Luke's Crazy California Christmas (7 page)

I stepped away from the crowd to send a message. It was coming on eight o'clock, which meant it was eleven on the other coast and Andrea should be driving home from Richmond. I sent her a text.
I know you did awesome tonight!

After a couple minutes of waiting, I rejoined the group. I kept checking my phone. No response. Maybe she'd already made it home and gone to sleep. Or there might not be signal where she was at.

Maybe.

But that still, small voice deep inside me wondered if she had time for me anymore. What would happen when we were in college, possibly living on different sides of the country? What were the odds we could keep going with distance and impossible schedules keeping us apart?

~*~

On Christmas morning, I called Mom and wished her a merry Christmas. She'd slept over with her sister's family. At least she wasn't alone.

Andrea had sent a text early in the morning—8 AM her time and 5 AM local time.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Off to the grandparents today.

I texted her back when I saw it two hours later. No comment on my text last night or anything about how her concert went. What was with her? An entire continent might be physically separating us, but with the distant way she was behaving, it was as if she'd moved to the dark side of the moon. Less than a week and she seemed to be moving farther away from me by the second.

When she'd felt pressure from her parents last October, she ended up dropping me before homecoming without an explanation. What if she did that again? Except back then, I'd just been interested in her. Now I was…what? In love with her? Was she in love with me? She sure wasn't acting like it.

Kids at school threw that word
love
around as if they were batting a birdie over a badminton net. When you said something like
I love you
, it should really mean something. My dad said it to Mom, especially when he'd done something to break her trust in him. Just words, with no actions to back them up. Now he said he was in love with Heather. I didn't want to say
I love you
to anyone before I knew it was real.

After breakfast, Dad and I took mugs of coffee into the living room and sat in front of the pitiable plastic Christmas tree. The pre-lits had shorted out, so there weren't even any lights flashing.

“You should think about getting a new tree next year,” I kidded.

Dad laughed. “Yeah, definitely. Heather likes a real tree.”

“That'll be nice. It will smell real…well, real.”

“It sure will. You know, Heather and Charli will be over soon.”

“I figured as much.”

“You probably haven't noticed because you haven't known Charli all that long, but she's been improving over the last couple days. Heather thinks it's because of you.”

“Me?”

“Back in Chicago she was getting into a lot of trouble, hanging with the wrong crowd, skipping school. You've been a good influence on her. She never would have actively requested to go to church before this week.”

“Wow, I had no idea. She's a good kid. We have fun.”

“They had a good time at church last night. Heather and I will try to find a church nearby.”

“That's great.” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My dad hadn't been in church for like three years.

“Heather is hoping for a church wedding in June too. Anyway, Luke, before they get here, I have a gift for you.”

“O-K.”

He handed me a wrapped present, and I knew exactly what it was from the shape. I ripped the paper, revealing Monica's guitar. I was perplexed. “What's this?”

“I want you to have it. She would want you to have it.”

“Thanks.”

“You were right. I kept it from you before you left the state.” He moved closer to me on the sofa. “It seemed as if it was the last part of her, and I wasn't ready to let it go.” His chest heaved with a deep breath. His eyes were damp.

I wasn't sure how to act. My dad never showed this kind of emotion. Seeing him this way started to choke me up. I forced it back down my throat.

He touched me on the back. “I'm sorry, Luke.”

“It's OK, Dad.” My voice cracked. I swallowed. “Thanks for the guitar.”

“No, I'm sorry for everything. I haven't been as fair as I should have been with you or your mother. I'd like you to come here and finish high school, but I understand if you choose to go back to live with your mother. And as for UCLA, you know how I feel, but this is your decision. It's your education. Your future.”

I'd fallen into some crazy, mixed-up version of my life. This was not my dad. We had a case of body snatchers or something. “What's changed?”

“Heather.” He smiled. “She's made me see what I've been doing to you. Our relationship has been strained for a long time. I'd like to try…to try to make it better.”

I didn't know whether to believe him or not. Words. They were just words. I'd heard nice words from him before. In the end, it didn't change anything. Time would tell. I nodded to him and I hoped. I hoped the prayers Mom and I had prayed over Dad would make a difference. I was tired of being at odds with my father. I hated the conflict. I just wanted things to be like they were before Monica's accident. But that would never happen. She was gone. Mom and Dad were divorced. And now Dad had found himself a new wife. Would life ever feel normal again?

~*~

Christmas passed without much of a hitch, and I actually had a good time. I even broke out the guitar and we belted out a few Christmas carols. It was kind of weird, but maybe I just wasn't used to being happy around my dad.

Later Charli made me watch like three Christmas movies with her. My brain was calling out for wrestling or something after that.

The sky the morning of December 26 turned orangey as the sun rose into the skyline. I'd been awake since five. I still had some jetlag and hadn't adjusted to the time-zone change. Just as well. No use adjusting when I was leaving shortly.

Still no word from Andrea. I really had thought she was the one for me. I'd never met someone like her before. She was kind and considerate and funnier than she knew. Creative and musical, with a heart to serve God. Plus the whole superhero fetish that we shared. But it was like homecoming all over again, except back then, she'd had the courtesy to break things off. And in the end, she'd come to her senses and we went to homecoming after all. This silence really had me worried.

What would it be like to go back to Aubrey and for us not to be together? We shared similar friends. It would be awkward and just painful. A hard thump resonated in my chest.

In the late afternoon, I dressed in shorts and a T-shirt and went to the pool. Charli was already waiting for me with an oversized sketchpad balanced over her lap.

“Drawing today, are you?”

She was in the middle of a creation and didn't look up. “New sketchpad for Christmas. I decided I need to draw you. Ready to be my model?” Now she met my eyes.

“Not on your life. Draw those palm trees. I bet you don't have any of those in your usual repertoire.”

“Big word there.”

“Yeah, Andrea says it sometimes about her music.” My voice had gone a little quiet as I said her name, all the fun zapped out of it.

“Is she a musician?”

“Pianist. And she's good. That's part of the reason I haven't heard much from her this week. She played an important Christmas Eve charity concert the other night.”

“So maybe now you'll be in a better mood when she calls and you two make up.”

“Who says we need to make up?”

“Well, it would explain your bearish moods.”

“How do you know I'm not like this all the time?”

“Because you have those kind brown eyes and every once in a while, you forget about her and relax and I see the real you. So, anyway, back to my drawing.” She tapped the oversized pad with her drawing pencil.

I shook my head. “Not happening.” I jumped from my seat and started to round the curve of the pool.

Charli might be small, but she was faster than I thought or I would have actually tried to sprint out of the gated pool area. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me back. Before I knew it, I'd lost my balance and started to tilt toward the water's edge. Charli grabbed my arm, but gravity was already pulling me down and her meager hundred pounds of weight wouldn't set me back on my feet. We both ended up splashing down into the grotesque pool.

I bobbed my head out of the water. Charli was beside me. We both started coughing up the nasty water. And then we were laughing.

“You idiot,” she said and we both laughed some more.

“Luke?” said someone standing at the edge of the pool.

I glanced up into a stream of sunlight. “Yes.” I smiled and laughed while trying to block the sun with my hand. And that's when I got a clear view of the person on the concrete threshold. “Andrea?”

7

“Luke, what…is…?” Her mouth hung open and she had her arms crossed. She didn't look as happy to see me as I was to see her.

I zipped out of the pool in my sopping-wet clothing. My heart pounded. I held my arms out as water drained off of me. I wanted to hug her, but that was clearly out of the question. “Andrea, what are you doing here?” I had to have had the hugest smile on my face.

Charli joined me on the cement, her clothes also drenching the surface of the concrete.

“Luke, who's that?” She stared at Charli with a pointed expression.

Before I could get my mouth open to utter one word, Charli moved past me toward Andrea. “Hi, I'm Charli. I'm going to be his new sister.”

“Charlie?” She looked at me with accusation pouring from every inch of her face.

I think I might have still been smiling at her. It just seemed hilarious, her being jealous of Charli. And I was completely ecstatic to see her. Was she jealous?

“This is Charlie?”

“Yes, Charli with an
i
,” Charli supplied. She so wasn't helping this situation.

“You never told me Charli was a…”

“Female,” Charli broke in again. “I get that a lot. It's part of going by a more masculine-sounding name, but I am so not a Charlene.”

I stepped in front of Charli. “I never had a chance to explain. You haven't been exactly great at communicating lately.”

“And neither have you, evidently.” Dressed in a flowing pink sundress with a white sweater and her green eyes flashing in the bright sun, she looked beautiful…and angry.

I just wanted to wrap her up in my arms and kiss her.

Charli poked her head around the side of me. “You really don't have any reason to be mad at Luke. Like I said, he's like my brother.”

Andrea eyed me, not Charli. “You really have been negligent, Luke Ryan, with your news.”

Charli now stood beside me.

“Hey, why don't you give us some privacy?”

“No problem. Mom and I are going for a bike ride down to the beach anyway. And I will get that sketch done of you, Luke, before I leave. I promise you that.” She pointed as she playfully admonished me.

I reached for Andrea's hand, but her fingers slipped through mine, fleeting like the breezes surrounding us. Yeah, she was mad. I heaved out a deep breath and led the way toward a table with an oversized umbrella. She took a seat in a chair under the umbrella, but before I had a chance to squish my soaking backside into another chair, she was out of her seat again.

“You know what? I'm leaving. I don't think I can be around you anymore.” She curved toward the gate.

I grabbed her hand, but she wouldn't turn to face me. “Andrea, where are you going?”

“I have Aunt Georgia's car.”

“You haven't even explained what you're doing here. How are you here?”

She stood straight, her shoulders back.

I kept hold of her hand.

“It was a surprise.” I could hear the flutter of tears in her voice.

“Well, I'm surprised. Now come on, talk to me.” I rotated her around.

Tears were creeping down her cheeks.

“Hey, don't cry.” My clothes were still way too wet or I might have hugged her.

“What do you expect?” She whipped her hand from mine and wiped her tears away in a swift, jerky movement.

“I expect you to trust me. Charli is Heather's daughter. Yes, we've been spending time together, but it's mostly been because we're both bored and our parents want us to get to know each other since we'll be related soon. My dad asked Heather to marry him the other day. I would have told you, but I haven't been able to get ahold of you. You know, if anyone has a reason to be upset here, it should be me.”

“You? What did I do?” Her arms crossed.

“You didn't do anything. That's kind of the problem.”

“That doesn't even make sense.”

“Andrea, you've been so focused on your music that I've hardly had a minute with you even with all the technology available to keep in touch. If we can't do it for less than a week, how do you think we'll be able to do it next year…or maybe even this year?”

“What do you mean, this year?” Her watery eyes stared into mine.

“Dad has suggested I move in with him. I have a better shot at a scholarship to UCLA if I do.”

“But you keep saying you don't even want to go to UCLA.”

“I don't. I mean, I don't know.” I didn't know? I knew I couldn't do that to Mom. Not really. Why had I even brought it up?

“Are you going to move in with him?”

“Maybe. I don't know.” I rubbed a hand through my damp hair. “It doesn't seem as if I have a lot to go back to.” I said this under my breath, but with Andrea standing so close to me, she heard every word.

She took a staggered step back as if I'd struck her. “I'm sorry I haven't been available, but it's been a stressful week. That's why I'm here…well, I also have an audition at USC Thornton School of Music tomorrow.” She broke eye contact and looked down to her clasped hands.