I Promise
Authors: Robin Jones Gunn
I Promise
Copyright © 2001
Robin Jones Gunn
Edited by Janet Kobobel Grant
Cover design by Lookout Design, Inc.
Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version'' trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.
International copyright secured. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwiseâwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
eISBN: 978-1-4412-3312-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
For all the Christys I have known.
May your promises last forever.
Contents
1
Christy opened her eyes and focused on the empty bed across from her in the dimly lit dorm room. The digital alarm clock read 5:05
A.M.
Katie never came to our room all night. Where is she?
Getting up and snapping on the overhead light, Christy checked to see if Katie had left a note while Christy slept. No note.
Suddenly Christy stopped. Her fuzzy morning brain woke up. She remembered where she had been the night before and what had happened.
The Dove's Nest Café. We were all together. The whole gang.
A smile drew her lips heavenward as it all came back.
It wasn't a dream. Last night Todd asked me to marry him. And I said yes.
Opening the shades, Christy gazed outside. The streetlights that lined the campus of Rancho Corona
cast a cool, bluish gray tint on the world outside her window. Rows of tall palm trees stood in a sacred hush waiting for the familiar breath of wind from the nearby desert to awaken them. Whenever the wind came, the palm trees danced, and something inside Christy compelled her to join them.
This morning she didn't need the rustling palm trees to call her heart to the dance floor. Inside, she already was twirling and spinning.
Todd and I are going to get married!
The phone rang, and Christy jumped to answer it.
“Hey, how's it going?” The deep voice on the other end was the same voice that had echoed in her sweet dreams all night.
“Hey yourself,” Christy answered softly. “I was just thinking of you.”
“Couldn't sleep?”
“I did a little. I woke up about ten minutes ago. Todd, did last night really happen? Did you really propose to me?”
“Yes, I did. And you said yes.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Yes, you did.”
Christy closed her eyes and felt his voice's warmth wash over her.
“I spent the whole night playing my guitar,” Todd said. “I'm working on a new song.”
“How did your roommate feel about that? Or did you spend the night in the lobby?”
“I'm the only guy left in my wing. Everyone else
has gone home for Christmas break.”
Christy remembered her missing roommate and asked, “Did you hear Katie say anything last night about going home?”
“No.”
“I thought she was staying here this weekend with me, but she never came back last night.”
“Did she stay in Sierra's room?” Todd asked. “She's done that in the past, hasn't she?”
“Yes. That's probably what she did. I know I shouldn't worry about her. She's a big girl and can take care of herself. It's just that with Katie I never know what's going to happen next.”
“So, what are you doing right now?” Todd asked. “Do you want to meet me down by the chapel? We can watch the sunrise.”
Christy laughed at the spark of spontaneity in his voice. “Sure, I'll be there in ten minutes.”
Dressing in several layers in case it was as chilly outside as it looked, Christy paused only a minute in front of the mirror. Her long, straight, nutmeg brown hair was pulled back in a clip. She let it down and shook her head before giving her tresses a quick brushing. Todd liked her hair long. She smiled. Even though she had slept only four and a half hours, her blue-green eyes were bright and full of glimmering hope. Her cheeks had a rosy glow, and the longer she gazed at herself, the wider her smile grew.
So this is what a woman in love looks like. An engaged woman in love. A bride to be.
With a quick stop in the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth, Christy headed across the Rancho Corona campus to the small chapel at the mesa's edge. From the trail that ran along the rim of the school's property, the Pacific Ocean was visible on exceptionally clear days.
This morning a fine winter mist hovered low to the ground as Christy crossed the meadow. When the sun rose, it would be too hazy to see much of the view that stretched between the campus and the coast. She didn't mind. She wasn't trotting at such a fast clip to see the valley. She was going to meet her beloved, and she couldn't stop smiling.
Finding the door of the chapel open, Christy stepped into the sheltered warmth of the small, hushed building and spotted Todd. He was kneeling at the altar, eyes closed, head bowed.
With her heart still racing, Christy tiptoed to the altar. She knelt beside Todd. His short, sandy blond hair was wet. From him rose the subtle scent of Lifebuoy soap. As he lifted his head, his screaming, silver-blue eyes turned toward her. Christy immediately knew she wasn't the only one who had been smiling all night. The dimple on his right cheek seemed as if it had turned into a permanent mark.
Neither of them spoke. Their eyes did all the talking. Neither words nor touch were needed as they knelt there, silent before God and each other, talking to God, talking to each other. Heart to heart. Soul to soul.
Todd was the first to speak. It was a prayer of thanks. He asked God to direct their future steps and guide them as they made plans for their wedding. When he concluded, Christy joined him in saying “As you wish,” which to them meant “Amen” or “May it be according to your will.”
Todd stood and offered Christy his hand. “How does some breakfast sound?”
Christy smiled at how quickly Todd could go from intensely spiritual to immensely hungry. “Sure, I have the whole day free.”
“Me too.”
Hand in hand they stepped into the cool morning. The light from the sun broke through the mist like thin streamers made of silver glitter. The meadow before them had become a fairytale world, lit by tiny drops of light.
“It's so beautiful,” Christy whispered.
“Let's get married right here,” Todd said, stepping into the enchanted meadow.
Christy chuckled. “Okay. Right now?”
“I'm serious,” Todd said. “Let's have the ceremony right here.” He let go of her hand and, with wide arm motions, described the scene as he saw it. “We'll put an arch right here. Is that what you call those things you stand under? They're rounded on top and covered with flowers.”
Christy nodded. “Yes, that would be an arch. Or a trellis.”
“Let's get married right here under an arch.” Todd
seemed to size up the field. “What do you think? We could fit enough chairs in here. You could wait over there in the chapel. When the music starts, you would walk down the aisle to here.”
Todd stepped over to a spot where he stood in a direct line with the chapel. “This is where we'll put the arch. You'll come walking down the center there, wearing a white dress with some flowers in your hair, and I'll be waiting for you right here.”
Christy's heart soared. “Sounds beautiful.” She had assumed they would be married inside a church, but this meadow was as much a holy ground as a church, she thought. Especially this morning. Especially this very moment, with Todd's eyes lit up and the meadow sprinkled with a shimmering mist of celestial light.
“This would be a beautiful spot for an evening wedding,” Christy said. “It would be too hot to sit out here in the afternoon in the summer.”
Todd stopped. He turned to Christy. “Summer?”
“Don't you think it would be too hot to sit outside in the afternoon without any shade? I think August evenings are beautiful.”
“August?” Todd repeated. “Are you thinking we should get married next summer?”
“Of course. We both will have graduated by then and had time to plan everything andâ”
“I want to get married sooner than that,” Todd said.
“Sooner? How much sooner?”
“I don't know. Next week is Christmas. Then we have the missions trip to Mexico with the youth group
the week after that. What about the second weekend in January?”
Christy laughed. Todd didn't.
“Todd, we can't get married in three weeks!”
“Why not?”
“We have to plan everything! We have to find a place to live and buy rings and order invitations. I have to find a dress andâ”
“You're great at planning things, Chris. That's what you do best. We have all of Christmas break to work on it.”
“No, we don't. We're going to Mexico after Christmas, remember? We haven't even finished planning that trip yet.”
Okay, then how about the third week of January? Or the last week, right after I graduate?”
Christy felt panic rising inside. “Todd, how could we possibly pull off a wedding in a month? People will think we
have
to get married.”
Todd's voice was calm and soothing as he reached for her hand. “You and I and everyone else know that isn't the case. Is that what you're afraid of? What other people think?”