A Brush of Wings (16 page)

“Okay.” She was about to hug him again, thank him for the unbelievable gift, when he nodded toward the back of the house. The path of rose petals continued to a ladder anchored to the house. The sides were adorned with white satin bows.

This time Sami gasped. “Tyler . . . what in the world?”

“Looks like we need to go up on the roof.”

She might as well have been seventeen again. Sami started that way but stopped. “My shoes . . .”

“Hmmm.” Tyler’s eyes were full of secrets. He bent down and from a box near the ladder he pulled out a pair of her old running shoes. “These might work.”

“You have them?” She laughed again. “I’ve been missing those!”

“I had to take them when you weren’t looking. Last time I stopped by to pick you up and you weren’t quite ready.” He feigned an innocent look. “They were right there near the front door. What’s a guy to do?”

“Tyler, I can’t believe this. Seriously.” She slid off her heels, set them in the box, and put the tennis shoes on. “You thought of everything.”

He guided her up the ladder until they were sitting side by side on the roof. The exact same place where they’d sat that summer so many years ago.

She turned to him. “I remember everything about that night.”

“The last time we were up here.” He looked at her. “Me, too.”

“The stars were so bright. This far away from the bay and the city lights.” She stared at the sky. “Like they are tonight.”

“Exactly.” He ran his fingers through her hair. “We had our first kiss up here that night.”

Sami smiled. “You asked me to be your girlfriend.” Her laugh mixed with the cool night breeze. “Crazy . . . I couldn’t say anything but yes.” She grinned at him. “I think I loved you from the first day I met you.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “You were the only one who ever called me Sami. A name I still love, by the way.”

“Your dark hair and pretty face.” Tyler put his hand alongside her cheek. “You looked like a Sami. The only girl who ever took my breath away.”

“You don’t know how often I replayed that night in my head.” She looked all the way to his soul. “I was sure I’d never love another boy again.”

“It was the beginning of the best year of my life.” Tyler took hold of her hand, his eyes still on hers. “Until this one.”

“For me, too.”

Tyler seemed nervous. She could hear him breathing harder. Sami brought his hand to her face and warmed it on her cheek. “That’s why you brought me up here?” Sami loved this side of Tyler, the one capable of pulling off the most romantic night ever. “So we could remember the last time we did this?”

“Well.” He shifted so he could see her better. “See, the thing is, the first time I asked you to be my girlfriend it was right here on this exact spot. And you said yes, right?”

“Right.” Her heart was racing again. “It’s still yes.”

“Okay, so.” Tyler released her hand and dug around in the pocket of his jacket.

Sami had her hands over her mouth as soon as he pulled out the small white satin box. “Tyler . . .”

“I figured there really wasn’t any better place to ask you the only question that matters now.” He opened the box, his hands trembling.

Sami felt tears on her cheeks before she could stop them. This was really happening, he was pulling out a ring. Here on the roof where she had first fallen in love with him.

Inside the box was a stunning solitaire diamond. The exact ring she’d admired before in magazines. He took the ring and set the box aside. Then in a move that looked a bit precarious on the slanted rooftop, he shifted his body so he could bend down on one knee. With all the love they’d need to last a lifetime, he looked in her eyes and held out the ring. “Sami . . . would you marry me? Would you let me spend the rest of my life loving you?”

“Tyler, please.” She took his hands and eased him back to the spot beside her. “You can’t fall off the roof.”

“Good point.” He situated himself so he could see her. “You . . . didn’t answer.”

This time she framed his face with her hands. “Yes!” She giggled, but the sound was more cry than laugh. “Yes, Tyler Ames. I’ll marry you!”

“Really?” He kissed her and then pulled her into his arms. He held her for several seconds. Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to the heavens. “God, You did it! She said yes!”

LATER THAT NIGHT
back at the hotel, Tyler had one final surprise for her. After she checked into her room and dropped off her bag, he walked with her to a banquet hall on the second floor. And there, gathered and waiting, were her grandparents and several of her UCLA friends. His teammates and his parents, too.

Tyler held Sami’s hand up high over their heads. “She said yes!”

Everyone clapped and cheered. Marcus was one of the first to congratulate them. “So happy for you two.” He hugged them both. Sami wouldn’t say anything, but she could tell from the look in Marcus’s eyes that tonight was a little hard for him.

After all, it hadn’t been two months since he’d been turned down by his one true love.

Still, the atmosphere was happy and full of celebration, the perfect coda to the best night of her life. Everyone admired her new ring and they talked about dates. Sami wanted a December wedding—and Tyler was all for it. Right at the start of his break from baseball.

The proposal, the party, all of it was perfect. There was just one person missing, the one person who should’ve been there. Without her, Sami would never have reached out to Tyler Ames again. The person who had missed it all for the chance to live in Africa.

Her best friend, Mary Catherine.

12

T
HERE WAS ONLY ONE PLACE
Marcus wanted to go on his day off. One place where he could talk to God and think about Mary Catherine. Two more months had gone by without a single word from her.

Marcus drove to Santa Monica Beach early that morning, parked across the street at the Georgian Hotel. He found a spot on the hotel’s front porch and ordered coffee. For an hour he answered emails. His manager had several offers for him, endorsement deals, projects he might want to take part in.

On the porch of the Georgian, the morning sun lighting up the blue sky, none of it felt daunting. He worked faster knowing the beach was waiting for him. When he finished, he crossed Ocean Avenue, walked over the footbridge and across the stretch of sand to his spot near the shore.

Their spot.

He spread out his towel, sat down, and leaned back on his hands. For a few minutes he let the wind off the water wash over him, as if by sitting here he could go back in time and figure out how to never let her go. He breathed in, filling his lungs until the stress of the last four months lifted from his soul—the wins and losses, the slump he was currently in, and the missing her.

All of it.

Okay, God . . . I’m here.
He squinted, looking to the distant horizon.
Do You see me?
The question was rhetorical. Kind of. Of course God could see him. God had been with him these past four months. The Bible said it in Romans, and he believed it.

Marcus knew without a doubt that Jesus was with him.

But today wasn’t about belief or doubts. Marcus wanted to experience God’s presence, feel the Lord walking on the beach beside him. Sense His whispered comfort that one day . . . no matter how far off . . . he might finally find a way to get Mary Catherine out of his heart.

Marcus pulled one knee up and exhaled. Tyler and Sami had joined him for dinner last night and the conversation turned to the wedding. Plans were coming along. Tyler had asked Marcus to be the best man and Sami hoped Mary Catherine would be back from Uganda in time to be the maid of honor.

Hearing Mary Catherine’s name had left Marcus no choice but to at least ask. He anchored his elbows on his knees and peered at Sami in the twilight. “You’ve heard from her?”

“I have.” She had looked sad. “You haven’t?”

“No.” He hadn’t let the reality linger. “How is she? What’d she say?”

Sami had done her best to share the details. Mary Catherine was teaching every day and loving it. She had a new friend, a woman who helped in the classroom. “And I guess she’s staying at least a few months longer. Through mid-November. Apparently until another teacher can take her place.”

“Hmm.” He had stood up and paced to the railing. For a while he’d just let the truth of it sink in. Tyler and Sami stayed quiet, too.

“I asked her about the wedding, and she thinks she might be back in time.” Sami sounded discouraged. “I got the sense she couldn’t make any promises.”

Marcus had raised his brows and shook his head. “She must be liking it. She told me she might never come back.”

“I can’t believe that.” Tyler tried to sound hopeful. “That girl loves LA.”

“And she loves all of us.” Sami had stood and moved to Marcus. She put her arm around his shoulders. “For what it’s worth, she does love you. I know it.”

He had looked from Sami to Tyler and back again. “Then why? Why did she cut me out of her life?”

No one had any answers, and eventually the conversation had shifted back to baseball. But the details about Mary Catherine stayed with him. Even still. She was staying another two months? Did that mean she was going to stay there? Forever?

Marcus lay flat on his back and stared at the pale blue sky. Why couldn’t he forget about her? She’d been very clear. She wasn’t interested. Not in dating. Not in marriage. She clearly had no interest—she hadn’t even stayed in touch.

So why was he lying here on the beach by himself on his day off, thinking about her? He closed his eyes and let the sun melt through him. The reason was the same now as it had ever been: He felt something with her. She felt it, too. She’d told him that much.

They laughed at the same things and shared a love for God and people. There were times when they already felt like a couple—when they held hands and hugged, when they kissed. But then she’d pull away. Again.

He wanted to do more than mourn the past today. Maybe he’d take a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains. Push himself to the top of a cliff so he could see to the other side. Maybe he’d find the answers there.

The sun was higher in the sky now, and even at ten in the morning the day figured to be hot. Marcus sat up and watched the ocean. The sameness of the tide, the buildup, the cresting waves, the crashing surf. All of it felt like a picture of his life.

Get up, run two miles, stretch for half an hour, stick to his low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein eating plan. Get to the stadium and wait for his name to be called. One in five games he’d get to throw—usually for a complete game. Another game, another three hundred pitches. Back home just to do it all over again.

He sighed and shook off the despair.

Why was he thinking like this? There wasn’t an ounce of truth to those thoughts. He ran the Youth Center, he and Tyler read the Bible together nearly every morning at the clubhouse. His life had purpose and meaning, and even though it was routine, it was the routine he’d dreamed about since he was a little boy. His life had everything he could ask for from God.

Except for Mary Catherine.

Marcus stood and collected his towel.
God, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to complain.
He shaded his eyes and looked out over the water. This was the place where he’d been baptized, where he’d dedicated his life to the Lord. The place where Mary Catherine loved to ride the waves and where she’d seen an entire school of dolphins once.

But today the water was just . . . water.

He breathed in and straightened to his full height.
I don’t want to ask for a sign, God . . . some proof that You see me.
He hesitated.
But right now, well . . . yeah, it would sure be nice. Just to know You’re here
.

Seconds passed, and then one minute, and two. Marcus was about to turn around and leave when something in the near waves caught his eye. Again he shaded his brow and suddenly he could see it. A school of dolphins, just like the one Mary Catherine had talked about. They stayed in one area, making dolphin sounds one to another and playing in the waves. A chill came over Marcus. He stood there, unmoving, unable to look away, and as he did his feet no longer felt planted in ordinary sand but on holy ground.