Coming Attractions (13 page)

“It’s beautiful here,” Katie said.

“Yes, it is, isn’t it? I keep telling Robert we should move, but then a day like this shows up, and I find myself quite content
here on my balcony.” She extended her arm in a sweeping gesture of the beach and ocean before them. Katie thought Marti looked
as if she might start singing an aria from an opera.

“I think I’ll go for a walk,” Katie said before Marti had a chance to continue. “When do you think Bob and the others will
be back?”

Marti checked her watch. “An hour. Maybe less. I made reservations for us for lunch.”

“Of course you did.”

Katie realized the thought had popped out of her mouth. With a sheepish grin, she quickly added, “You’re always good about
taking care of us that way. I’ll be back in less than an hour.”

With a slightly wounded tone, Marti said, “Take your phone. I’ll have Robert call you when they get back.”

Katie left before her mouth got her into any more trouble with Marti.

What is with my timing? I don’t want to be insensitive to other people. Just because I think something, I don’t have to spout
it. I have to work on that.

Grabbing her phone as well as her sunglasses, she took off for the beach. With her sandals in one hand and her cell phone
in the other, she wedged her bare feet deep into the cool sand.

Some good times had taken place at this beach. Katie knew that Christy had lots more memories around the fire pits and along
the shore than she did, but her memories were golden nonetheless. Doug had tried to convince her once that a shark was after
her in the water. Antonio had fun teasing her the day they were here. She and Christy had walked and talked along the water’s
edge one evening at sunset and shared their dreams for the future with each other. As long as Katie could remember, Rick had
been that hint of a dream in the back of her mind. He was always her “what if” guy. And now the “what if” had become a “what
was.”

Katie stared out across the expanse of greenish blue and blinked back the misty cloud of tears that surfaced without an invitation.
She wished Christy were with her now. Her forever friend would help her to make sense of everything she was feeling.

Settling in the sand, Katie drew in a deep breath and turned to her true Forever Friend. The one who promised he would never
leave her or disown her.

“At least you and I are knit together at the heart, aren’t we, God? Yeah, we are. You and me, Lord. So go ahead and tell me:
Am I a train wreck, or am I on the right track? Have I made too big of a mess of everything? Is Rick going to be okay? Is
this just how life is? Tangled and messy? Nothing for me has ever seemed clear or clear-cut. Is it normal for someone who
is sincerely trying to follow you with all her heart to end up in such a mess all the time?”

Just then her cell phone vibrated. She assumed Bob was calling to say they were back. Katie regretted that her heart-to-heart
conversation with God was being cut short.

Without looking at the caller ID, she answered with, “I’m on my way back to the house right now.”

Eli’s voice responded. “Katie, are you okay?”

“Oh, Eli. Hi. I thought you were someone else. Yeah, I’m okay. I don’t know if Rick is, though. What did he tell you? I’m
sure he’s still pretty upset. I wish I’d been more — ”

“Katie,” Eli interrupted her, “I’m not following you.”

“You talked to Rick, right?”

“No, not since Thursday afternoon.”

“Oh.” She switched the phone to her other ear. “Wait, then why did you ask if I was okay?”

“I left you a couple of messages on your phone and texted you. Did you get the messages?”

“No. I didn’t look. What were the messages?”

“I, um, I thought something was wrong. That something had happened.”

“When?”

“Last night. I sensed a really strong prompting to pray for you.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. I prayed for a while and then — ”

“Eli, when were you praying for me? What time last night?”

“It was sometime between midnight and one. My heart felt really heavy for you.”

Katie was a little creeped out and a little in awe at the same time.

“Katie? Are you still there?”

“Yeah. I just can’t believe God woke you up to pray for me in the middle of the night.”

“So are you okay?”

Katie drew in a deep breath of the brisk ocean air before speaking the words aloud to anyone for the first time. “I… I broke
up with Rick.”

F
ive days after Katie told Eli she had broken up with Rick, she was standing next to Eli in Crown Hall’s parking lot. They
stood practically shoulder-to-shoulder, examining her new-used car. Eli’s campus security golf cart was a few yards away.
He had clicked off the engine and hopped out when he saw Katie leaving her car.

“So are you going to name this one ‘Baby Hummer 2’?” Eli asked.

“No, there was only one Baby Hummer.” Katie ran her thumb over a white scratch on the door of the Subaru Outback. The deep
green car had the rectangular shape of a small SUV. “This one looks more like a Baby Land Rover.”

“We had a Land Rover when I was little.”

“What did you call it?”

Eli shot Katie a wry grin. “Same thing we called all the vehicles in the compound. ‘Car.’ That way all we had to do when we
wanted to go somewhere was call, ‘Here, Car. Come, Car.’ Whichever one happened to miraculously be working at the time would
come running.”

“Cute,” Katie said. She smirked at Eli and took one more walk around her new car. “I could call her ‘Mini Rover’ or ‘Red Rover.’
Except she’s green.”

“Green Rover?” Eli suggested.

Katie thought another moment, and the name came to her. “Clover! She’s not green like a Rover; she’s green like clover. Clover
the mini-Rover. I like it. What do you think?”

“I think you are the only person I know who names her car.”

Katie turned her attention on Eli. Now that his curly brown hair was growing out, it gave him a free-as-the-wind and wild-as-the-ocean
look. It was a good look on him.

Katie was about to tell him how great his hair looked, but then she suddenly felt awkward. This was the first time she had
talked to Eli since their phone call on the beach, and she knew she had opened up far too much to him in that call.

She knew at the time she would have been better off talking over her deeply personal feelings with Christy. But at the moment,
when she needed a friend, Eli was the one who was there for her as she sat alone on the beach. He listened to everything she
spilled out, and then he said he was going to be praying for her and for Rick.

“So has Rick said anything to you yet?” Katie asked.

“No. We’ve been together at the apartment a couple of times, but he didn’t bring it up, nor did I. I think it would be good
if you told him that you and I have talked about your breakup. I don’t want him to feel caught off guard.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll tell him the next time we talk. He sent me flowers yesterday. This is a lot harder than I thought
it would be.”

“Are you still certain you made the right decision?”

“Yes.” Katie nodded and looked down at the keys in her hand. “I know it was the right decision. The timing and my wording
really stunk, but, yeah, I still know that Rick and I went as far as our hearts would take us. I know that.”

“You need to talk to him.”

“I know.”

Eli stood beside her, not saying anything. She again noticed the L-shaped scar on the side of his neck. She had always wondered
if Eli had surgery on his throat or if the scar was from something odd like falling on a toy fire truck as a child.

“You know what’s been really strange?” Katie asked. “After I talked to you when I was on the beach, I decided I didn’t want
to say anything to anyone until Rick and I had a chance to talk things through some more, and I haven’t talked about it with
anyone.”

“You didn’t tell Todd and Christy?”

“No. There wasn’t time. Marti rushed us off to a big Sunday brunch at the yacht club, and then Todd went back to the beach
house to surf. Marti and Christy went shopping. It ended up that just Uncle Bob and I looked at cars, which worked out fine
because I only bought one.”

Eli grinned. “You only bought one? How many cars were you planning to buy?”

Katie realized she had almost said too much. Her plan of surprising Christy and Todd by buying them a car was dismantled while
she shopped with Uncle Bob. Christy’s steady, calm uncle convinced Katie to concentrate on her own need for a car and to wait
until after graduation before following through on her idea to bless Christy and Todd with a car.

Answering Eli honestly but letting the sarcasm shine through, Katie said, “Oh, I thought I would start with two cars as long
as I had my checkbook out. I mean, what better way to drown my sorrows after a big breakup than to buy a couple of cars?”

Instead of laughing at her joke, Eli reached over and touched the curve of her face along her jaw line. The brief, tender
touch caused Katie’s heart to stir unexpectedly.

“It’s going to be okay, Katie. You’re going to be okay. Rick is going to be okay.”

“I know,” she said softly. She could feel her face turning rosy.

“You need to open yourself up to other possibilities.” His gaze was fixed on her in a way that hinted at affection.

When Katie first met Eli, she had quickly realized that one of his distinguishing traits was the way he stared at people curiously
without realizing how unnerving and rude it came across. This gaze wasn’t like his old way of staring. This was a compassionate
look from the heart of a caring friend.

Katie tried to conceal her self-conscious feelings by talking fast. “If by other possibilities you mean having a look around
for a new boyfriend, you can stop right there. I can tell you now that isn’t going to happen. I’m done with relationships
for a while. A long while. You don’t know me, but I’m famous for my declarations of giving up on guys. This time, though,
I mean it.”

“I know you, Katie,” Eli replied in a low but firm voice.

“No, you don’t. Not in this area. I always come out of tailspin crushes and say I’m going to focus on the Lord and get my
heart right with him. But this time I actually feel as if my heart is right with God. So, if by any chance you were trying
to say that I should be open to other possibilities because you’re thinking of asking me out on a charity date to cheer me
up, don’t bother, because I wouldn’t go with you.”

“I actually meant being open to other possibilities about what you’ll do after you graduate.”

“Oh.”

“But thanks for the subtle hint on your feelings about ever going out with me.” Eli gave her another one of his wry grins
and climbed back into the security cart.

“Don’t take what I just said too personally.”

“I rarely do.” He drove off, and she watched him turn the corner.

Eli Lorenzo, you are one unique piece of God’s creative efforts in the world of men, I’ll give you that
.

Katie headed into Crown Hall, trying to sort out what Eli had been communicating under the surface just then. Was it possible
he was interested in her? Why would he be?

What was the phrase Rick used last summer? Rick said Eli thought I was memorable. Was that it? No, not memorable. Unforgettable.
Yeah, that was it. Eli told Rick I was unforgettable. Why?

She thought back to the many conversations she and Eli had shared since last fall, when she went out to the desert with him
one night to watch a meteor shower. They had worked shoulder-to-shoulder for weeks on the clean water fund-raiser. Katie had
learned a lot about Eli and his childhood in Africa. The guy had been nothing but a friend to her. At least, that’s how she
saw him, once she got past her initial awkwardness over being around him. A good friend who made no secret that he prayed
for her. The praying, she was sure, was a habit he must have developed as a missionary kid.

Taking the elevator to the third floor, Katie made her way to Julia’s apartment. She easily put thoughts of Eli aside. She
had lots to settle with Julia and a bunch of past-due paperwork to turn in. This was the first chance she’d had to connect
with her after continually stalling on setting up a meeting time.

The door to Julia’s apartment was open a few inches. Katie took that as a sign to go on in until she heard voices from inside.
Hanging back, she intended to listen just long enough to determine if the conversation was personal.

She recognized the voice as Nicole’s and felt confident that whatever she was telling Julia, Nicole would end up telling Katie.

Katie was about to enter when she realized Nicole was crying. Katie hesitated, realizing she might be interrupting something.

“It’s not her at all,” Nicole said. “It’s me. She doesn’t know how I feel or how horrible these past few months have been
every time I’m around him. I’ve worked hard to hold back my feelings. I really have tried to lie to myself, like you told
me, but it’s killing me. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t get rid of these feelings for Rick.”

Katie froze.
Rick! Feelings for Rick!

“I would never want to do anything that would hurt Katie. She’s one of my closest friends.”

Katie’s feet felt glued to the floor.

“Have you tried being around Rick less?” Julia asked.

“Yes. But then he shows up here to see Katie and…”

“Has Rick given you any indication that he might be interested in you? Does he flirt with you or come on to you in any way?”

Katie could barely breathe.

“No, Rick doesn’t flirt with me. He’s nice to me, but I don’t think it’s much different than the way he’s nice to other people.”

“Do you think all the interest is on your side, then?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. The interest is all on my side. I wish I could make it go away. Rick loves Katie. That’s obvious. I
don’t know why I can’t get that through my head and just move on.”

“Because your heart is engaged in this. You’ve opened your heart to the possibility of love, and therefore your heart isn’t
taking orders from your head on this one.”