by Jenn Faulk
~David~
He started the shower and pulled his shirt off over his head.
Then, he stuck his head back out the bathroom door and checked, just to make sure.
There she was. Camille Evans, standing in his kitchen, pinning her hair up as she peered into his fridge, humming a little tune under her breath... and smiling.
That never got old. That smile. No matter how many times he checked to make sure she was real – that she was Cammie Evans, here with him – it was still a thrill.
He shut the door, grinning like a stupid fool, thinking about the past few months and how many times he’d had to double check, just like that, hardly believing that life had turned out like this.
He stepped out of the rest of his clothes, still smiling even though his bathroom was now covered in sand, and stepped into the shower, thinking on the last few months.
There was the work. Camille knew it in part, but she didn’t know the whole of it, even though he’d attempted to explain to her how much things had expanded this term. Three years worth of work, with the added bonus of a helper made to fit here so perfectly, had been the conduit of so many blessings. The group had doubled in size from the last school term. He’d picked up another three classes at the high school, with Camille coming along to teach beside him. They were running two discipleship groups, each with forty teens, and two more Bible study groups for the junior high students. The camping trips were more frequent, as were the trips to the beach, the meet-ups around town, and the evenings spent visiting the hostels.
And the church. Oh, the church. David had baptized thirty students in one term. They were already reevaluating the space they had as every week, more students poured into the building, as they ran out of seats more often than not, as God changed so many hearts.
Camille was there, right with him, through it all. She was so good at what she did, just like he’d suspected she would be all those years ago when she’d first mentioned missions to him.
Thinking about her, like he was prone to do all the time these days, made him rush through his shower. He could still hear her in the kitchen, even as he shut off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist, and caught the stupid look on his face as he looked in the mirror.
He was in love with her. Anyone could see that in the moon-eyed, dopey look on his face.
Except for Cammie, of course. Praise God she couldn’t see it because she’d be icked out and weirded out, likely. And would get on the first plane out of here.
David Connor. Charity and Hope’s weird little brother. She’d made that pretty clear back in Tsumeb when he’d so idiotically insinuated that she was idolizing him.
Seriously, David?
At this, he frowned, even as he began shaving off the beard.
It was all for the best, probably. Her not knowing anything about how he felt because it’s not like it would change anything.
And she was too good of a teammate to risk changing anything anyway. She was half the team, as he had said. Because she was. It hadn’t even been a team until she came, and now, he felt like he could conquer the world with her by his side.
She’d always been a good teammate like that.
His mind drifted back to a Wednesday night back in Texas, right after their youth Bible study. Jay had gotten all of the students to pair up by drawing names out of a hat – high school boys and high school girls, so that the girls wouldn’t break off into their cliques and so they would keep the guys from getting bored and losing interest.
David had been ecstatic that he was a freshman now and that it put him with the older kids, which meant that he would get to bypass the stupid game of charades that the junior high students always had to play.
Instead, he would be playing... charades.
There was a collective groan as Jay made the announcement.
“You are the loudest bunch of kids,” he said, waving away their irritation. “Each boy come up and grab a name to see who your partner will be. We’re going to do this on a point system. The two teams with the most points at the end of the half hour will war it out for a really great prize. So, keep your fingers crossed that your partner is a winner.”
David got in line behind all the really tall dudes in the youth group... which included just about everyone except for him. The girls watched them from the couches, already taking up their spots, laughing to one another, likely over who would get stuck with the three freshman boys.
The other two freshman boys were a better option than David himself was. He knew this from the comments he heard. But he ignored it because he was actually good at charades.
He’d show them all that weird little David Connor was actually a real catch.
“Charity Connor,” Brian Willis, a senior who was on his school’s track team, wrestling team, football team, basketball team, etc, etc, said as he held up the scrap of paper with David’s sister’s name on it.
Charity practically cheered in response as Brian exchanged a coy grin with her, and she moved over to make room for him.
More girls. Freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior girls, all paired up.
“Hope Connor,” Jeff Morris, a junior who was in his school’s marching band, his school’s choir, his school’s orchestra, his school’s musical theater team, etc, etc, said as he held up the scrap of paper with David’s other sister’s name on it.
Hope studied him critically for a moment as he did likewise. And she didn’t move over to make room for him, leaving him to sit on the floor.
By the time David finally got up to the hat, most of the teams were already together and already talking through strategies.
He reached in, said a little prayer, and lifted up his scrap of paper. Cammie Evans. Glory.
He refrained from saying that part out loud, thankfully. “Cammie Evans,” he squeaked, grinning, even as several other girls laughed at this, including Charity.
Poor Cammie. He could see the disappointment. But still, she moved over and patted the seat next to her.
David took it with a smile, looking up at her as he settled in. Wow, she was so pretty...
Despite the distraction, once the game started, he and Cammie managed to get every single one in record time. No matter who was the one giving the clues and who was guessing, they moved quickly, never missing a beat.
“You’re good at this,” she said to him, grinning. “We just might get whatever lame prize Jay has, huh?”
“I hope so,” David said, thinking that he’d already gotten the prize when he’d drawn her name.
They came up on the final card. They watched Hope and Jeff totally miss the word on their card – patience. Which David would have figured, since Hope had none of that, as evidenced by the glare she gave her partner when he just couldn’t get it.
“Okay, easy win for David and Cammie,” Jay said, as he handed David the final card. “If they can just get this one before time runs out.”
David looked at the card. Love.
As he bit his lip, thinking on how to best show this, given all the different kinds of love that are out there, he watched Cammie as she sat forward and studied him.
He could pretend to rock a baby. There was love there, between a parent and a child. He could grab up Charity, who was making eyes at Brian and vice versa, and stand with his arm around her. There was love there, between a brother and a sister. He could point to Jay and to his wife, Christy, who sat beside him. There was love there, between a husband and his wife.
But when he thought of love... he thought of how he felt looking at Cammie Evans, even as one side of her mouth quirked up in an inquisitive grin, no doubt as she wondered what was going through his mind.
“Okay, I’m ready,” he said to Jay, handing the card back.
“And your time starts.... now!” Jay exclaimed.
And despite the laughter he knew it would create, the talking people would do about silly David Connor and how weird he was, he went right ahead and did what he knew she would understand.
He could see the different words rushing through her mind, even as the group giggled around them. Wedding, proposal, husband...
“Love,” she said softly, grinning at him. “That’s what you meant, wasn’t it, David? Love.”
Love. What a crazy thing to be thinking now, all these years later, as he finally finished shaving.
He gave himself a good, hard look in the mirror, still hearing Cammie’s voice singing quietly in his kitchen, before he turned around, got dressed, and went out to meet her.