For dinner, her mum had made her favourite: shepherd’s pie with crunchy cheese on top. Over the meal, she told her mum and dad about the assignment and the lecturer’s comments. They both thought the idea sounded perfect. They had come across many special needs kids in their professions and told her that there was a definite need for good special education teachers.
After clearing the table, Rachel managed to jump on the family computer before Jeremy could claim it.
“Hey, I was going to play my game,” he whined.
“Can’t you just wait ten minutes,” she said. “I need to send an email.”
“To your BOYFRIEND?” he teased. She thumped him in the arm, a bit harder than she meant to.
“I’m telling on you,” he said, running off to his parents.
“I’m sorry,” she called out. She didn’t mean to have hit him so hard, he just had a knack for pushing her buttons.
To her relief, she didn’t hear anything more from Jeremy or her parents. She opened her email account and deleted the dozen or so spam messages. She pulled out Steven’s email address and typed her response to him—
“Hi, Steven. I’d love to go to the movies with you. Friday evening would be good. How about that new Adam Sandler movie at 7:30pm? Do you want to meet at my house? Rachel.”
She read over the message a few times before clicking ‘Send’. She figured the Adam Sandler movie would be safer than letting Steven pick. She would have preferred a romantic comedy, but she thought that might put too much pressure on them for a first date.
As she walked upstairs to get ready for bed, she noticed the light on in Jeremy’s room and knocked on his door.
“Come in,” she heard. He was sitting in his bed with a comic book.
“What are you reading?” she asked, sitting next to him.
“Superman. Did you know that Clark Kent’s middle name is Joseph?” he asked.
“No, I didn’t.” She wondered if her brother would ever grow out of his nerdiness. “Hey, I just wanted to say sorry for punching you in the arm before. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“That’s okay. Dad said I shouldn’t have been annoying you. I’m sorry too.”
Rachel gave him a squeeze. “I love you,” she said, kissing his cheek.
“Yuck!” He wiped her kiss from his face.
She rolled her eyes as she walked out of the room. Was Steven like Jeremy when he was a ten-year-old? If so, there was still hope for her brother.
* * * *
Chapter 10
Hannah spent most of the day praying instead of listening to her college lecturer. She planned to call Tim later that afternoon and she was nervous. This was the longest they hadn’t spoken before. Even when Tim had been in France, they had emailed nearly every day. She worried that something might have happened to him.
After the lecture, Hannah found a quiet spot in the college gardens where she could make a private phone call. She sat on the slightly damp grass, smoothed her skirt over her crossed legs and pulled her mobile out of her bag. She took a breath as she heard the phone ring.
“Hi. It’s Tim. Please leave a message and I’ll call you back.”
“That’s it,” she said, throwing her phone in her satchel. She walked across to the bus stop with purpose. She was going to his apartment and if he wasn’t there, she would stay until he returned.
The bus ride took 40 minutes in the shocking afternoon traffic and Hannah had a headache by the time she got to Tim’s place. She stomped up the stairs wearily and rang the doorbell. His roommate Jared answered the door, looking surprised to see her.
“Hi, Hannah. What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I have to see Tim.”
“He left a few days ago to stay with his parents in Perth for a couple of weeks. I thought he would have told you?”
She felt tears escape from her eyes and Jared looked at her wide-eyed. After a long pause, he came to his senses and invited her inside, offering to get her a glass of water. She grabbed some tissues from her bag and wiped her eyes while he was in the kitchen. He returned and cautiously set the glass in front of her, as if scared that she might start crying again. Despite her sadness, she found the look on his face amusing.
“Did Tim say why he was going?” asked Hannah.
“No, just that he was going to spend some time with his family. He’s been pretty down. I was getting a bit worried about him,” said Jared.
“I’m worried too,” Hannah confided.
She hadn’t realised how much her confession would impact on Tim, and she was even more desperate to talk to him now. She thanked Jared for the water and walked back to her apartment. It was a long way by foot, but she didn’t feel like facing the traffic chaos again. As she walked, she thought about Rachel’s offer, and when she got back to her apartment, she switched on her laptop and looked up flights to Oakley. If Tim was hanging out with his parents for a couple of weeks, he wouldn’t miss her, and she could really use her family and best friend right now. Her college work might suffer, but if she was absent in mind, then her physical presence wasn’t going to make a difference.
She found a cheap airfare for the very next day. After booking the tickets, she sent Tim an email and left a voicemail on his phone letting him know that she was praying for him, and told him where she would be for the next week if he wanted to get in touch with her.
She made a toasted sandwich for dinner and set her alarm for 6:00am so she would have enough time to pack before her mid-morning flight. As she lay down on her bed, gazing at the crack in the ceiling, she thought about Tim and wondered whether he was thinking of her too.
* * * *
Chapter 11
Friday’s date arrived quickly. Rachel fussed about with her long, honey-blonde hair. She couldn’t believe how nervous she felt. It’s just Steven, she reminded herself. She hoped it would be a great evening and wondered if they would have any chemistry together.
The doorbell rang and her dad answered.
“Hello, Steven.”
“Hi, Mr. Carson,” said Steven, shaking her dad’s hand. He looked nervous too.
He noticed her at the edge of the room and smiled, as if they were the only two people in the room. Just then, Jeremy raced into the room, nearly knocking over a plant.
“Hey, Steven, do you want to come to my room and see my comics?” he asked, his eyes full of excitement.
“Sorry, Jeremy. Maybe next time. Rachel and I are going to the movies tonight.”
Jeremy’s face fell, but then appeared his cheeky grin. Rachel recognised the familiar glint in his eye and gave him a warning glance, but she was too late.
“You’re not going to kiss her are you?” Jeremy asked.
Steven’s face turned beetroot-red and Rachel’s dad cleared his throat, while her mum scurried Jeremy into the other room. Rachel smiled when she heard Jeremy’s lecture begin.
“We better go,” she said to Steven. “We want to leave enough time to get our tickets.”
She said goodbye to her dad and Steven followed her outside. As they walked across the lawn to the car, she turned to him.
“I’m sorry about Jeremy. He likes to embarrass me.”
“Ah, that’s okay,” he replied, fingering the collar of his shirt.
During the drive, they spoke about their degrees. Steven was studying Computer Science at the same university, but they didn’t see each other much as their classes were held at different campuses. When they arrived at the movies, Steven redeemed his vouchers.
“I hope you don’t mind me picking out the movie,” she said as they waited in the queue.
“Not at all. I like comedies. Do you come here much?”
“No,” she shook her head, “since Hannah left to go to Sydney, I haven’t really had anyone to go with.”
“Maybe I can change that,” he said, smiling.
Now it was her turn to blush.
“Did you hear Hannah is back in town?” she asked.
“No. How long is she here for?”
“Just a week. She’s staying with her family, but she’s coming to my house this weekend. I can’t wait!”
“Will she be at church?”
She nodded as the cinema attendant opened the doors and they filed in with the rest of the crowd. As they walked into the theatre, Rachel thought about church and another certain somebody who would also be there. She still didn’t know much about Nate, but she found him intriguing and wondered what it would be like to know him better. She shook her head as they took their seats. Why am I thinking of Nate when I’m on a date with Steven?
As if hearing her thoughts, Steven turned to her.
“This might seem a bit random,” he said, “but I like finding out the historical origin of names. For instance, my name means ‘crowned one’ and Rachel means ‘female sheep’. It might seem weird, but I’ve been wondering for a while what your middle name is?”
Her eyes widened. Didn’t he realise that calling her a female sheep on their first date wasn’t exactly a winning move?
“My middle name is Anne.”
“Cool, I’ll have to look that up when I get home,” he said.
“What’s your middle name?” she asked, now a bit curious.
“Joseph,” he said.
“Oh, like Clark Kent.”
His mouth opened in shock and she laughed as the lights dimmed.
“You can thank Jeremy for teaching me that piece of trivia,” she whispered.
“I will,” he said, smiling.
The movie was funny. Steven also seemed to enjoy it. She tried to remember the last time she had laughed that hard—it had been too long. She’d turned into a bit of recluse lately, keeping her head in her books and waiting for the perfect guy to come along.
The movie finished at 9:00pm, and it seemed too early to go home. Steven suggested they get a coffee at Leo’s, a local café, and she agreed, throwing aside her usual rule of never drinking caffeine after 8:30pm. Over coffee, they spoke about church camps they’d been on together and the time their boat had capsized when they were sailing with a couple of other kids from their youth group. She had forgotten about that experience. They both laughed, remembering how scared she had been. She was convinced that a shark would eat her, even though they were in the middle of a freshwater lake.
As they shared a bowl of wedges, Steven admitted that he had liked her for a few months, but hadn’t had the courage to ask her out before. She thanked him for telling her, feeling guilty that she couldn’t confess to the same feelings. He was a great guy, but he didn’t tick some of those boxes on her husband checklist. He wasn’t athletic and he was a little bit shorter than her, which put her off. She knew she was probably being silly, but she couldn’t help the way she felt.
It was getting quite late and as she picked up her purse, Steven spoke.
“Rachel,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed tonight. Would you consider going on another date with me soon?”
“Okay,” she said, wondering afterwards if she should have accepted so quickly when she didn’t feel the same way about him.
He drove her home, then parked in her driveway.
“Thanks for a great time, Steven,” she said.
“My pleasure. I’ll see you at church on Sunday,” he said, resting his hand on top of hers, and leaning forward.
She didn’t know if he was about to kiss her, but she slipped out of the car just in case. She waved goodbye from her front door.
It was dark inside the house. The flashing clock on the microwave showed it was past midnight. She hadn’t said what time she’d be home. She hoped her parents hadn’t been worried. She found her way upstairs to her bedroom, trying not to trip over and wake anyone, and when she reached her bed, she noticed a soft glow amongst her bed covers. It was her mobile phone. She cringed when she saw the three missed calls from her parents. There was also a call from an unknown number. Seeing she had a voicemail, she dialled the message retrieval number.
“Hi, Rachel, it’s Nate. Sorry to be a stalker, but I have something important to tell you. Give me a call when you can, okay?”
How did he get my mobile number? she thought, shaking her head. It was too late to call back, but she stayed awake another hour wondering what it was that Nate had been so eager to tell her.
* * * *
Chapter 12
Hannah sat on her suitcase and zipped it up. It was the second time she had packed her bags this week. She had arrived unannounced in Oakley on Monday and gave her parents a big surprise when they arrived home from work. She had used homesickness as her excuse for visiting, which wasn’t exactly a lie—she had missed her dad’s hugs and her mum’s laughter. She didn’t feel like telling them about Tim yet, although she later wished she had. Hannah’s mum had pulled out bridal magazines and went into wedding planning mode. Hannah pretended to be enthusiastic, hoping that there would still be a wedding to plan.
She sighed as she picked up her suitcase and carried it downstairs. It was time for a much-needed catch-up with her best-friend. She was looking forward to peppering Rachel with questions about her date with Steven.
She waited by the front door for Rachel to arrive, taking a few moments to enjoy the sunshine. The weather in Oakley was almost polite, the way one season merged into the next, unlike Sydney with its cold snaps and heat waves. Rachel pulled up in her little red Barina, ‘Marina’—she had insisted on naming her car and it was the natural choice. She emerged from the car and swallowed her in a hug, nearly bowling her over. Hannah laughed as she hugged back equally as hard.
“Wow, Rachel, you look great!” Summer had given Rachel’s skin a nice glow and had lightened her hair, giving her a softer look. No wonder the guys were going crazy over her.
“I wish I could say the same about you, but truly, Hannah, you look terrible.” Rachel loaded the suitcase into the car. “Don’t worry, by the time I’ve finished with you this weekend, you’ll be looking and feeling great!”
Rachel spoke non-stop during the twenty minute drive to her house. Their friendship was so easy and Hannah felt relaxed straight away.
“Enough about uni,” Hannah interrupted. “You have to tell me how your date with Steven went.”
“It went fine.”
“Just fine?”
“Yeah, he’s a nice guy. I just didn’t feel the same chemistry that I have with—” she stopped mid-sentence.
“You were going to say Nate, weren’t you?” Hannah flashed a disapproving glance.
Rachel glared back. “I know you don’t approve, but I can’t help how I feel. Anyway, God wouldn’t want me to be with someone who I don’t have feelings for would he? I wish I felt something for Steven, but I don’t. He’s too short and nerdy.”
Hannah held her tongue, determining to raise the subject again later, once Rachel was in a better mood. When they arrived at the house, she set up her things in Rachel’s room and joined her friend on the couch. Rachel’s parents had gone to her grandparents’ house overnight, so they had the place to themselves. Rachel had planned the ultimate girl’s day in, with chick-flicks, foot spas, mud masks and chocolate. At end of the day, Hannah felt very pampered, although a bit sick from eating too much chocolate. After pizza for dinner, she felt even worse and crashed on the mattress on the floor of Rachel’s room.
* * * *
Chapter 13
Rachel, seizing the opportunity, retreated to the study where she knew she wouldn’t wake Hannah. She had hoped to call Nate back before picking up Hannah earlier, but after the late night date with Steven, she had slept in. She picked up her phone and mentally prepared herself to make the call she had been thinking about all day. Her fingers pulled up the missed calls register on her phone and she rang Nate’s mobile.
“Hi, Nate. It’s Rachel.”
“Rachel. I’m so glad you got my message. I hope I didn’t freak you out. I dug your number out of Mum’s church directory. It’s a great source of information
.” He chuckled. “Do you want to meet up somewhere for dinner?”
“Sorry, I’ve already eaten, plus my friend Hannah is staying overnight. You could come to my house for a while if you like. Hannah is already asleep and I don’t think she’ll be keeping me company. We could sit out front so we don’t wake her.”
“Great. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes after I tuck Luke into bed.”
She hung up, realising she hadn’t told him her address, but he probably already knew that too. She boiled the kettle and pulled out a thermos and two mugs. It was getting a bit cold outside and she didn’t want them both to freeze.
True to his word, about fifteen minutes later she heard a tap at the front door. Nate was standing there, all rugged up like an Eskimo.
“I didn’t realise how cold it was out here,” she said, grabbing her jacket before stepping outside.
“That’s okay,” said Nate. “Why don’t we go inside?” he asked.
“Sorry, my parents have a rule: no boys in the house if they aren’t home,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. He must think I’m 15!
“Pretty sensible rule. You can never trust boys these days,” he said, with a cheeky grin.
She closed the door and led him over to her ‘picnic’ spot. It was a patch of sandstone in the middle of the grass lawn. As a girl, she’d had many tea parties with her dolls in that spot. They sat down and she poured them both a mug of hot chocolate.
“You are probably wondering what I called you about,” he said, cupping his mug between his hands.
“Yes. I’m very curious,” she said, smiling.
“Well, first off, I want to say thank you. When you invited me to church last Sunday, it really got me thinking about things. I used to go to church all the time with my mum and dad when I was little. I was about thirteen when I decided I didn’t want to know God anymore.” He looked up at her with a sombre expression. “There are a lot of things about me that you don’t know. Can I tell you about my past?” he asked.