Until Tomorrow

by Robin Jones Gunn

  “Yes, how did you remember?”

  “You said it was the most romantic date you had with him—just the two of you, sipping tea and eating scones in London.”

  Christy smiled. “I think that’s why I really wanted him to come to my Konditorei in Basel. I’ve sat at the back table so many times all by myself this past year. Every time I was there I would imagine what it would be like to have Todd seated across from me. Don’t laugh, but sometimes I carried on imaginary conversations with him.”

  “And did he ever answer you?”

  “Sometimes.”

  “Okay, now I’m scared.” Katie reached across the table and gave Christy’s arm a squeeze. “You and Todd need to talk about this. It’s a big decision.”

  “That’s what I was going to tell you. I kept remembering what Todd and I talked about that day at the tea shop. Todd had these verses from Psalm 15 that he quoted to me.”

  “Sounds typical. Todd would have a verse ready for any situation.”

  “It was about keeping your promises, even when it hurts.”

  Katie flipped her short red hair behind her ears and said, “Is that what you’re going to do? Keep your commitment to the orphanage and the school, even though it hurts?”

  Christy looked at her friend and quietly nodded. “Yes. I think that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

  “And what are you supposed to do about Todd? Just keep him waiting?”

  “I’ll be back in September.”

  “I know,” Katie said. “It’s not that long. And I do think you’re doing the noble integrity-thing by sticking with your commitment. I just thought that after this trip it would be hard to say good-bye because you guys have gotten so much closer.”

  Christy sighed. “You have no idea how hard it’s going to be. But he and I seem to have said a lot of good-byes over the years. Still, I’d feel better about everything if we could define our relationship more clearly.”

  “You’ve always wanted that,” Katie said.

  “I guess I have.”

  “What woman doesn’t?”

  “What woman doesn’t what?” Megan asked, entering the kitchen as Katie made her last comment.

  “We were just talking about guys,” Katie said with a smile at Christy. “So what’s on the schedule today? I thought we were going to Switzerland, but I have a feeling Todd would like to stay here another night. That was a fantastic worship service last night.”

  Katie was right. When Mike and Todd returned from their breakfast with one of Mike’s friends, Todd asked Christy and Katie if they would mind staying another night. The two of them had spent the morning helping Megan clean all the rooms and fix lunch. Christy didn’t mind staying. She loved it there. Her morning chores had energized her. She quietly told that to Todd as they ate their vegetable stew and warm rolls for lunch.

  “Would you like to work at a place like this more than at the orphanage?” Todd asked.

  “Yes, definitely. It’s hard to compare months at the orphanage with one morning here, but I understand what you meant about feeling energized instead of drained.”

  “Did Todd tell you about our breakfast?” Mike asked, breaking into their private conversation. “I introduced him to the group of men I partner with in this ministry. They asked if he wanted to come on staff here.”

  Christy hadn’t expected to feel what she did at that moment. She wanted to grab on to Todd and say, “No, you don’t! We’re going to college together in the fall. You’re not coming back to Europe in a few months, right when I’m ready to go home to California. You can’t do this!”

  “What did you tell them?” Katie asked, looking at Todd and then back at Christy.

  “I told them the same thing I told Christy the other day. The need is not the call. I see the need here. I just don’t sense the call from God. Not right now. I think my priority is to finish school. After that, I don’t know.”

  Christy felt her heartbeat returning to a normal pace. She felt she would burst if she and Todd didn’t have a chance soon to talk through what was going on in their lives and what they were deciding for the future.

  “Well,” Katie volunteered, “it looks as if I’m the only one who hasn’t struggled with deciding what I’m going to do after this trip. Christy decided this morning that she’s going to stay at the orphanage for the next term and finish her commitment there. I wanted her to come home, but she has this thing about keeping her promises, even when it hurts.”

  Christy looked over at Todd. She couldn’t tell if he remembered that phrase or if his heart was yelling, “No, Christy, don’t stay! Come home!”

  Having these life decisions announced in front of others made Christy feel awkward and even more determined that she and Todd talk sometime soon.

  Their alone time didn’t occur that afternoon. Megan convinced Christy and Katie to go shopping with her, and Mike asked Todd to restring one of his guitars. The only good part of the afternoon was that both Christy and Katie were able to buy a few souvenirs and to find their way around Megan’s local grocery store.

  Thirty-two people came to the evening worship service, which was even better than the first two nights. Christy wondered how Todd was going to be able to pull away and leave in the morning. Maybe he would want to stay behind. Would he tell Christy and Katie to go on to Switzerland without him?

  Christy considered the possibility of staying the rest of the week in Amsterdam. Her imagination then prompted her to ask, what if she stayed there longer than the rest of the week? What if she stayed permanently? What if she and Todd married and returned to Europe to work there or at a place like it? The possibilities of what she and Todd could do working together seemed endless. The more she thought about it, the more she second-guessed her decision to stay in Basel.

  And why do I even need to finish college? I don’t need a degree to sweep the floors of a youth hostel or to shop for carrots and chop them up for a stew. I’m already as equipped as I need to be to work at a place like this for the rest of my life. I love the atmosphere. I love using my hands to serve.

  Christy hoped she could talk with Todd after the worship service that night. But so many people wanted to chat with him that she would have had to wait in line. Instead, she went to bed and stared at the ceiling, dreaming about what it would be like to be married to Todd and to live there.

  Neither of us would have to finish college. We could start right now. We could even get married right now. The thought thrilled her. No more of this waiting and wondering. We could both fly home on Monday. I’m sure we could pull off a wedding by the end of August, and then we could be back here in September instead of going to Rancho.

  Christy’s dreams that night exhausted her. She woke with long, invisible lists wrapped around her like a mummy’s bandages.

  Dressing and heading for the kitchen before Katie awoke, Christy was pretty sure Todd would say he didn’t want to leave that morning. When he announced his decision, she would say that she wanted to stay, too. If Katie wanted to go on, she could. She was strong and resourceful. Katie could travel around by herself for a few days and then find her way back to the Zürich airport.

  Todd met Christy in the hallway. “Morning. I thought I’d be the early one today, but you’re already up.”

  “Katie is still asleep. I thought I’d help with breakfast.”

  “You love it here, don’t you?” Todd asked.

  “Does it show that much?”

  “You’re using your gifts,” he said.

  “And so are you,” Christy said. “If you’re about to ask if I’d mind staying another day, I don’t mind at all. I actually think we should stay here the rest of the week. As a matter of fact, I was thinking—”

  He interrupted her with a motion to his backpack leaning against the wall behind him. “I’m packed and ready to go. I told Mike we would leave today. An early train rolls out of here at 7:20.”

  Christy felt as if the bottom had dropped out of her elaborate dream wor
ld. “Oh. You don’t want to stay?”

  “Not now. I don’t have any peace about backing out of all my other plans and commitments. Actually, it was a God-thing that you were struggling with your decision about Basel and the orphanage. I realized I couldn’t tell you that the need isn’t the call unless I practiced that concept myself.”

  “Oh.”

  Todd reached his arm around her neck and drew her close in a warm hug. “You look bummed. We can take a later train. Why don’t we get ourselves some breakfast? We can find a little bakery like the one you’re always telling me about. I’d like to hear what’s going on with you. You’ve been making some big decisions, too.”

  Christy nodded. She was ready to slip her arm around Todd’s middle and have him hold her close, but Katie entered the hallway at that moment.

  “What’s up, guys?”

  As soon as Todd mentioned the 7:20 train, Katie was ready to go. He didn’t even tell her they could take a later one because he and Christy were thinking of going out to breakfast.

  Disappointed, Christy left The Rock youth hostel with Todd and Katie fifteen minutes later. Mike and Megan drove them to the train station, still issuing invitations for them to return anytime. Todd told them again that he felt certain this was a matter of God’s timing, and they all parted with warm hugs.

  Christy knew she should take a nap as soon as they settled on the train. She had learned on this trip that she didn’t do well if she didn’t get enough sleep. But her mind wouldn’t slow down enough to consider sleeping. Last night her wild imagination had taken her so far in her relationship with Todd—married by August, returning to Amsterdam by September—that she had to force herself to stop and move way back.

  Todd was being his easygoing self, which helped Christy to get a grip on reality. And Katie’s challenging Christy to a long, well-fought game of chess helped to settle her down, too. She tried to convince herself that they were simply three friends on an adventure. She didn’t need to discuss her future. She just needed the mercy that God had made new to her that morning.

  By the time they arrived at the Frutigen train station twelve hours later, the sun was heading for its home in the west. A flock of fluffy, cream-colored clouds followed the sun like sheep trailing their faithful shepherd. Long shadows from the distant Alpine peaks fell across the barn-sized buildings that surrounded the humble train station.

  Christy felt more peace. This was familiar. The German dialect the people beside her spoke sounded very much like the German spoken in Basel.

  “I hope you really wanted to get off the beaten path,” Katie said, “because this place is no metropolis.”

  “We take a bus from here. I called the Zimmermans last night, and they’re expecting us. Seth was right. They’re happy to have us stay with them.”

  “Of course they’re happy,” Katie said dryly. “We’re their free farm labor.”

  The bus ride was longer than Christy had expected, but the scenery topped anything she had yet experienced on the trip. Her biggest regret was that the sky kept growing darker, making the looming Alps fade from view. The snow, however, acted as a light reflector. The first star of the night made a grand entrance, and Todd put his arm around her and pulled her close to the window so he could point it out.

  They sat snuggled close together the rest of the journey. Christy felt she could think clearly again. They were just Todd and Christy. Forever friends. That’s all they needed to be right now. Certainly by tomorrow morning, in a place like this, she and Todd could have a long talk and settle all the unfinished sentences of the past few weeks.

  Mr. Zimmerman met them at the bus stop. Christy wanted to laugh gleefully when she saw the look on Katie’s face. Mr. Zimmerman looked like the grandfather on a Heidi video Christy and Katie had watched together several times. He had a huge white beard and wore a dark green felt hat with a jaunty red feather stuck in the side. With broken English, he graciously invited them to be his guests and come to his home.

  “I can’t believe this,” Katie muttered as they followed the “grandfather” down the cobblestone street. Katie couldn’t hold her amazement in any longer when they saw where Mr. Zimmerman had led them. His mode of transportation was a horse-drawn wagon. With lots of laughter, Katie, Christy, and Todd climbed up and rode on their own private hayride to the Zimmermans’ home.

  In the dark Christy couldn’t tell how quaint the chalet was. But from what she could see by light of the handheld lantern, they were walking into a fairy-tale music box.

  Mrs. Zimmerman, a round woman with a thick braid wrapped around the top of her head, greeted them warmly and insisted they eat some soup. Everything inside the house was meticulously clean and brightly decorated. Christy was certain that the ornate wooden cabinet in the corner was an antique.

  When they finished the scrumptious soup, Katie and Christy were led upstairs to a tidy, small bedroom with two child-sized beds. Todd was ushered out to the barn to sleep in the straw with several wool blankets.

  As soon as the door closed, Christy and Katie grabbed each other’s arms and spun around in a giddy twirl. “If this weren’t so cool, I’d think it was freaky,” Katie said.

  “Why?”

  “It’s like we left reality and entered the fairy-tale zone! I’m Heidi! Tomorrow morning, Peter the goat herder will come to these windows and call out for me to join him in the high country.”

  Christy giggled. “Look at these beds! I think they once belonged to Hansel and Gretel.”

  “And they were bought at Snow White’s garage sale after two of the dwarfs moved out. We’re going to have to sleep curled up in little balls.”

  Christy curled up under the thick down comforter and slept blissfully through the night. Katie, however, complained the next morning that she hadn’t slept at all and her back hurt.

  “Oh, come on. You’re just trying to make excuses to get out of chores this morning,” Christy said. She was already up and dressed and ready to milk the cows.

  When she found Todd and Mr. Zimmerman, they were in the barn. Christy stood back and watched Todd try to milk a cow. Her muffled laughter prompted Mr. Zimmerman to motion for her to come closer. Christy didn’t want to get anywhere near Todd’s line of fire. Sprays of milk were flying everywhere.

  “Come on, Christy. Help me out here, will you?” Todd said, getting up from the milking stool. “Watch my girlfriend,” he said proudly. “She was born on a farm.”

  Christy hadn’t milked a cow in years. Maybe in almost a decade. Even when she was a child on their dairy farm in Wisconsin, the milking was all done by machines. But she did know how to milk a cow. Her father patiently had taught her what he called “the dying art” when she was five.

  With shaky confidence, Christy positioned herself on the stool and leaned her shoulder and head against the side of the brown Jersey cow. “Come on, girl,” she said calmly. “It’s okay. Stay calm.”

  The first squirt went right in the metal bucket and made a lovely, familiar sound that caused Christy to smile. She continued to milk with impressive success until her hands were sore and the bucket was more than half full.

  “You never cease to amaze me, Kilikina,” Todd said.

  “Me too,” Katie said, stepping in from where she had been watching in the shadow by the door. “And milking a cow is such a useful talent these days for young women of marital age.”

  Christy stepped back and invited Katie to give it a try.

  “No, thanks. Bungee jumping I would try. Eating raw squid I would try. This, I will not try.”

  Before the morning was over, Katie did try several new adventures, including churning butter and feeding the chickens. She took a liking to one of the plow horses, and Christy found Katie hand-feeding it a fistful of oats.

  “Do you want to go up the ski lift with us?” Christy asked.

  “Who is ‘us’?”

  “Todd and me. Mrs. Zimmerman packed a picnic lunch for the three of us to take to the high meadow. You mig
ht see Peter the goat herder up there.”

  “Sure, I’ll go. Unless you were hoping that you and Todd could have the time alone.”

  Christy was, but she didn’t want Katie to know that. “Come on. It will be fun for all of us.”

  As they slid onto the rickety wooden benches of the chair lift and rose above the charming village of Adelboden, Christy waved at Todd. He was in the seat in front of her. Katie was in the seat in front of him. Christy could hear Katie call out as the lift pulled them to dramatic heights, “We’re finally on an adventure!”

  Christy smiled. So this is what you meant when you said you wanted an adventure. Good. I’m glad you got what you wanted, Katie. It’s Friday. My final chances to talk with Todd are melting away by the second. One final weekend is all we have. You got your adventure, Katie. Now that my heart has finally settled down, will I get what I hoped for—a plan for the future?

  22

  At the top of the ski lift, Todd took the large, wooden lunch basket from Christy and offered her a hand. They had to walk quickly to keep up with Katie.

  “She thinks she’s Heidi,” Christy explained to Todd as they watched Katie spin around in a field of wild flowers.

  Katie burst out singing, “ ‘The hills are alive!’ ”

  “Wrong country,” Todd called to her. “We did that one already, remember? The fountains and the abbey?”

  Christy drew in a deep breath of the cool Alpine air. Over her head hung a pure blue sky, pulled taut and held aloft by jagged, snow-covered peaks. At her feet was spread an endless carpet of green meadow sprinkled with wild flowers like colorful confetti. The beauty left her speechless.

  Katie, undaunted by Todd’s comment, kept dancing around and singing. Christy thought how funny it was that she had been the one who had wanted to get out into the country. Now that they were there, Katie acted as if this were her adventure.

  This isn’t an adventure. This is a calming rest. An adventure would be dancing at San Marcos Square in Venice or horseback riding along the beach in Spain.

  Todd put down the picnic basket in the middle of the wild flowers and stretched out next to it. He leaned on his elbow and gave Christy a contented smile.