I Promise (6 page)

“But you'll keep what's in that envelope,” Rick said. “Promise me you'll keep it.”

“Okay, I promise. Thank you.”

Rick nodded. He looked relieved.

“I, um . . .” Christy felt another wave of awkwardness come over her. She didn't want to open the envelope
in front of Rick and Katie, and she didn't want to prolong the conversation. “I guess I shouldn't hold you two up. You have a long drive ahead of you.”

“Yeah, I guess we should get going.” Rick reached for Katie's gym bag and backpack. “Is this all you have?”

“Yep,” Katie said. “I travel light these days, thanks to my best friend's influence. Christy taught me all about traveling light when we were in Europe.”

“I want to hear more about your trip,” Rick said. “You guys went to Italy, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go to the island of Capri?”

“Yes.” Katie seemed to anticipate his next question. “And yes, we went to the Blue Grotto that you are so crazy about.”

“You did?” Rick's expression lit up.

“Yes,” Katie said with a grin at Christy. “Christy and Todd loved it, but I thought it was dark and cold and highly overrated. I mean, if you think about it, it's just a dark cave with water and a bunch of men wearing straw hats and singing loudly in Italian.”

Rick's mouth dropped open.

Christy laughed.
Rick, I'd say you just had a full dose of the real Katie.

Regaining his composure, Rick said, “You know, you're right, Katie. It is just a dark cave with water and singing Italian boatmen. I guess it's who you're with in the dark cave that makes it romantic.”

“Oh, you want to talk romantic,” Katie said, heading
for the door, “then let's talk about Venice. I loved Venice. When you were there, did you go for a ride in a gondola? Now, that's a boat ride with a view.”

“You guys went for a gondola ride?” Rick followed Katie to the door.

As Katie recounted the details of their adventure, Rick turned and gave Christy a warm smile. “See you later.”

“I'll give you a call tomorrow.” Katie waved over her shoulder. “You're going home after church, aren't you?”

Christy nodded.

“I'll call you,” Katie said.

Christy waved. “Bye, you guys. Drive safely.”

Turning to go back to her room, Christy chided herself.
Drive safely? Why am I talking like their mother would?

Once Christy was back in the solitude of her dorm room, she reached for the phone and dialed Todd's number. She could tell from the sound in his voice that she had awakened him, but she asked the obvious anyway. “Were you asleep?”

“That's okay. What's up? Are you all right?”

Christy summarized her conversations with Katie and Rick. But before she could mention Rick's envelope, Todd said, “That's how it is when God's working in our lives. We always need to save room for the unexpected.”

Christy thought of how Todd's life seemed to have plenty of room for the unexpected. He even seemed to look for the unexpected, like when he took breakfast
to the homeless man that morning.

“I don't do that very well,” Christy said. “I don't leave room on my calendar or in my daily schedule for God to do unexpected things.”

“That's okay,” Todd said. “I have a pretty good idea God will keep finding ways to fit them into your life anyway.”

“God sure did that tonight.” Christy told Todd about the envelope Rick had given her.

“You haven't opened it yet?” Todd asked.

“No, I don't know if I want to. In a way, I just want to throw it away and let it be over.”

“Didn't you say Rick asked you to promise to keep it?”

“That's right, he did.”

“You don't have to open it now,” Todd said. “And you don't have to tell me what's in it when you open it. But you do have to honor your promise to Rick.”

“You're right,” Christy said quietly. “And I will. I think the best thing for now would be if I went to bed and got some sleep.”

“Good idea. I'll see you in the morning.”

“Good night, my Todd.”

“Good night, my Kilikina. I love you.”

“And I love you.”

A settled calm came over Christy and over the dorm room after she hung up. She sat in the silence and stared at the envelope in her hand. Rick had written her first name in small, cursive letters. From the wear
and tear on the envelope, he had been carrying it with him for some time.

Putting aside the envelope, Christy packed her neatly folded clothes that were still sitting on her bed. Right before she pulled down the covers, she reached for Rick's envelope and tucked it into her suitcase's side pocket.

The next day after church, as she and Todd drove home to Escondido, she thought again of the envelope. She wasn't sure why she hadn't opened it the night before. She should have opened it while she was talking to Todd on the phone so the entire incident could have been concluded. She knew Todd would never ask her about it.

When I get home, I'll open the envelope, show the contents to Todd, and it will be over. Settled. We'll all be able to move forward. I don't know why I'm being so squirmy about this. It's probably a letter of apology like the one he sent Katie.

What Christy hadn't anticipated was that Aunt Marti and Uncle Bob would be at her parents' house when she and Todd arrived.

“We couldn't wait until Christmas at our house to see you two.” Marti kissed Christy on both cheeks and then turned her affectionate attentions toward Todd.

Marti had gone through a lot of personal changes during the past year. In September, she had arrived at Rancho to take Christy out to lunch. But after seeing Aunt Marti, Christy and Katie had concluded Marti already was “out to lunch.” Her hair extensions, minimal makeup, and long, flowing gauze skirt, along with
an announcement that she was considering going to Santa Fe with her new pottery instructor, served as all the proof Christy and Katie needed.

But Marti hadn't gone to Santa Fe. She and Uncle Bob seemed to be working on their relationship. And Marti's dark hair was cut in a short crop that framed her face in a softened style. Even Marti's perfume smelled like a fragrance Christy remembered from years ago.

Uncle Bob gave Christy a hug, and she noticed his dark hair was going gray by his ears. Bob and Todd both had been burned several years ago when Bob's gas grill went haywire and exploded. The black turtle-neck Bob was wearing hid the scars on his neck.

Christy smiled at her patient uncle and wondered how his scars on the inside were doing, the scars from the hurts he must have suffered while Aunt Marti was going through her mid-life crisis.

Christy hugged her mom and dad, and then Marti jumped in and said she was ready to discuss wedding plans.

“I'll be back in a minute.” Christy excused herself from the clutch of family members in the living room and carried her suitcase into her bedroom at the end of the hall. Closing the door, she leaned her back against it and swallowed hard.

Marti always had delighted in a project. Could it be that Todd and Christy's wedding was her latest grand event? Why hadn't Christy seen this coming? It made her clench her teeth to think of her aunt elbowing her
way into Todd and Christy's plans and trying to take over. Yet, at the same time, Christy knew that as long as Marti had a project that kept her in Newport Beach with her husband, she was less likely to run off to join her new friends at their art colony in New Mexico.

A tap on the door made Christy jump. “Who is it?”

“It's me, David. Can I come in?”

Christy opened the door to let her fifteen-year-old brother into her private enclave. “Hi. How are you?” She gave him a quick hug, since he never had been a big fan of snuggling.

“Mom said you're getting married.” David had passed up Christy's five-foot-seven-inch frame some time ago, but now he was filling out across the shoulders. His hair had always had more of their father's red tones than Christy's, but now it carried a stronger hue of blond, and Christy was stunned at how much older he looked.

“Where are your glasses?” Christy asked.

“Didn't Mom tell you? I broke my glasses twice this year while skateboarding. I told Mom and Dad all I wanted for Christmas was contacts. I got them yesterday, and Mom said I could start wearing them because I wanted to get used to them during the school break.”

“Look at you. David, you are so grown-up. You're cute. No, you're handsome.” Christy gave her brother a big smile. “David, you are adorable!”

David cracked a slight grin. “I'm glad you aren't one of those people who judge others simply by their outward appearance.”

Christy laughed. “And a sense of humor, too! David, when did you get so cool?”

“I've always been cool, Christy.”

She laughed and gave him another hug even though he didn't seem comfortable with all her gushing and squeezing.

“Did Mom tell you I joined a Christian club for skaters?”

“No.” Christy flopped on her bed. “Where do they meet?”

“You make it sound like we have a clubhouse or something.” David leaned against the closed door. “We just hang out at the skate park. This guy from our church comes every Thursday afternoon at four-thirty, and some of us sit down with him, and he has a Bible study. I'm learning a lot.”

“Do you have a good Bible?” Christy had been with David when he gave his life to the Lord while Todd was in the hospital, but she realized she hadn't done much to follow up with him. She knew he was going to church with her parents, and this skaters' Bible study was good to hear about. But since she didn't have a Christmas present for him yet, a Bible sounded like a good idea.

“No.”

“Do you want one?” Christy asked.

“I guess. I mean, I have a kid's version I got when I was like eight, but it has pictures, and I don't want to take that one to the skate park.”

Christy remembered when she got her first “real”
Bible. Todd and Tracy gave it to her for her fifteenth birthday. At the time, she hadn't appreciated it. She decided then that she would buy David a contemporary version for Christmas, but she would buy him something else, too.

“So are you guys really getting married?” David asked again.

“Yes.” Christy's grin broadened. She kicked off her shoes and folded her legs under her, settling comfortably onto her old bed.

“When?”

“We haven't decided yet.”

“Mom says it probably won't be for another year.”

“A year?” Christy questioned.

“But Aunt Marti says it will be in June.”

“Oh, she does, does she?” Christy leaned forward. “And what does Dad say?”

“Nothing. He just listens. Mom and Aunt Marti almost got into an argument before you came. Aunt Marti says you have to have the reception at some boat club in Newport Beach, and Mom says it's going to be at the church.”

Christy shook her head.

“What do Todd and you want?” David looked more sensitive and interested in her life than he ever had before.

A slow, appreciative smile grew as Christy said, “David, you might be the only one here today to ask me that question. So will you do me a favor and ask it again in front of everyone else?”

“Okay.” David appeared not to see why it was a big deal. “I mean, it's your wedding, right? It's your life. You should do what you want. You guys have been waiting a long time.”

“Yes, we have.”

They were quiet for a few moments. Through Christy's closed bedroom door, she could hear Aunt Marti's voice rising as she shared her wedding insights with poor Todd.

“I guess I should go back out there and support my fiancé,” she said.

“Todd's okay,” David said. “He won't let Aunt Marti push him around.”

Christy wished she had as much confidence as her brother on the subject. She stood and headed for the door. David didn't budge. Christy looked at him with questioning eyes.

David looked away shyly. “I don't know what the right word is, but whatever you're supposed to say when somebody gets engaged, I guess . . . well, I'm happy for you guys. I'm glad you're getting married.”

Impulsively leaning forward, Christy kissed her brother on the cheek. “Thank you, David. I love you.”

He stiffened up as his face turned pink. “Yeah, me too.”

With her heart light, Christy opened her bedroom door and went forward to meet her formidable aunt. Her embarrassed baby brother lumbered down the hall behind her.

5
“There you are,” Marti said when Christy and David entered the living room.

Todd was wedged in the middle of the couch with Marti on one side and Christy's mom on the other. On his lap was a stack of bridal magazines. Christy would have burst out laughing if it weren't for the shocked look on Todd's face. If he was going to figure out how much detailed planning went into a wedding, it would be here and now.