“I need to get going. This was supposed to be a quick stop to say hi to Christy. Maybe another time.”
“We’ll get going, then,” Katie said, “before we cause any more damage. Bye, you guys. We’ll see you later, hopefully under less bizarre conditions.”
Jon joined Katie and Michael in the exit, saying, “Take it easy, Christy. If you want to cut out early, that’s fine. I am counting on you to work tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here,” Christy promised.
“Why don’t you go on home?” Doug suggested. “You need to take some aspirin and get to bed. That jaw is going to hurt more in the morning.”
“I’ll go after I finish marking this fish food.”
“I can do it for you.” Doug said. “I’m sure Jon won’t mind. Do you feel strong enough to drive home by yourself? I could follow you if you want.”
“No, I’m sure I’ll be fine. It’s not very far, and I feel okay, really. A little sore maybe.”
“As long as you’re sure you’ll be okay.”
“I’m sure. Thanks, Doug.”
“Yeah, right. Thanks a lot for almost breaking your jaw, you mean.”
Christy stood up and placed a comforting hand on Doug’s arm. “It wasn’t your fault. Please don’t blame yourself, okay?”
Doug looked down at his feet and then almost shyly into Christy’s eyes. “I feel really bad about this, Christy.”
“Please don’t. I don’t blame you a bit. Don’t feel bad about it.”
Doug’s grin returned. “Thanks, Christy. You’re a sweetheart.” Then carefully, tenderly, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle side hug.
“What is this, the Annual Hug Christy Miller Fest and we forgot to put up signs in the window?” Jon stuck his head in the back room. “Hey, I checked with Beverly, and she can stay the rest of the night. Why don’t you go on home?”
“Okay, thanks, Jon.” Christy grabbed her purse and headed for the back door. “I’ll try to be here a little early tomorrow.”
“Mind if I finish labeling these for Christy?” Doug asked.
“Do I mind? Not a bit!”
Just as the door was closing behind her, Christy heard Jon say to Doug, “You wouldn’t happen to be looking for a Saturday job, would you?”
Christy knew it was out of the question since Doug didn’t even live in the area. He must have been passing through on his way home from college for the weekend. She never did ask him why he had stopped by.
Doug might talk to Todd before Christy did. She wondered how this whole escapade would be interpreted to Todd.
“Doug still feels real bad,” Todd told Christy the next night on the phone. “He keeps blaming himself.”
“I told him not to. It wasn’t his fault.” Christy propped her bare feet up on a kitchen chair and leaned back against the wall.
“I’ll tell him again tomorrow.”
“I wish I was there and could go to church with you tomorrow.”
“You’ll be here next weekend,” Todd said.
“I know, but it seems like forever,” Christy said with a sigh.
“Your dad’s birthday is tomorrow, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We’re going to have his birthday lunch after church. Bob and Marti were supposed to come, but they’re at a golf tournament in Palm Springs. He goes every year. It’ll just be our family. I wish you were coming.”
“What did you get your dad?”
“A flashlight. I know it sounds kind of lame for a birthday present, but that’s what he wanted. It’s a certain kind with an emergency flasher and a built-in radio. My mom said he’d like it. Doesn’t seem real personal to me.”
“Then why don’t you make your card personal?” Todd suggested. “Didn’t you tell me you wrote a description of him for your English class? Include that with your card. That’s personal. He’ll like it.”
“You think so?”
“Sure. Dads like to hear that they’re doing something right every now and then.”
Christy took Todd up on his idea and rewrote the essay on a piece of flowered stationery. This time she added at the end. “Daddy, I love you, even though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell you how much.” She signed it, “Forever, your daughter, Christina Juliet Miller.”
When her dad opened his gifts the next afternoon, Christy started to feel a little flip-floppy in her stomach. What if he doesn’t like the letter? What if the part about him smelling like cows hurts his feelings? The ending is kind of sappy. What’s he going to say?
Her dad opened the card and read the page silently as she bit her lower lip and tried to ignore her mother’s questioning glances. To her amazement, her dad didn’t say a word. He folded up the paper, carefully placed it back in the card, and put the card back in the envelope.
“What did it say?” David wanted to know.
Dad didn’t answer. He looked up at Christy, and she saw two teardrops start to race down his cheeks. She couldn’t remember ever seeing her dad cry before.
“Did you like it?” It was barely a whisper emerging from Christy’s still-sore jaw.
“Christina,” he said, placing his big, rough hand under her chin and gently cupping her face. “You have given me the greatest reward a man can ever hope for in life. I’m so proud of you, baby.”
Now Christy was crying, and her mom was crying too. David kept looking at each of them saying, “What? What’s going on? Why is everybody crying?”
Christy had never expected this reaction. Todd had said all dads like to know that they’re doing something right, but this had turned into much more than a pat on the back for her dad. Somehow, Christy’s dad had taken her feeble words and embraced them as a wonderful treasure.
It was a surprising and memorable experience, and Christy decided to write about it in her journal that night. She described the scene at lunch and her dad’s reaction. Then she added, “It made me think about my heavenly Father. I don’t often tell Him how I feel about Him. I know He loves me, even though I don’t think I’ll ever understand how much. And I love Him, even though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully tell Him how much.”
Then Christy had an idea. If it touched her dad’s heart so much for her to write out her feelings for him, how much more would it touch the heart of her heavenly Father if she tried to express her love for Him on paper?
For the next hour, Christy filled two pages of her journal with her heartfelt attempt at telling God how much she loved Him. In the same way that her dad’s birthday lunch had turned into an emotional time between Christy and her dad, this hour of pouring out her heart to God on paper did something to Christy. She felt warmed and secure and closer to God than she had ever felt before. It was as if He was right there beside her, His heart listening to her heart, His eyes filling with tears the same way her dad’s had.
Christy tried to explain it all to Todd later that week on the phone. He listened with understanding and simply said, “You know, if anger is the fluid love bleeds when you cut it, there must be something opposite that comes out of love when you nurture it. Some kind of sweet fragrance or something.”
“Todd, do you realize how poetic that is?”
“Yeah, I guess it is. Are you surprised?”
“What?” Christy asked. “Surprised that deep down you’re a romantic? No, not really. I’ve known all along that’s how you think and feel, even though it doesn’t come out very often.”
“It’s there, all right,” Todd agreed. “I’m saving it.”
There was a pause, and Christy wondered what he meant. Was he saving all his romantic expressions for her or for the future or—she didn’t like the thought—saving them for someone else?
“There’s a time for everything,” Todd said. “A time to keep your innermost feelings to yourself and a time to share them. It hasn’t yet been the right time for me to share a lot of my innermost feelings with you. But I’m sure you know they’re there.”
“And when will
it be the right time?”
“I don’t know. How do the leaves know when to change color? It’s something supernatural that they do in a natural way when God puts all the right elements in place. Right now it’s a time for us to…” He didn’t seem to have the right word.
“To enjoy today?” Christy ventured, remembering her uncle’s advice on the houseboat.
“I suppose. More than that though. I’ll have to think about that one.”
Christy thought about it too. She especially thought about Todd’s words as she drove to school on Friday. A few of the trees along the way were changing into their autumn wardrobe and dancing about in the morning wind. She thought of Todd’s question: “How do the leaves know when to change color?” and she thought about how there’s a right time for everything.
And the time for me to finally see Todd is tonight! I can’t wait to get off work and go up to Newport Beach with him. It’s a good thing Bob and Marti are going to be home from their golf tournament today and they don’t mind my staying with them for the weekend.
With a cheerful bounce in her step. Christy breezed through her morning classes and determined that she would have a good time at lunch with Michael and Katie. The last few days had been pretty rough. It seemed that whenever Katie tried to make a move to improve the friendship with Christy, Christy was in a critical mood. Whenever Christy tried to be patient and understanding, Katie or Michael would say something that would set her off, and she would have to walk away before she said something she would regret later.
Today Christy wanted peace.
“Guess what we’re doing this weekend?” Katie asked the minute Christy joined her under the tree. Michael wasn’t there yet. “We’re going to San Diego tonight, and tomorrow morning we’re going out on a boat to go whale watching! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Where are you staying?”
“Remember that girl Stephanie we stayed with last spring when we went to the God-Lovers Bible study? Well, I got her number from Doug. She’s still in the same apartment, and she invited Michael and me to stay with her. Isn’t that great?”
“You’re both going to stay at her apartment?” Christy asked.
“I suppose. She has two rooms, you know.” The delight seemed to be draining from Katie’s face. “I thought you’d be excited for me. Is that too much to ask? Why are you so critical?”
“It sounds a little strange, the two of you going off for the weekend and staying in the same apartment. Don’t you think so too?”
“I can’t believe this, Christy. Why won’t you take my word for it? Michael is a total gentleman. We’re not doing anything wrong. His morals are as strong as mine.”
Christy could tell that Katie was starting to get heated up. Her freckled face served as a clear thermometer of what was going on inside, and right now the red was creeping to the top of her head.
“You’re really starting to get to me, Christy! Here I go and set this whole thing up with a bunch of Christians so that Michael can be around them and maybe even go to the God-Lovers group on Sunday night, and you make me feel guilty, like I’m doing something wrong!”
“I’m sorry,” Christy said defensively.
“No, you’re not. You’ve got your own set of standards, which I might add, seem to me to be a double standard since you’re going to spend the weekend with Todd.”
“I’m staying at my aunt and uncle’s. You know that.”
“And I’m staying at Stephanie’s. It’s the same thing. You and Todd are going to be together the whole time. Why is it so wrong for me to try to introduce Michael to some Christians? Christians, I might add, who aren’t as judgmental as you!”
Katie’s words were piercing, and Christy felt her tear elevator quickly approaching the top floor, where all the wet drops would soon fill up her eyes.
“I need to go,” Christy said, getting up and excusing herself when she saw Michael approaching. “I really do hope you have a good weekend, and I really do hope Michael becomes a Christian. I’m sorry I’m the way I am, Katie. I guess I just care about you too much, and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Christy snatched up her uneaten lunch and was about to turn to go when Katie said, “I know that. Don’t you remember what I said when we were on the raft? There are no guarantees. I know that. I know it’s too late for any kind of a guarantee that I won’t get hurt. The same thing applies to you and Todd, Christy. Or are you not willing to see that?”
Christy couldn’t look at Katie. She couldn’t talk to her when things got this tense between them. Trying to hold back the tears, Christy stepped away and greeted Michael with a fake “Hi! How you doing?” She kept on walking, heading for the lonely spot at the picnic table that had often been her refuge recently.
Today, of all days, Fred had taken her spot and was joined by two freshman girls, one on either side. He was wearing one of his new outfits, and as Christy approached, she overheard the girls asking how they could get their pictures in the yearbook.
“I’d say for freshmen your best bet is to do something out of the ordinary in cooking class. If you know when you’re going to be baking a cake or something, you two can add some, say…green dye, and simply let me know ahead of time. I’ll come to your class and record it on film.”
He sounded so official. Christy had confused feelings. She didn’t exactly want to join them, especially now that Fred had this new image that seemed to help him attract girls, even if they were freshmen. Still, the sad part was that now she had no one to eat lunch with.
At this moment, more than ever, she realized how few friends she had at school. Teri had graduated last year, and Brittany and Janelle, two girls she used to hang out with during her sophomore year, had both moved. Katie was the only person Christy had spent lunchtime with for the last two and a half years. Except for Fred. Now even Fred had other friends.
“Miss Chris,” Fred called out, spotting her as she tried to slide past him, “come here!”
Christy sighed, blinked back the renegade tears, pasted a smile on her face, and joined Fred and his fan club.
“What’s wrong?” Fred immediately asked when he saw her.
I must be the worst faker in the world. I can’t even hide my emotions from Fred.
“My jaw is still a little sore,” Christy said. It was true. She involuntarily had been clenching her teeth while she was talking to Katie, and her jaw did hurt. “Makes it kind of hard to eat.”
“Why don’t you try some pudding or Jell-O from the food machines?”
Christy nodded her appreciation for the suggestion and noticed her camera sitting on the table. She thought it would be good to have it back so she could take it with her this weekend. “Are you done using my camera yet, Fred?”
“There are about four more shots on the roll.”
“Mind if I take it back?” Christy picked up the camera and removed the lens cap so she could look through the viewfinder. “You didn’t mess it up or anything, did you?”
“Of course not!” Fred looked shocked that Christy would ask such a question. She could see him clearly through the small box and had a sudden inspiration to snap his picture so he could see what it felt like. A sneaky idea came to her.
“Did you girls know that Fred sort of got a makeover last weekend?”
Fred looked pleased that Christy was still noticing and commenting on the vast improvements. She had him centered perfectly in the viewfinder. Now to get both the girls to move in just a little closer.
“Yeah, he got his hair cut, and he even got his ears pierced!”
Both girls cooperated beautifully by leaning in to get a closer look at the ear nearest them. They had expressions of curious amazement on their faces. Fred’s mouth opened, and his eyes bulged at the exact instant that Christy snapped the photo.
“This will be perfect for the yearbook,” Christy said.
The two freshmen looked at each other in delight. Their wish had been granted. Fred jumped up and tried to
snatch the camera away from Christy. She held it over her head out of his reach. “Now, Fred, that’s the only picture I have of you so far, and you have at least a dozen candid shots of me. Don’t you think it’s only fair that I get to keep this one?”
Fred plopped down hard on the bench. “Okay, okay. I get the picture, Christy. Har har. Just a little joke there. We can deal on this one. You give me that photo, and I’ll give you back the ones I’ve taken of you.”
“I don’t think so, Fred. I think this picture will cancel out only the one from last year at the pizza place that Rick so easily persuaded you to take of me. That means I have about a dozen more of you to take before the year is over.”
“That one last year was Rick’s idea, not mine. Come on, Christy, have a heart!”
She was about to hold out to even the score when she remembered how things had turned out between Katie and Doug as the two of them had played their game of sweet revenge. As innocent as it had seemed in the beginning, someone kept getting hurt as their game progressed. Christy surrendered.
“Okay, Fred. Truce. I do need my camera back though. When we get the roll developed, you can decide what you want to do with the picture.”
Fred broke into a toothy smile. “Thanks, Miss Chris. You’re the best.”
Christy walked away with her uneaten lunch and her camera, deciding to shoot the last few pictures of the parking lot like Katie had suggested at the beginning of school. Something inside her felt right for having made peace. Maybe it was that fragrance Todd talked about, the fragrance that comes when you nurture love instead of cut into it.
Great! Christy heard a condemning voice inside her head. I have this wonderful relationship I’m nurturing with Fred of all people, while nothing but anger keeps bleeding out between my best friend and me. It’s time for a truce, Christy. How are you going to do it?
“Jon I’m leaving,” Christy called out to her boss at one minute after nine on Friday night as he began to lock up the pet store.
“Have a great weekend.” Jon called back. “Say hi to Todd for me.”
Christy Miller Collection, Vol 4 Page 12