Whispers (14 page)

“Have you ever seen a more beautiful day?” Gordon asked. He tilted his head toward the seamless blue sky and, at the top of his voice, shouted, “Good job, God! You made a winner!”

Teri thought Gordon had to be the most peculiar, free-spirited person she had ever met. Something drew her to him. She couldn’t even begin to guess why. He was a klutz. He had dumped her into the ocean. He was from a different culture, and although she wasn’t sure of his age, she would guess he was from a different decade as well.

As they bobbed about on the waves, Teri decided she must be drawn to him because of his pastor-side. When she was near him, she felt a strange mixture of joy and peace, two elements that had not been present this morning on the sailboat with Scott. What was it Anita had said about Gordon’s sermon after the fumbled communion? Something about the unforced
rhythm of grace. Teri longed to feel that way.

For a moment, she considered confiding in Gordon and asking his advice on Scott. But something told her that he too would urge her to break it off with Scott before she was hurt.

They rode a couple of waves to shore, then swam back out to tread water and wait for the larger swells to come in. They didn’t talk much, and yet Teri didn’t feel uncomfortable. In every way she felt free, free to be herself, free to say and do whatever she wanted.

She only felt a little uncomfortable about her thighs when she and Gordon left the water. But her discomfort was minimal compared to how she felt around Mark or even Scott. Gordon seemed to view everything on such a spiritual plane that he didn’t notice less important aspects like physical appearances. He reminded her of her father in that way.

Teri wished she had a towel. Her clothes were already dry, baked nice and warm. She shook out the sand and used her stiff shirt to wipe off her face.

Gordon shook his hair out at the water’s edge. He reminded her of some of the guys she knew in high school who surfed. They had a certain look, a certain build. Gordon looked like a vintage surfer.

“By any chance do you surf?” Teri asked when he joined her.

“How did you know?”

Teri shrugged. “You seemed to like the water.”

“Some of my mates and I made it into the finals in Australia.”

“Really? When was that?”

“Let’s see, oh, round eighteen years ago.”

Teri laughed. “I was in kindergarten.”

“Then I don’t suppose you had much interest in watching the finals on the tellie that year. I blew out my eardrum on
national television. This one.” He pointed to his right ear. “The board caught the underside of a wave and curled up like this.” He used his hands to demonstrate. “It flipped out the side and came down on me, like a hammer pounding a nail through a piece of paper.”

“Did you lose your hearing in that ear?”

“What?”

“I said, did you—” She noticed his smile and realized he was joking.

“I can pick up some loud and shrill sounds. But for the most part it’s gone. Played havoc on my equilibrium. Your turn.”

“My turn for what?”

“What’s your best lifetime accident?”

“Well, I stepped on a stick from a bottle rocket last week.” She showed him the tender spot on her foot.

Gordon made a face, expressing his pity. It looked kind of silly.

“Okay, so it’s not a lifetime handicap. You win.”

“I have more.”

“What?” Teri said. “More handicaps you want to share with me?”

“I don’t want to share them with you. I just want to tell you about them.”

“Why?” Teri felt like laughing.

Gordon turned serious and thought a minute before saying, “I think you need to know.”

Teri suppressed her laugh. She had never met anyone who spent his first conversation with her showing off injuries.

“See this gold tooth back here?” He tipped his head back and opened his mouth, revealing a gold cap on his top right molar. “Got that after I tried to open a beer bottle with my teeth.”

“That’s a joke, right?”

“No. Did that two years after the surfing accident. And see this?” He showed her a thick scar that ran down the outside of his little finger, all the way to his wrist. “Got that in a motorcycle accident when I was fifteen.”

“Any more?” Teri asked teasingly when he had finished.

“That’s it. And they’re all on the right side. The left side of me is in pretty good shape. Do you like coffee?”

Teri blinked at his illogical question. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Then they were silent. Gordon looked out at the ocean, deep in thought. Teri felt sure he was going to ask her out for coffee. Why else would he have asked if she liked it?

“I became a new creation in Christ eight years ago.”

Teri had never heard anyone phrase it quite that way. But then, with Gordon’s obviously wild past, perhaps the most important thing to him was that he did start over fresh when he became a Christian.

“And you?” he asked.

“I think I was three. Maybe four. I prayed with my mom in my bedroom one night and gave my heart to Jesus. You know my dad’s a pastor, don’t you?”

Gordon nodded. “You don’t bite your nails, do you?”

“Not usually,” she said, her patience beginning to stretch. “Why do you want to know?”

“That’s about the only thing I can’t tolerate. That and Halloween.”

“Well, good,” Teri said, looking him over. “It’s good to know those kinds of things about a person, I guess.”

“What don’t you like?” Gordon asked, his steady gaze resting on her.

“I don’t know. Soap operas on afternoon television, I guess.
And arguing with my sister, which I did this afternoon. I need to get back and make amends.”

Gordon kept looking at her as if he were trying to read her thoughts, like he had the night he had dropped off the pizza. Now he was holding her with his gaze. Teri almost felt he was embracing her without moving a muscle. She should have felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t.

“I better go,” Teri said, standing and putting on her shorts.

Gordon rose too. “I’ll look forward to our next divine appointment,” he said. “What was this one? The third?”

“Is that what they’ve been? Coke on my leg, pizza delivery, and a near drowning—all divine appointments, huh?” Teri shook out her shirt and slipped her arms into the sleeveless holes. “Maybe your guardian angel and my guardian angel should do lunch sometime. That way they can each check their books and make sure we don’t have car collisions or capsized boats on our divine appointment calendars.”

Gordon smiled broadly.

A
nita helped Teri adjust the strap on her backpack and gave her advice on the best level for the waistband to ride. The two sisters had made peace Friday afternoon when Teri returned from the beach, completely exhausted and thoroughly humbled.

She hadn’t seen Scott all weekend, which had given her more time to think and to take her sister’s advice to pray. Teri had also returned to a regular routine of reading her Bible, a habit that hadn’t carried over to her vacation schedule.

Now it was Sunday evening. In the morning Teri would leave with Dan and the ten other men for the “once in a lifetime” backpacking experience.

“Dan says they have wool blankets and pillows in the cabins so I only gave you a sheet and a pillow case,” Annie said. “I also put the rain poncho in this top section, here.” She pulled out a small, flat, gray plastic pouch with a snap closure. “It’s tiny but efficient.”

“Do you really think we’ll have rain? It’s been perfect the whole time I’ve been here, except for that one drizzle a few Sundays ago.”

“Believe me, it’s a whole different world on the other side of the island. Remember when we went to Hana last year? This is the dry side of the island. You’re hiking down into a tropical rain forest.”

“Okay, okay, I believe you. Thanks for letting me use all your stuff.”

“I’m glad you’re going.”

“I think I’m glad I’m going, too.” Teri took off the backpack and leaned it against the wall. She wanted to sit down with Anita and have a heart-to-heart talk, but something inside her wouldn’t allow her to open up. She hadn’t told Annie about meeting Gordon at the beach on Friday, and she had acted all weekend as if it didn’t matter that Scott hadn’t called as he said he would.

Teri didn’t think she was ready to spend the next few days in close quarters with both these men. At the same time, she wasn’t ready to forfeit this camping trip because of the tension she felt.

And the tension wasn’t just with Scott. Now she felt uncomfortable thinking about being around Gordon. It was ridiculous for her to feel that way, and she knew it. It couldn’t be a romantic thing. They were too opposite. But now she found herself strangely drawn to him.

When she had seen him at church that morning, she had wished he would sit by her as he had two weeks earlier. He had greeted her, and his smile and handshake had been warm and friendly. But he had Kai and Kai’s girlfriend with him. Gordon sat with them across the aisle.

During the service, right after the singing, the “keiki choir” was announced. All the children scooted up to the front and
sang a sweet song. The first two verses were in English, the third in Hawaiian. As they scattered back to their seats and their parents, the pastor recited a verse about children being a blessing from the Lord.

Teri could feel Gordon looking at her across the aisle. She turned her head just slightly to meet his gaze. He smiled at her and gave a wink that was so slight she wondered if he had a twitch in his eye. She turned her attention back to the front and tried to remember which eye it was. It was the right. That explained it. Hadn’t he admitted that his whole right side was short-circuited?

If it was a wink, I’m sure he meant it for Annie since he probably feels proud of himself for predicting her pregnancy
.

Instead of talking with Annie this evening, Teri settled for an early night to bed. She and Dan were planning to leave at 6:30 the next morning to meet the rest of the group up at the top of the mountain.

She found it hard to fall asleep with so many unresolved situations in her life. Trying to avoid dwelling on her men problems, Teri started to turn the job situation around in her mind. Part of her wanted to stay on Maui, another part wasn’t ready to give up the easy, predictable life she led in Glenbrooke. Life didn’t seem to be normal here for her.

Dan kept talking about the tamale idea. He was convinced that if they could find the start-up money, Teri could produce tamales four days a week, six hours a day, and they could make more money than he was making now at the resort.

She wasn’t opposed to the tamale idea. It was a good idea. But how many tamales can one person make without going crazy? Still, it could be done. Other people had built financial empires on nothing more than hard work and a good cookie recipe. Dan had checked out some books from the library and was studying all the angles.

If she stayed on Maui, how long could she live with Dan and Anita? And where would her relationship with Scott lead? He sounded ready to make a commitment when they were together. Then he would go days without seeing her or without calling her. She knew he had long hours. So did Dan. But Dan worked a second job, and Teri still saw him more than she saw Scott. She fell asleep contemplating her relationship with Scott.

She found herself still thinking about it the next morning as she and Dan drove along Highway 30 toward the volcanic mountain, Haleakala. Teri was ready for another opinion and her brother-in-law seemed like a good choice. “Do you think I’m interested in Scott because I never had a boyfriend in high school?”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

“I’ve certainly thought about the possibility more than once.”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know.” Teri felt depressed that she couldn’t answer that question with any conviction. She didn’t think she had ever really been in love with anyone. With Luis, of course, she had experienced a certain level of love. But her feelings were not true enough or deep enough to last.

What did she really feel for Scott? She experienced a whole basketful of feelings when she thought about him, including fireworks. That was important.

“Annie doesn’t think he’s the right one for you.”

“I know that.”

“But I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a little jealous of you.”

“Jealous? Why?”

“Because you’re the little sister, and you’re dating the star from her class while she is stuck with me.”

“Annie is
not
stuck with you. She’s crazy about you! You
guys are going to have a baby. Why would she be jealous of me?”

“You have your freedom,” Dan said. “You’re still going out and having fun. A lot of options still are available to you. Her life is pretty well figured. That’s why I think this tamale business would work. It would give her something new to do. She’s been working at the same job for more than six years.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Teri said.

“You know Annie; she likes variety. Adventure. It’s killing her that she can’t come on this trip. As much as we both love living here, she is the one who gets island fever the most.”