.”
“Put your head between your knees,” I suggested.
She did, and she stayed in that position for the rest of our drive to church.
Under normal circumstances I would have said that church service was great and the sermon powerful, but I quite honestly have no idea what happened the majority of the time because I busied myself praying for Attie not to pass out before, during, or after the song.
“Is the sanctuary always this crowded?” she whispered in my ear.
“Yes, always.” I tried to assure her, but I was lying. It looked much more crowded than normal.
Anne, Tammy, Jen, Tess, and Chase were sitting directly in front of us, and they had no idea what was about to take place. I would have warned them, but I didn’t wanna make Attie more nervous.
“Well, we have a very special treat for everyone here today,” the pastor announced. “What a perfect day too because we seem to have a packed house. It’s never this full!”
I felt Attie stare me down, but I pretended I didn’t hear him comment on the size of the crowd.
“Richard?” The pastor turned to the choir and addressed Gramps. “Would you join me down here, please?”
Attie grabbed my arm and squeezed—very tightly. Her nails were digging into my skin, and I bit my bottom lip to keep from screaming out in pain.
I took in a slow deep breath and blew it out in an effort to get her to do the same. She didn’t; she just looked panicked.
“Breathe,” I mumbled.
“I am!” she spat back under her breath. “If I don’t die of a heart attack up there, would you please remind me to kill my Gramps when this is over?”
The pastor explained to the audience the significance of the day.
I pried her fingers from my arm. “I may kill him for you.”
I heard Gramps call Attie to the stage, and at least he called her Attie instead of Atticus. In front of all these people, calling her Atticus really would have ticked her off.
The gang on the row in front of us turned around and looked at Attie in complete shock. She shook her head slowly as she got up.
“Sorry for what you’re about to witness,” she whispered to them as she left the pew and stepped out into the aisle.
The congregation clapped for her as she made her way to the stage.
“Isn’t she lovely?” Gramps gushed proudly as she joined him.
My skin felt as if it was gonna break out into hives, and I couldn’t stop myself from running my fingers through my hair.
“Can you tell she can’t wait to do this?” Pastor Rick teased.
The audience laughed. Attie rolled her eyes and took his microphone.
“I’m never going to forgive you for this. You know that, don’t you?” she teased her Gramps.
“I’m very aware, darlin’, I’m very aware.” He laughed and the congregation joined. “But you’re makin’ me one proud grandpa.”
“Aws” were heard all throughout the audience as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“I’m a big Sandi Patty fan,” he explained. “And when Attie was a little girl, we used to listen to the same Sandi Patty cassette every time we got in the car.”
Attie interrupted him. “And for those of you that don’t know, a cassette is something that they used to play music on back in the olden days before we had CDs.”
The crowd laughed, and she gave a big grin.
“Yes, thank you for clarifying, Attie,” he teased.
“Anytime.”
Gramps continued, “Our favorite, or my favorite song on the album, is a duet that Sandy did with Lionel Harris. The song’s called ‘More Than Wonderful.’ Attie and I would sing that song together over and over again when we drove around in my car.” He smiled at the memory. “One day after listening to Sandi Patty all day and singin’ to the Lord, Attie turned to me and said, ‘Gramps, don’t you think that if I’m gonna sing songs like this to the Lord he should be in my heart so he can hear ‘em better?’”
The crowd sighed and cooed while listening to the story, and a big smile spread across Attie’s face.
Gramps continued, “I pulled over right there on the side of the road and prayed with her as she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.” The audience cheered and Gramps beamed again. “It was one of the most wonderful moments in my life,” he said softly.
Tears filled Gramps’s eyes, and looking around I realized that most everybody in the room was getting weepy—including me.
“So thank you for indulgin’ an old man and lettin’ him relive a wonderful memory,” Gramps added.
Attie gave her grandfather a quick kiss on the cheek. “Well, when you put it that way, how can I say no?”
The audience clapped again. They, like me, had fallen in love with the witty little blonde standing on stage.
As the music started and the choir hummed behind her, Attie got startled and giggled. She hadn’t expected such a large production, but she grabbed Gramps’s hand, looked into his eyes, and began to sing.
To me, her voice sounded as if an angel were singing, but afraid that I might be biased, I looked at our friends sitting in front of me to check their reaction. Their jaws were dropped. They were also blown away by Attie’s voice.
Their voices were amazing separately, but when they sang together it was as if God created them to sing together. The words were powerful enough on their own, but coming out of their mouths, you could feel that everyone in the room believed that they were witnessing an amazing moment. People stood all over the auditorium with their eyes closed and their hands held high in worship, and by the time they reached the end of the song, people were clapping and shouting praises to their Lord.
Trumpets brought the song to an end, and the room erupted in cheers as Attie and her Gramps smiled at each other and took a small bow. Then, as Gramps stood back and pointed to Attie, presenting her to the audience, the congregation erupted with louder applause and cheering.
Attie shook her head in embarrassment and gave a weak smile.
“Oh my!” I heard Pastor Rick’s voice over the noise. He joined them on stage, and as the clapping continued, Attie looked more and more uncomfortable. Finally, the cheers died down, and the audience sat so that Pastor Rick could speak.
“Mike,” Pastor Rick said, looking over at the worship leader, “why isn’t this girl in the choir?”
Mike shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll get right on that,” he said into his mic.
I was so proud that my heart was about to explode, and I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, s
o I did both.
“I think we need to hear that more often,” Pastor Rick suggested before turning to Attie. “Are you available next week?”
The auditorium erupted again as Attie simply shrugged and looked down at her feet. She hated compliments.
Pastor Rick kept a hold of her hand and grabbed Gramps as well. “Can we all bow our heads and pray?”
I couldn’t bow my head because I couldn’t stop looking at Attie. I was amazed, blown away, and even crazier about her.
Midway through the prayer, I noticed her look up with a small smile on her face and glance around the room, but the smile left her face and she looked frightened. Her eyes locked in place, and I followed her gaze. She’d spotted Mitchell King, and it registered in her mind whom he was.
I nudged my dad and he looked over at me. “Attie spotted Mitchell,” I whispered.
Dad’s head jerked in her direction, and his face turned pale. “You get ready to go grab her as soon as Pastor finishes,” he whispered back.
Her eyes, large and full of fear, left him and frantically searched the auditorium until they met mine.
I gave her a small smile and nodded. “It’s all right,” I mouthed.
Attie slowly nodded and didn’t take her eyes off of mine until Pastor Rick finished his prayer and dismissed everyone.
Within seconds I made my way down the aisle and whisked Attie away behind the stage. She contained herself until we were alone, but eventually her body trembled, and she started to cry.
“I saw him! I saw him!” she whispered loudly.
“I know, Charlie, I know. It’s all right.” I rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her, but it wasn’t working. She was inconsolable.
Dad came running into the room with Joshua, Nicole, and Pastor Rick. Joshua knelt down next to her.
“Attie,” Joshua spoke to her. “Attie, can you hear me?”
She nodded.
“What happened? Can you talk to me and tell me what happened?” he asked.
Attie slowly lifted her head and looked at him.
“I saw him.”
“Saw who?” he asked.