Katie laughed and playfully tagged him on the shoulder. “You mean hit the road, Tonio.”
“Yes, hit the road. Here we go.”
The van lurched forward as Christy grabbed for her seat belt and fastened it tightly. She stared out the window as Tonio roared past the bakery and headed toward A-2, which would take them south to Italy. For weeks she had dreamed about going to her special Konditorei with Todd. When they were in London together a year and a half ago, the two of them had walked hand in hand down the streets until they found a small bakery. They sat in a booth in the back corner of the tea shop and opened their hearts to each other. During that conversation, they decided they weren’t ready to commit to a more serious relationship.
But that was a year and a half ago.
In her dreams and in her waking hours of sitting alone in the Basel Konditorei, Christy had imagined the conversation she and Todd would share over tea and scones. Now she drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She felt ready to move on and to define their relationship more solidly than ever before.
What if Todd isn’t ready to move on? What if I’m ready to make a stronger commitment and he’s not? At least I think I am. At the moment, Christy was so frazzled she didn’t know if she should trust any of her thoughts or feelings. The only thing she was sure of was that her seat belt was buckled as tightly as it would go, and they were on their way to Italy.
2
Katie wiggled into a comfortable nest she had made with their packs in the middle of the van. She jabbered a mile a minute about how incredible all this was.
Christy smiled at Katie and nodded every now and then. But her gaze kept going to the back of Todd’s head. All her thoughts were about what was going on inside that head, under the short, sun-kissed blond hair. Or more important, what was going on inside his heart?
How do you really feel about me, Todd? Are you in love with me? Really in love?
Christy realized again, with sadness, that their chance to bend their heads close together in quiet conversation at her favorite thinking spot had been snatched from her. They were part of the group now. The gang. And if Todd was true to form, he would be a team player the rest of the trip. That meant he would give equal attention to everyone. He was like a mellow golden retriever—always loyal, ready to go along with the others on a moment’s notice, and generally content with life no matter what the circumstances.
Christy knew she didn’t want to become the hyper schnauzer of the group, yip-yipping the whole time.
“Hey, Tonio,” Katie said, “where exactly are we going?”
“Italia. Mi Italia,” Tonio said dramatically. “I am taking you to my favorite camping ground. You will love it. At night, hundreds of baboons come from the forest and eat everything they find in the camp. This is why you must close up your tent.”
“You must mean raccoons,” Katie said. “I doubt any baboons are in Italy.”
“Ah yes,” Antonio said, looking at Katie in the rearview mirror. “Raccoons. Once again you are right. Where would I be without your helpful lessons in English?”
“Admit it, Tonio. You’ve missed me.”
“I’ve missed you, Katie,” Tonio stated loudly.
“Go ahead, tell me you can’t live without me,” Katie continued.
“I can’t live without you.”
This was typical banter for Tonio and Katie. They used to tease each other back in California all the time. And a tinge of romance had existed between the two of them. At least Katie had thought so—or was Antonio just being a romantic Italian? Christy wished she and Todd could express themselves boldly like Antonio and Katie—only not as a joke, but sincerely.
Will I ever hear Todd say, “I can’t live without you”?
“He’s crazy about me,” Katie said, turning her attention back to Christy and smiling broadly. “Hey!” She leaned closer to Christy. “If Tonio and I decide to get married this week, you will be my maid of honor, won’t you?”
“Of course.” Christy’s voice came out small and thin. These topics weren’t laughing matters for her. The day she would ask Katie to be her maid of honor, Christy knew she would be asking seriously.
Katie laughed. “This all feels like a dream, doesn’t it? I don’t care if it is a dream. If it is, don’t wake me. I’ve never been happier in my life. Deliriously happy!”
For the next few hours, as they roared down the highway through Switzerland and into Italy, Antonio and Todd kept a tight conversation going between themselves. Christy couldn’t hear what they were saying since the windows were open and the van was noisy. Katie scooted her nest closer to Christy and filled her in on all the details of what had been going on with their friends back home.
As Christy listened to Katie, she found herself settling in. Their journey might not have started off the way Christy had thought it would, but they were on their way. She was determined to be a team player and not give in to moody contemplation.
They stopped only once for gas, or “petrol,” as Antonio called it, before arriving at the campground. Their spot had a large open space for tents under a circle of tall trees. Christy had no idea where they were, but she was surprised that the terrain was so similar to what she had become used to in the hills around her school. It seemed odd to think of Italy as having the Alps, too.
The fresh air invigorated the four travelers as they unloaded the van and set up their two tents. Katie playfully drew a line in the dirt with her heel and said, “Girls on this side, boys on that side.”
“Only one problem, Katie,” Christy said. “The kitchen is on the boys’ side.”
Katie carefully walked around the end of her dirt line and said, “This is the path to the kitchen. All starving campers may pass this way.” She went over to the wooden box Antonio had brought and opened it up. “Okay, I see some mugs in here, a coffeepot, and a frying pan. Where are you hiding the food?”
“Over there,” Antonio said with a nod of his head as he hammered the last tent stake into the ground.
“I don’t see anything but trees,” Katie said.
“Beyond the trees is the refrigerator,” Tonio said. “Come. I’ll show you.” He put his arm around Katie’s shoulder and led her down a narrow trail through the woods.
“Listen to that,” Todd said. He had been stringing up a hammock between two trees when he stopped and looked up, listening closely.
Christy knew what he was referring to. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the wind rushing through the treetops. All kinds of memories came riding in on that breeze. Her strongest memory was of the wind in the palm trees at a certain train station in Spain. That’s where Todd had placed a gold ID bracelet on Christy’s wrist a year and a half ago. The word “Forever” was engraved on the bracelet. Christy ran her finger over the bracelet now, her eyes still closed, her face toward the sky. A smile graced her lips as she said, “They’re clapping, Todd.”
“Bravo,” Todd said in a voice that sounded faint.
Christy opened her eyes and saw that Todd had climbed into the hammock and now swayed contentedly with his hands folded behind his head.
“Hey, you got it strung up,” Christy said, walking over to the hammock. “Good for you.”
“Did you have any doubts about my ability?”
“Not you, nature boy. I believe you could be the world’s premier expert in hammocks.” Christy grabbed the side and pulled the hammock toward her. She let go and the hammock swung wide, making a creaking sound where the ropes looped around the tree. Suddenly a rope snapped and down came the hammock, dumping Todd on the ground with a thud.
Christy felt like bursting out laughing, but she held back and quickly checked to make sure Todd was all right. He looked startled but not hurt.
“I’m so sorry!” Christy giggled. “Are you okay?”
Before Todd could answer, Katie came tromping through the woods with Tonio right behind her. “There’s no food over there. Tonio’s ‘refrigerator’ happens to be a
lake! We’re supposed to catch our own dinner.”
“Cool,” Todd said, getting up and dusting off his backside. “Did you bring poles?”
“Poles, hooks, everything,” Tonio said.
“What are we supposed to eat in the meantime?” Katie asked.
“Jerky,” Todd suggested.
“What did you call me?” Katie spun around to face Todd. Christy felt like laughing again, but Katie’s red face told her she had better bite her tongue.
“I didn’t call you anything. I was just saying I brought some beef jerky. It’s in my pack in the van. Help yourself.”
Todd and Tonio were bent over the box of camping gear, twisting together a collapsible fishing pole. Todd rummaged through a plastic box of lures and hooks.
“What you need is an afternoon cappuccino,” Antonio said to Katie as she paced in front of them like a cougar.
“I didn’t happen to see any coffee shops on the way in,” Katie said sarcastically.
“I have coffee right here,” Antonio said, lifting a small box from the middle of the camping supplies.
“Do you have any food in there?” Katie asked.
“No, only coffee. Hey, Christy, you start a fire, will you? Todd and I will get some fish.”
The guys took off, and Christy gathered kindling.
“I don’t want coffee,” Katie said with a slight whine in her voice. “Do you?”
“No. I’m hungry, though. If they don’t catch some fish right away, let’s break into Todd’s jerky supply.”
“What happened to the hammock?” Katie asked, examining the end of the hammock rope.
“I pushed Todd a little too hard and it broke.”
“It didn’t break. The rope is fine. The knot must have come out. I doubt that Todd knows as much about knots as I do. This rope needs a Katie special knot.”
Katie went to work on the hammock as Christy dropped twigs onto her stack of kindling and returned to the surrounding woods for more. She managed to haul a good-sized log over to the fire pit and then opened the wooden chest to see what she could use for a grill over the top. Everything she needed was in the chest. She hummed as she set up their camp kitchen. All she would have to do was light a match when the guys returned.
“You know what this reminds me of, Katie?”
“What?” Katie had settled herself into the hammock and answered Christy without opening her eyes.
“Remember that time I cooked Christmas breakfast on the beach for Todd, and the sea gulls came and ate the bacon and eggs?”
Katie didn’t answer.
Christy went over to the hammock. It was wide enough for two people. The ropes and knots looked strong enough. Golden rays from the afternoon sun slipped through the trees, and Katie had turned to catch their full warmth on her face. Christy pushed Katie’s legs over gently and said, “Make room. I’m coming aboard.”
“I couldn’t move if I wanted to,” Katie said, her eyes still closed and her hands folded across her middle.
Christy tried to hold the hammock steady as she climbed in with her head at the opposite end from Katie’s. “This is pretty comfortable.”
“Just don’t kick me in the face, and everything will be fine,” Katie said, her voice fading.
That was the last thing Christy remembered hearing until the sound of Todd’s voice called to her from a few feet away. “Anybody hungry?”
Christy forced her heavy eyelids open. The brightness of the afternoon had faded. In the early evening shadows she made out Todd’s form standing there, holding up a fish about a foot long. She could smell smoke from the fire pit and turned to see Antonio starting the fire.
Christy patted her friend’s legs. “Katie, they’re back. Wake up.”
Christy noticed how stiff she was. Stiff and cold. She carefully tumbled from the hammock and shuffled to the fire, where she warmed her hands over the low yellow flames.
“Some campgrounds in Europe won’t let you make an open fire,” Antonio said. “But here it is allowed. This fire is just the right size, Christy. Grazie.”
“No problem.”
“How long did we sleep?” Katie asked, joining the four of them with a yawn.
“A couple of hours at least.” Christy yawned, as well. “I’m glad you guys caught something. Was it hard?”
“Just took a little time,” Todd said, cleaning his fish with a pocketknife.
What also took a little time was cooking the fish. The stars had all come out to watch them before they had finished eating. As they gathered their plates, Antonio started some coffee in his charred camp coffeepot.
Christy smiled. It officially felt like summer now.
Every summer since she was fourteen Christy had gathered with her friends around a campfire on the beach in southern California. There, under these same stars, they sang to the Lord, roasted marshmallows, and opened their hearts to each other.
Being here, beneath the cloudless heavens with her closest friends, made Christy feel something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She had several friends at the university that she would go out with. They would sit around talking and drinking coffee on Saturday nights. But it wasn’t the same as being with Todd, Katie, and Antonio. What Christy had with these friends was deeper, sweeter, and different from what she experienced in other friendships. At this moment, she felt as if she could close her eyes, take one step toward the star-filled heavens, and be swallowed up in eternity.
“Come here,” Todd said, inviting Christy to scoot closer.
She leaned her head on Todd’s shoulder and felt herself warming all over. She remembered a phrase she had heard long ago, something about how “God is in His heaven and all is right with the world.” That’s how she felt. All was right between her and Todd. Just right. And God was near.
Christy hummed softly. Todd picked up the tune, and the four of them began to sing. The woods around them resonated with the sound of their praises for the One whose breath rustled in the treetops and whose whispers hummed low through the Earth on which they were seated.
As the night around them grew darker, Christy began to shiver. Todd put his arm around her and drew her close. Together they sang softly and poked the embers of their dying fire with long sticks.
“I’m going to get my jacket,” Christy said, finally pulling away from Todd. “Anyone want anything from the van?” Then she remembered. Her jacket was still hanging on the back of her door in the dorm room.
“Oh no,” Christy said. “Did anyone, by any chance, bring an extra jacket?”
“You didn’t bring a jacket? What kind of an expert happy camper are you?” Katie said with a snap in her voice.
The comment rubbed Christy the wrong way, and suddenly the special tone of the evening evaporated. “I packed in a hurry, if you remember. I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to plan out what I needed for camping.”
“Sorry,” Katie said, but Christy didn’t think Katie sounded apologetic.
“Hey, I have a sweater,” Antonio said, going to the van. He grabbed a hand-knit wool sweater that had been wadded up on the floor.
“You don’t need it?” Christy asked as Tonio tossed it to her. She took one whiff of the sweater and regretted asking for it. It smelled as if it had lined the bottom of a birdcage, then been used to wrap up fish, and finally to wipe off the bottom of a farmer’s boots.
“And here is your blanket,” Antonio said, tossing another smelly, woolen object at her.
“No sleeping bags?” Christy asked. As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She couldn’t stand it when she sounded like a spoiled American who couldn’t cope with Europeans’ simpler approach to life.
Katie echoed Christy’s surprise at their rationed one-blanket-per-camper. “Are you serious? This is all we get? No air mattresses? What about pillows?”
“Use a sweater,” Todd suggested.
Christy knew she wasn’t going to rest her face on Antonio’s fish-gut sweater.
Todd rose to his feet,
and what remained of the closeness of their evening together immediately dissipated. Stretching and yawning, he made his way to the guys’ tent. “I’ll take one of those blankets, if you have another, Tonio. Good night, Christy. Night, Katie.”
“Good night,” they echoed in unison.
Christy crawled into their tent and tried to make the best of the smelly sweater and wool blanket. She stretched out the sweater underneath her to use as padding. She then tucked the wool blanket all around her and used a pair of clean shorts and a folded-up T-shirt as her pillow. It didn’t work. She was too cold to fall asleep.
Katie managed to doze right off. That irritated Christy since she had wanted to ask Katie how she felt about Antonio and if more than teasing was going on between them. Now Christy would have to wait until tomorrow.
From the boys’ tent across the line in the dirt came the steady sound of Antonio’s snoring. At least Christy thought it was Antonio’s.
What if it’s Todd’s? What would it be like to be married to a guy who snored like that? I’d never get any sleep.
Christy heard a twig snap right outside their tent. She froze. Robbers? Are they coming into our camp to take our gear? What if they hot-wire the van and leave us here? Should I scream?
Another twig snapped. Christy grabbed Katie’s arm and shook her. “Wake up, Katie! Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“Listen,” Christy whispered.
“That’s just the guys’ snoring. Go back to sleep, will you?”
“No, it’s not snoring. Something’s out there. Listen.” Katie turned on her flashlight, and Christy immediately grabbed it and turned it off. “Don’t turn it on!”
“Come on, Christy, cut it out!” Katie reached over in the darkness and felt around until she found the flashlight in Christy’s hand. “The idea is to scare them away.”
Katie unzipped the tent and poked her head outside, shining the light around. Suddenly she pulled back and caught her breath. “Christy, you aren’t going to believe this.”
3
“What is it?” Christy’s heart raced.
Until Tomorrow Page 2