Until Tomorrow
Copyright © 2000
Robin Jones Gunn
Cover illustration and design by Lookout Design, Inc.
Unless noted below, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The “NIV” and “New International Version” trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by International Bible Society. Use of either trademark requires the permission of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotation on page 119 is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Copyright 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission.
This story is a work of fiction. All characters and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.
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Published by Bethany House Publishers
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Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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Ebook edition created 2012
ISBN 978-1-4412-3310-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
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For Luanne, who said in the spring of our twenty-first year, “Why don’t we go to Europe this summer!” And so we did. (I still have the wild flowers we picked in Adelboden, Lulu.)
For Laurie, who shared her rationed cotton balls and 1006 lotion that sweltering night in the Paris youth hostel.
For Carol, who led us laughing all the way on our journey to find the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.
For Laraine, who kept us searching until we found the best gelato in all of Florence. (Remember, Lola? You said the Amaretto at Vivolli’s was “exquiz.”)
And for Chuck, who told me to close my eyes right before we entered the Blue Grotto. Thanks for paying for the pizza that night at the train station in Roma. I think I still owe you.
“Old friends are as close as a memory when the heart is always young.”
Robin Jones Gunn
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
About the Author
Other Books by Author
Back Ads
1
The morning light had not yet tinted the June sky with the promise of a new day as Christy Miller hurried down the cobblestone street of Basel, Switzerland. With long-legged strides, she turned the corner and realized that her heart was racing toward the train station faster than her legs.
This time I’m not going to cry when I see him.
Christy remembered how weak and awkward her endless stream of tears had made her feel last Christmas when she had gone home to California. Todd had just stood there as if he didn’t know what to do with her.
I’m a stronger person than I was at Christmas. I won’t cry.
At the end of the street she turned left. Only six more blocks to the station.
And I won’t let Katie talk me into anything I don’t want to do, either. If Katie, Todd, and I are going to get along while we travel around Europe for the next three weeks, then everything needs to be a group decision.
Christy grasped her long, nutmeg brown hair to check how wet it was after her hasty, early-morning shower. She reminded herself that in a month she would celebrate her twentieth birthday. Certainly at twenty she should be facing life as a strong, independent woman, right?
It’s time I take a stand for myself. Katie will not rule my choices. I won’t let her.
Decision making had never been Christy’s strength, which was why she felt determined to make a fresh start with her closest friends. She would show them how much she had changed and how strong she had become during her school year in Switzerland.
The fragrant aroma of freshly baked bread floated her way from her favorite bakery, or Konditorei, at the end of the street. Every Saturday morning Christy would make a trek to this special pastry shop. It had become her way of treating herself for making it through another difficult week of classes and volunteer work at the orphanage.
A much better “treat” will be arriving on the 6:15 train from the Zürich airport, she thought with a smile. The first thing Todd and Katie and I will do is come back here to my Konditorei, and I’ll treat them to some Swiss pastries.
Christy tilted back her head and drew in a deep breath of the delicious aroma. She stood still a moment, quickly folding her hair into a loose braid and fastening it with a clip she had stuck in her jeans pocket. The sky had just begun to lighten with soft shades of lavender and gray. Glad-hearted songbirds twittered in the trees.
Christy hurried the final stretch to the station with light steps. Smiling at the two large stone lion statues that guarded the entrance to the Basel Bahnhof, Christy entered and checked the schedule. Todd and Katie’s train was to arrive in seven minutes on track four. She rushed to the platform so she could be there the moment they stepped off the train.
Christy was surprised at how noisy and crowded the station was compared to the quiet streets she had just walked. She arrived on the platform facing track number four only moments before the train pulled in. Carefully positioning herself in the middle so she could see Katie and Todd no matter which part of the train they exited from, Christy waited for her two best friends.
Throngs of early-morning businessmen and businesswomen exited the train. Christy thought she heard a familiar squeal over the roar of rushing footsteps. She looked right and left, expecting at any moment to catch a glimpse of Katie’s swishy red hair. But Christy didn’t see her in the crowd.
Turning her head to check the other end of the train, Christy felt everything around her slip into slow motion. She didn’t know if she was experiencing a dip in the adrenaline she had felt pumping through her veins on her walk to the station or if the crush of people rushing past her made her feel dizzy. One thing she was sure of—the screaming silver-blue eyes she had spotted could only belong to one person.
“Todd!” Her lips formed the name she had held in her heart for half a decade. Pushing her way through the crowd, Christy rushed to her favorite blond-haired surfer boy.
Todd quickly unclasped his backpack and g
rabbed Christy’s arm, pulling her close. In an instant his arms were around her, his eyes locked on hers, and his lips were only inches away.
“Kilikina,” he murmured right before his lips met hers.
Christy melted whenever Todd called her by her Hawaiian name. Absolutely melted. Add to that the sweetness of his kiss, and she couldn’t take it all in. Uninvited tears coursed down her cheeks.
Todd pulled away from their reunion kiss, his expression hesitant.
“Hi,” Christy said, quickly wiping her damp cheeks.
“Hi,” Todd returned. His smile widened, showing his dimples. His solid jawline was rough with stubble, and she smelled chocolate on his breath.
Christy playfully brushed the back of her fingers along his jaw. “Hard day’s night?”
Todd ran his thumb under her left eye, catching the last tear. He seemed to be studying her, trying to read what she held behind her clear, distinct blue-green eyes. His eyebrows raised as he said, “You all right?”
Christy nodded and smiled warmly. “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.”
“And I told myself I wasn’t going to kiss you,” he said with a teasing grin.
His eyes were locked on hers. Christy felt as if Todd could see right through her, all the way to the secret place deep in her heart.
A settled peace came over her in the noisy station. The peace seemed to cover the two of them like an invisible canopy. They stood completely still, holding hands, basking in each other’s presence. Christy wondered if she would spend the rest of her life gazing into those silver-blue eyes that now seemed to be searching her soul.
“Sorry, Todd, to interrupt,” a male voice with an Italian accent said, breaking in between Todd and Christy, “but I am parked for only a short time.”
Christy pulled herself away from Todd and was stunned to see Antonio, an Italian friend of theirs who had been an exchange student in California.
“Christiana,” Antonio said, reaching for her shoulders and planting a kiss on each cheek. “So good to see you. You are surprised?”
Christy felt off-balance. “What . . . how. . . ?” Before she could form her question, she heard a squeal that could only come from Katie. Christy’s ever-exuberant best friend pushed her way past Antonio and threw her arms around Christy. As Katie did, the frame of her backpack hit Christy’s forehead.
“Ouch!”
“Ouch? You haven’t seen me in months, and all you can say is ouch?”
“Ouch and hi!” Christy said, giving Katie another, less aggressive hug. “You look great.”
“So do you,” Katie said.
“Did you know Antonio was coming?” Christy asked. Katie’s green eyes flashed. “Yes. We just figured it all out two days ago.”
Christy turned to Todd. His grin grew wide. “Tonio set it up for us to go camping in Italy with him.”
“Camping?” Christy echoed.
“We can talk as we go,” Antonio said, taking Katie’s pack and carrying it for her. “My car . . .” He indicated the door he wanted them to move toward.
Todd strapped his backpack on his broad shoulders and grabbed Christy’s hand, pulling her with him out of the station. Katie latched on to Antonio’s arm as if she never meant to give it back, and the two of them led the way out of the station at a fast clip.
“So we’re going camping?” Christy asked. “Yep. Tonio has the equipment. It’s all set up.”
“What about Scandinavia?”
“What about Scandinavia?” Todd asked.
“I thought we were going there first.” Todd stopped walking. “Did you tell me that? Because I didn’t think we had a plan yet. That’s why I set this up with Antonio. If you told me and I didn’t catch that email, I apologize.”
“No, you’re right.” She knew she didn’t want to be the one to start an argument. Not here. Not now. “We don’t have a plan yet. This is fine.”
Christy was having a hard time thinking straight. She thought Todd had mentioned starting their journey in Norway and working their way down to Italy. But now she wasn’t sure. Maybe Katie had suggested that itinerary.
Tonio led them to his small white minivan illegally parked across from the Bahnhof. He opened the side door, and Christy noticed a large dent on the front bumper.
Tugging a gray canvas bag out of the open area in the center of the van, Antonio said, “Give me some help. This must go on the roof.”
The four of them moved all of Antonio’s camping gear out of the van and onto the roof, securing it with ropes under a tarp.
“How did you two plan all this?” Christy asked Todd, trying to sound calm.
“Through email.” Todd shoved his and Katie’s travel packs into the van’s belly and climbed in. A bench seat ran the back width of the van, and along the van’s sides were built-in cupboards. The van’s center was empty except for their packs.
Katie gave Christy another excited hug before climbing into the backseat next to Todd. “Are we going to have the adventure of our lives or what?”
Christy nodded numbly. She settled into the front seat and fastened her seat belt, but not a moment too soon. With only a quick glance over his shoulder, Antonio hit the gas pedal and pulled out into the traffic with a roar. Christy clutched the edge of her seat and sat as still as she could as Antonio yelled at the other drivers in Italian and darted his way down the street.
From the back of the minivan, Katie laughed hysterically because, as the car lurched, she had crashed into Todd.
“Tonio,” Katie cried out, “we’re not in Italy yet! Do us a favor and let us live long enough to get there.”
Tonio glanced at Katie in the rearview mirror with a grin. He slowed down and put on his turn signal for the first time. He was pulling onto the main highway that led out of town, the opposite direction from Christy’s dorm.
“We need to go the other way, Antonio,” Christy said. “The university is that way.”
“No, I have been to Basel before. This is the road we take back to Italy.”
“No!” Christy practically yelled as panic took over. “We can’t go to Italy now!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t have any of my things!”
Antonio said something in Italian that sounded like an apology, jerked the car onto a side street, and then stopped. He looked at Christy with a friendly expression and said simply, “Which way?”
With Antonio at the wheel, they reached Christy’s dorm in a few minutes. During the drive, she calmed down and tried to think straight.
“We’ll wait here,” Antonio said, stopping the car in another illegal parking place.
“I’m not exactly ready,” Christy said, looking at Todd and Katie for support. “I didn’t know anything about this. I mean, I’m mostly packed, but it will take me a few minutes to finish getting all my things together.”
“I want to see your room,” Katie said, crawling out of the back of the van. “Come on, you guys, let’s all go in.”
“They’re really strict about parking around here,” Christy told Antonio.
“We’ll wait here,” Todd suggested. “In case we have to drive around the block a few times.”
“And we’ll hurry,” Katie called over her shoulder as she followed Christy into the brick building.
Christy scurried to her room and opened the door. “Wow! This room is a lot smaller than I thought it would be,” Katie said, looking around. “Wait until this September when we’re at Rancho Corona University. The rooms are twice this size and for just two people, not three. It’s way better than here.”
“Hey, it’s great here, too,” Christy said defensively.
Katie looked startled. She quickly reached over and gave Christy’s arm a squeeze. “Oh, I’m sure it is. Don’t get upset. I was just saying how it’s only going to get better in the fall when we’re all together at the same school. Don’t you agree?”
Christy nodded slowly. Nothing was going the way she had imagined it would. They were su
pposed to be sitting in the bakery right now, calmly discussing their plans over coffee and pastry. Instead, they were bolting out of town in Antonio’s rocket-mobile.
“So,” Katie said, clapping her hands together, “what do you need to pack? I can help.”
“That bag is ready to go,” Christy said, pointing to the backpack in the corner. “I need to grab a few more things for my day pack, though.”
Katie suddenly threw her arms around Christy in a breathless hug. “Can you believe we’re standing here, in your dorm room, casually talking as if we do this every day? Christy, we’re in Switzerland!”
“Yes, we are, aren’t we?”
Katie pulled back and put her hands on her hips. “Okay, what’s with you? What’s wrong?”
“I’m just trying to think of what I need.” Christy reached for her day pack and began to fill it with items from the desk.
“You would tell me if you were upset about anything, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course.”
Katie picked up one of the travel books from the desk and said, “You’re not planning to take any of these, are you?”
“A few of them. At least one.”
“They’re too big,” Katie said. “We don’t need tour books. We’re on an adventure! Why would you want to haul them all over the place and look like tourists?”
Christy ignored Katie’s comment. She grabbed the book on top of the stack and stuffed it into her pack. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
Katie carried Christy’s pack out for her and commented on how much lighter it was than hers.
“I hope I’m not traveling too light. I can’t think of what else I need.” Christy pursed her lips together, trying hard to come up with anything she might have forgotten.
The guys were waiting in the van with the engine running. Todd had moved up to the front seat.
Christy climbed into the back of the van and said, “I was thinking maybe we could stop at the Konditorei before we leave. It’s the best bakery in Basel, and it’s only a few blocks away. It would give us a chance to talk through our plans.”
“I’m not hungry at all,” Katie said, clambering into the van. “Are you guys?”
Todd shrugged.
“Then we will hit the street,” Antonio decided.