Risky Business (22 page)

After her last race, Kate sat on the bench in the locker room. She held three blue ribbons and one red ribbon for the IM relay in one hand and a card with her record-setting time in the other. Her eyes flitted back and forth between her winnings. Which to look at first?

She shook her head to clear it and tucked her memorabilia safely away in her swim bag. She pulled on her track suit and tied her hair back into a ponytail and escaped the chaos of the locker room to go find her mom and Olivia.

“Kate!” Olivia came running down the hallway when Kate first poked her head out. “You were incredible! I can’t believe how great you were!” She jumped up and down and squealed. “Four races … three first places and a new record!”

Kate and her mom just laughed while they waited for Olivia to get it out of her system.

“You’re going to the Olympics!” Olivia grabbed her hands and squeezed them. “You could seriously be the best swimmer ever!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m going to have to stop you there.” Kate held up her hand and shook her head. “Incredible? Maybe. Great? Sure. Best swimmer ever … nah … you don’t think?” But she couldn’t keep the big grin off her face.

“Kate, you really were beautiful out there, sweetie. I’m so proud of you.” Kate’s mom beamed and hugged her. “All that hard work is paying off.”

If only it was all because of my hard work
.

Kate and her mom stumbled through the door with their arms full of packages. Kate let her school bag and purse slide to the floor. She reached to help as Mom heaved the two grocery bags, the carton of fried chicken, and her turquoise leather purse to the countertop. Kate lifted her mom’s purse and waved it in front of her face. She wrinkled her nose in disgust and raised her eyebrows at her mom before she lowered the purse to the floor.

“You’re a funny one, Kate,” Mom said sarcastically—usually she harped on Kate for that. She turned to put the frozen mashed potatoes in the microwave. “You’re right, though. The bottoms of purses carry more germs than—”

“Hello, Walker residence.”

“Did the phone even ring?” Mom interrupted.

“Shh,” Kate whispered with her hand on the receiver.

“Hi there. It’s Mark Hansen.”

“Oh. Hi, Mark. How’s it going?” Kate tried to keep her voice from shaking and turned her back.

“I was just calling to see if you wanted to go out on a real date with your ol’ buddy Mark.”

Kate laughed. When did he not make her laugh? “Ol’ buddy, huh? How nice of you to ask. When were you thinking?” She picked up a pen to doodle on the pad of paper near the phone.

“Friday night is as good a night as any, don’t you think?”

“That sounds great…. I’ll have to clear it with my mom, but it should be okay. I’ll talk to her, and then I’ll let you know in school tomorrow. Sound good?” She smiled and flipped her fully doodled paper over to the clean side. Mom tried to step in her line of sight, but Kate wouldn’t look at her.

“Perfect. I’ll talk to you then.”

“Thanks for calling, Mark. Talk to you tomorrow…. Bye.” The cap of her pen flew off when she slammed it down on the counter. She groaned. “Mom! This is exactly why I need a phone in my room or at least a cordless phone that will work in my room.” She had an afterthought. “Or a cell phone package that I can use to talk to more people than just you, Julia, and Olivia.”

Mom laughed and put the tomatoes in the produce bin. “No. Calls from boys are exactly why you don’t need a phone in your room. What are you so upset about, anyway?”

“I’d just like a little privacy when I’m having a conversation instead of you distracting me by making gestures and comments to confuse me while I’m trying to sound intelligent.” She slumped onto a stool and put her face down on her crossed forearms that rested on the cold granite.

“You don’t need to
try
to sound intelligent, Kate. Besides, it was Mark Hansen, right?”

Kate nodded without lifting her head.

“I mean, come on. You’ve talked to that boy in person every week of your life for years and years. Why all of a sudden is a phone call something special?”

“Well, that’s just it. He’s never called before,” Kate whined.

“Come on, Kate. Be respectful.” She narrowed her eyes.

“Sorry.” Kate sat up a little straighter.

“What did he want, anyway?”

“He asked me out on a date.” The microwave beeped an exclamation point as Kate stared at her mom, waiting for her reaction.

Mom stepped toward Kate without closing the refrigerator. “What? A date? Really?”

“What, Mom?” Kate challenged her with one brow lifted. “Is it so difficult to believe that someone might want to go out on a date with me?” She gestured up and down her body.

“Of course that’s not what I mean, Kate, and you know it.” Mom sounded frustrated and tired. “I just wasn’t expecting this so soon.”

“What do you mean, so soon? I’m going to be sixteen in three weeks. Most kids my age have been dating for a long time.”

“I understand that, but you’re not—”

“—most kids my age.” Kate had heard it all before. She jumped off her stool, and it screeched backward against the tile floor.

“I’ve said that a time or two, huh?”

“Yeah, Mom. You really need to get some new lines.” Kate rolled her eyes and smiled, beginning to calm down. She picked through the chicken to find a breast, peeled the fried skin off with two fingers, and left it in the box. “The thing is, I want to go out with Mark. I think he’s great and if anyone should be my first date, it should be him.”

“Maybe no one should be your first date.” Mom took a seat on the stool next to Kate at the island.

Kate ignored those words. “I know you’ve always said that I had to be sixteen to date, but are you seriously going to hold me to a matter of days?”

“No. Of course not, Kate.” She sighed. “I’m not unreasonable, you know.” Mom took a deep breath. She pushed her untouched plate away with one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other. “You know, your attitude has changed lately—more agitated and irritable. You’ve been using a tone with me that I don’t like. Let’s get a handle on that. Okay?”

Oops
. She’d gone too far. “Okay, Mom. I’m really sorry.”

Mom nodded. “Now, if you want to go out with Mark, under certain conditions, it’s okay with me.”

Kate stopped chewing. “What conditions?” She tipped her head to the side and slumped her shoulders, sure she’d hate the answer.

“I want you home by eleven. I want to know everywhere you are, even if plans change.” She pointed at her fingers like checking off a list. “I don’t want you to be alone in someone’s home without an adult. Always wear your seat belt—and all the other rules that you already know.”

“Okay, Mom. That’s all pretty reasonable.” Relieved, she came back with a cheeky comment and a twinkle in her eye. “For now.”

“Boy, you sure are a funny one, aren’t you.” Mom swatted her on the behind as Kate squeezed past her with their garbage.

“How did this happen so fast? You’re not ready for this,” Mom mumbled as she left the kitchen. “Come to think of it, neither am I.”

“So, where are we going?” Kate asked Mark as he looked in the rearview mirror.

“It’s a surprise.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down and grinned. “You look really nice, by the way.”

“Thanks.” Kate ran a shaky hand down the leg of her best jeans—a pair of comfy sweats was more her style. Whoever thought denim was a good idea, anyway? She crossed her legs at the knee then uncrossed them and fluffed her hair which she had worked on for almost an hour. She took a deep, steadying breath—she didn’t have to be nervous with Mark, so why couldn’t she calm her racing heart? “So, come on, where are we going? What could be the big surprise? And Mom made you tell her. So, let’s have it … out with it.”

“It’s not that big a deal. I just don’t think you’ve ever been there before, and I think you’ll really like it.” Mark grinned with secrecy. “And … we’re here.” He pulled into the parking lot of a small, plain brick building with no window or signs.

“It looks like an abandoned warehouse.” Kate knitted her eyebrows and squinted to peer closer.

“Well, it used to be a warehouse, but it certainly isn’t abandoned.” He turned the car off and winked at Kate. “Let’s go. You’re going to love this.”

The car doors slammed shut, and Mark set the lock. Kate counted six other cars in the parking lot, but no people in sight.

He started to walk toward the building but must have noticed her hesitation. “It’s okay, Kate. Trust me. Really.”

Her shoulders relaxed, and Kate laughed off her trepidation. “Oh, I’m fine. Just trying to figure this place out.”

Mark opened the door for her to enter ahead of him. She stepped around him and walked through the doorway, pausing to allow her eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. The heady smell of rich coffee beans wafted through the air—she took a deep breath, inhaling the aroma. The bottoms of her feet tingled from the thump of the steady drumbeat and bass rhythm that traveled through the floorboards. She patted her hip in time with the music, warming up to the place as Mark guided her past the restrooms, through the carpeted vestibule, and past a red velvet curtain into what appeared to be a bar of some sort.

Her eyes finally adjusting to the dark, Kate could make out little round tables in the center with their chairs positioned so their occupants could see the stage. Each table had three votive candles in the center and a menu with P
ERKIES
on the front. Around the outside edges of the main floor sat clustered groups of overstuffed chairs and love seats where people could relax in a more comfortable and intimate setting. She scoured the room but didn’t see a bar anywhere. Loud music already blared out of the huge speakers as though they expected a huge crowd, but only five of the tables had occupants.

“Let’s sit over here, okay?” Mark put his handon her elbow and steered her across the room.

Kate pointed to one of the stuffed-chair clusters away from the giant speakers where they’d still be able to talk.

“What a neat little place! How did you find this?” Kate asked as they sank into their chairs. “How cool to have live music at a place that isn’t actually a bar. I never would have thought something like this existed.”

“I don’t think you’ve actually figured out just how neat it is just yet. It’ll hit you in a minute.” Mark smiled, his eyes twinkling.

A waitress approached their table and opened the little menus for them. “Can I get you two anything?”

“Sure … I’ll have a …” Kate looked the menu up and down. “A café mocha sounds great.”

“There’s hope for the hopeless, rest for the weary …,” came the deep, raspy voice from the speakers.

Kate’s ears perked up at the words to the song. She leaned in and listened, sure they sounded familiar to her.

“Cry out to Jesus….”

Confused, Kate furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Mark. “This is one of my favorite songs…. It’s Christian music?”

“Yep, it’s a Christian coffeehouse. It’s all Christian music.”

“How cool! How is it I’ve never heard of this place?” She picked up the menu and read the name.

“It’s pretty new. They just converted it over from an old warehouse, and word is just now getting around. I’m helping them with their marketing a little bit by going to some of the area churches and passing out flyers to the youth ministers and pastors. I really hope that people will come out and support this place so it can stay in business.”

“What a great idea for a hangout. I’m so glad you brought me here.”

He sat back in his chair and tapped his foot to the music, a pleased smile spread across his face.

“So how do they pick the bands?” Kate asked him after they listened for a little while.

“Funny you should ask …”

Uh-oh!
She’d seen that glint in his eyes before. He had something up his sleeve. “Oh boy, here it comes.” Kate laughed good-naturedly and shook her head, used to his dramatic ways.

“The bands here don’t get paid, and there aren’t a whole lot of good Christian bands in the area, so they will pretty much let anyone who wants to get involved just take an evening and run the entertainment. When they don’t have a band, there’s recorded music, but you can imagine that the place loses its cool vibe when that happens.”

“You’re right. The live music really makes a big difference.” She tipped her coffee cup to drain the last drops.

“So, I was thinking,”—Mark gave her one of his drop-dead smiles—”what if we put together a little group and played here once a month or so?”

Kate
up straighter, intrigued. “I don’t know…. What did you have in mind?”