"Then send them in here to make their sandwiches themselves," Christy advised.

Heather giggled, her wispy blond hair falling over her eyes. "I don't really mind. It's kind of fun actually. Besides, if I want to be great in G.o.d's kingdom, I'm supposed to be the servant of all, right?"

Christy grabbed a soda from the ice chest, "Yeah, well, as long as the guys know that verse applies to them too. They're supposed to serve us right back!"

"Good point," Heather said, carefully balancing the loaded paper plate and heading out the door. "I think I'll bring that point up at halftime."

Christy went over to the sink, filled a gla.s.s halfway, and popped Rick's white rose into the water. Placing it in the center of the kitchen table, she slid into a chair and nibbled on a potato chip from one of the six a.s.sorted bags before her.

She thought about Heather's servanthood quip and remembered Doug saying that people are supposed to be servants of G.o.d and not treat Him as though He were their personal slave. Doug also said the key was in surrendering.

"Okay, G.o.d," she prayed softly in the empty kitchen, "I surrender, again. Here I thought something might happen between Doug and me, but he sees me as his little sister. And then I thought I could patch things up with Rick and feel good about everything with him, but now I'm all upset that he likes Katie. I give up! I can't make things work out the way I want them to. I surrender all these guys in my life to You."

Just then Heather slipped back in and with a giggle said, "Oops! I forgot to get myself something to drink."

She scooped a soft drink from the ice chest and held it up in a good-bye gesture on her way back to the family room. She was almost through the door when she stopped, turned around, and looked at Christy.

"Are you okay?" she cautiously asked.

"Sure. Why?"

Heather sat down across the table from Christy. "Oh, no reason. Except that this is your party, and everyone is in the other room, but you're sitting here all by yourself."

"I had some thinking to do."

"About Rick and Katie and what's up with them?" Heather ventured, opening her can and taking a sip.

Christy smiled at her friend. "How did you know?"

"An educated guess," Heather said with a grin. "The last time I saw you with Rick you were trying to talk yourself into being glad you were going together. Then I saw him last week sledding with Katie and figured out real fast that some strange compet.i.tive thing was going on between them."

"Sounds about right," Christy said with a sigh.

"Then at pizza that night, it didn't exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out that you had broken up with him, he was ticked, and he was using all his immature stunts to get your attention." Heather took another sip, "You know, to be honest, I thought for sure that night when you two left together you were going to kiss and make up and get back together."

Christy smirked. "The exact opposite happened. I pushed Rick even further away. I didn't mean to. It just turned out that way."

"I think that means that deep down you wanted to send him away. You wanted to be done with your relationship with him." Heather looked at Christy for agreement.

"Oh, come on, Heather! You said the same thing when I agreed to go steady with Rick. Remember, in the bathroom at Tracy's house, when I was crying because I wasn't sure I'd done the right thing? You said I agreed to go steady with him because deep down I really wanted to."

"Well? Didn't you?"

"I don't know anymore. I wish I'd never gone out with mm.

They paused while another girl slipped in and out of the kitchen, grabbing two sodas.

"Look," Heather said calmly, "I may not always be the best advice-giver, but I know that you need to forget the past and press on toward the future. That's not my stupid advice. It's in the Bible, so I know it's true."

Christy remembered reading that verse before. It was in Philippians. She'd read the short book of Philippians more than any other book in the Bible, except maybe for some of the psalms.

"You're right," Christy told Heather. "I need to look forward. After all, this is the beginning of a new year, right?"

"Right!" Heather said. "And if there is something going on between Rick and Katie, maybe the best thing to do is let it run its natural course. You don't know. They might really be good for each other. They say opposites attract."

"So I've heard," Christy said. "You're right, Heather. When I started going out with Rick, Katie was supportive of me. She didn't really agree with my dating him, and every now and then she'd let me know her opinion. Still, she never stopped treating me like her best friend. I think it might be my turn to be a servant and treat her like my best friend, even though I'm not crazy about her going out with Rick."

"And you can tell her that honestly," Heather added. "Katie didn't hide her opinion of Rick while you were dating him. Tell Katie honestly what you think."

"Okay. I will. Thanks, Heather. You always seem to pop up at the right time. I really appreciate you."

Heather smiled. "Good! Because that's my New Year's resolutiona"to learn to be the servant of all. I'm glad to have been of service."

Christy felt relieved and almost ready to face the mob in the other room when the kitchen door swung halfway open and the back of Katie's red head appeared.

"And Speed," Rick's voice boomed over the clamor in the other room, "don't forget the mustard this time!"

'Yes, Master," Katie responded, playfully bowing from the waist. She spun around with a huge grin, which vanished when she spotted Christy.

The two friends locked gazes.

Heather slipped from her seat and said, "You know, Katie, I was just going to make myself a sandwich. Can I make that one for Rick, and you can do something else? Like, say, maybe take my place at the table and help Christy guard all those potato chips?"

"Turkey with everything, including mustard," Katie said, handing the empty plate to Heather. Her eyes still fixed on Christy, Katie headed for the table and said, "I already know what you're going to say."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't!" Christy said firmly. "You don't know what I'm going to say."

"Okay," Katie said. "Fine. What would you like to say to mer "First, I want to apologize. My crack about 'virgin lips' at the parade was stupid, and I'm sorry I said it."

Katie looked away.

"Will you please forgive me?" Christy asked.

"Sure," Katie said, still not looking at Christy. "Don't worry about it."

"There's more," Christy said. 'You're my best friend, Katie. We have to stick together."

Heather left with a plate of sandwiches. Jn the crook of her elbow were two sodas. She gave Christy a thumbs-up sign as she disappeared.

Christy thought she saw a tear fall from Katie's eye onto her lap.

Christy continued. "If you like Rick, that's fine with me. Really. I talked with him this morning, and I feel like things are settled between us. We're just friends. He can be interested in whoever he wants to be interested in. And if that's you, then that's great!"

Katie looked up. There were tears in her eyes. "You really mean that?"

"Yes, I really mean that. It's hard because I don't want you to get your feelings hurt by Rick the way I did. But you and I are different in a lot of ways, and you might be good for him. And he might be good for you. I don't know. I don't want to come between you two. Your friendship means more to me than that."

Katie pressed her lips together and looked like she might be swallowing hard to keep from crying. In a cracked voice, she said, "He kissed me, Christy."

"I know," Christy answered softly.

Katie's green eyes suddenly flared up. "How did you know? Did he tell you? That jerk!"

"No, Rick didn't tell me. I just knew. I know you, Katie, and I could tell. Not at first, but I figured it out."

"It wasn't like you think," Katie began. "I didn't know he was going to do it. It was New Year's, you know. Everyone on the street was having this big party, and at midnight we all counted down, and then all of a sudden Rick kissed me. Everyone was kissing. It was New Year's!"

"Katie, I know. You don't have to explain anything to me. It's fine!"

"But it's not fine! He came at me so fast and strong, I didn't know how to respond. And the worst part is, you were right about the virgin lips, up until last night. I'd never been kissed. And Christy, I've been so jealous of you! I never thought any guy would want to kiss me, least of all someone like Rick."

Christy reached for a napkin on the counter and handed it to Katie to blot her eyes. "You deserve the best guy in the world, Katie."

"Do you know how awful it feels to be kissed for the very first time and think you can't ever, ever tell your best friend?"

"I'm sure my virgin lips comment didn't help."

"It wasn't even that. It was the horrible, mixed-up feelings of wanting to feel so special, because in my wildest dreams I never pictured a guy like Rick ever kissing me, and then he does. And then I felt awful."

"Don't feel awful," Christy said. "Try to see it for what it was. It was your first kiss, and that's a very wonderful thing. It was New Year's, and there's nothing wrong with a quick little kiss at midnight." Christy scanned Katie's face for the truth as she delicately asked, "That's all it was, wasn't it? One little kiss? I mean, you guys didn't sit and make out all night or anything."

"Of course not!" Katie looked offended. "We sat up all night and played cards with the people next to us and told stupid elephant jokes. It was the most fun New Year's I've ever had."

"Then there's no reason to feel bad."

"I didn't until you guys started saying all that stuff about Doug never kissing a girl," Katie said. "But then I think he's a little extreme. I mean, isn't there someplace in the middle where you can kiss every now and then, and it doesn't mean you're a loose woman?"

"I'm not sure. I guess so," Christy said. "I admire Doug though. I think he's going to make his wife feel so special.".

"Yeah, on their wedding day she'll feel really special," Katie said. "But I would imagine she'll feel like dog meat all the months they date and during their engagement if he never kisses her. I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with light kissing to show your affection. It's all the other stuff that I think should be saved for marriage."

"I agree. And you could be right about Doug being a little extreme. For someone like Doug who's such a natural hugger, it does seem he would be a little freer with his kisses. Still, I admire him because he's made a decision and stuck to it. Plus, it seems he and Tracy didn't have much otrouble switching from dating to friends because they didn't have any of that physical stuff to try to erase from their relationship."

Katie reached for a potato chip, obviously feeling better. "I admire that," Katie admitted. "I also admire you and Todd, and I don't see how his kissing you a few times made it any easier or harder when he left for Hawaii. That guy is in your heart. I think you'd feel the same way about him even if he'd never kissed you."

"You could be right," Christy said with a sigh.

"Of course I'm right!" Katie said, picking up steam. "If you want to know my opinion, you should take your own advice, Christy, and hold out for a hero, no matter what the state of his lipsa"virgin or not."

Christy laughed, "Okay, I will, as long as you take the same advice, and you hold out for a hero too. I'm not saying that Rick isn't that hero. He could be. I don't know. But promise me you'll settle for nothing but the best."

Katie's bright smile returned, flashing her agreement and making Christy feel much better.

Remembering her earlier prayer of surrender, Christy thought, This servant stuff might not be so hard afler all G.o.d sure has a way of working everything out when I let Him.

"Shall we join the party?" Christy asked Katie just as an unusually loud roar rose in the family room.

"Must be a major touchdown." Katie grabbed a bag of chips and fished for a can of soda in the ice chest.

"Listen," Christy said. "That's Marti screaming. She's not much of a football fan. And that sounds like Tracy shouting. They must be having a pillow fight in there."

"Come on!" Katie urged, grabbing a slice of cheese and sticking it in her mouth. "Grab the MaM's, and let's show those guys a real pillow fight!"

Christy grabbed the jumbo bag of MaM's. Just as they were about to exit the kitchen, the door swung open. Uncle Bob stood before them, his face red with excitement. Around his neck he wore a Hawaiian lei made from plume-ria that were no longer white but looked brown and travel-worn.

"I think you'd better come out here, Christy," Bob said. "It appears guest number seventeen has just arrived."

throwing the bag of MaM's into the air and racing past her uncle into the family room. There, encircled by his shocked friends, stood a tanned, sun-bleached blond Todd. Around his neck hung half a dozen crushed leis.

"Todd!" Christy called out again, sprinting across the room. The group of friends stood back, making way for Christy.

When Todd heard her calling his name, he pulled away from Heather's hug around his neck and looked for Christy. Those silver-blue eyes that Christy had dreamed about met her gaze across the room. Todd's face lit up, and he opened his arms to receive her embrace.

Just before Christy reached him, she spotted a white sling on his left arm. With great self-control, she curbed her hug to a modified side squeeze on his right side.

"What happened?" she breathed into his ear, her tears giving way and trickling down his T-shirt.

"It's nothing. Here," he said as she pulled back. "This is for you, Kilikina."

Feeling the warmth of hearing him call her his special Hawaiian version of her name, Christy watched as Todd looped a plumeria and orchid lei off his neck and placed it around her neck, kissing her once on each cheek.

"Aloha, Kilikina," he said softly.

The tropical fragrance of the plumeria set off a cascade of hopes, joys, and dreams in her heart. "You're back" was all she could say.

Todd's gaze left her face and locked on the gold bracelet circling her right wrist. A huge grin spread across his face. He kissed Christy again on her damp cheeks and said, "Yes, I'm back."

"Well? Tell us what happened!" Marti said, eagerly wedging her way into the circle. "Are you through with surfing for a while?"

"Looks like it." Todd raised his sling for emphasis. "Here, Marti. You need one of these."

He began to remove one of his leis for her when Marti protested. "Oh, no, give them to the younger girls first. Look, Katie doesn't have one yet."

Katie shyly stepped forward, and Todd presented her with a lei, kissing her on the cheek in the Hawaiian custom. Christy thought it looked like Katie was blushing. Oddly, Christy didn't feel jealous. She knew Todd's kisses on her cheek, even in front of everyone, were different from what the others received.

The football game was forgotten as everyone started to ask Todd questions.

"Whoa!" Bob said. "Let's let the poor guy catch his breath. Are you hungry, Todd? Come into the kitchen and get yourself something to eat."

The group followed Todd into the kitchen, and he answered questions along the way.

"I arrived this afternoona"an hour ago. Doug's mom said you were all over here. I was on standby out of Honolulu, and they had an opening on a flight early this morning."

Marti handed him a soda as Bob spread some mayonnaise on a French roll. "What do you think, Todd? A little of everything?"