Free Until Tomorrow by Robin Jones Gunn Page B

different trip, and all the circumstances are new. You shouldn’t allow yourself subconsciously to make any comparisons to the challenging stuff that happened to you on that trip and think it’s all going to happen to you again just because you’re in Europe with your friends.”
    Christy didn’t follow Katie’s thinking until she delivered her last line, which was a zinger. “I mean, it’s not like you and Todd are going to break up on this trip or anything.”
    The dining car door slid open, and Todd entered with Marcos behind him. “I went back to get the tour book, and I talked Marcos into joining us so we could a make a plan for the next few days.”
    Marcos slid into the booth next to Christy. Katie scooted over, and Todd sat next to her.
    Christy felt her heart pounding so hard it throbbed in her ears. Katie’s words bounced off the inside of her head with each pound of her heart. “ It’s not like you and Todd are going to break up on this trip or anything .”
    All the odd little pieces began to fit together. Todd had been happy to see Christy at the train station and had given her a sweet hello kiss, but since then he had barely touched her. Except for when they sat close by the campfire.
    Todd didn’t agree that I was his girlfriend in front of Antonio’sfather. Why? Has he realized we’re an uncomplimentary match? He loves roughing it, and I fall apart when it starts to rain .
    Christy remembered how, during the England trip, she had seen clearly that she realized she and Doug weren’t a good match. She wondered if Todd had made that same discovery about her.
    Is he just waiting for the right time to tell me? Knowing Todd, he wouldn’t break up with me for good unless he was convinced God was telling him to . . . . Christy’s mind raced through a number of facts. Todd was nearly finished with college. He had only a few more credits to go, and they both were planning to attend Rancho Corona in the fall. A year from now, Todd would be graduated and twenty-four years old. That was old enough by anyone’s standards to be married.
    But where is it written that he has to marry me? I was the girlfriend of his teen years. He’s a man now. Definitely. Facial hair and everything. He can have any woman he wants. Why wouldn’t he marry someone more outdoorsy and easygoing like he is? Someone who is fun to be around and a good friend. Someone like . . .
    Christy’s heart pounded wildly, deafening all her senses as she stared across the table at her red-haired best friend.
    Someone like . . . Katie .

7
    Christy felt numb all the way to Rome. As the others in the dining car talked and planned, she barely responded. When the group discussed going straight to Naples and skipping Florence, Christy merely nodded in agreement.
    Everything inside her felt shaken by the thought that Katie could be a better match for Todd than Christy was, just as Tracy was a better match for Doug than Christy. When the earthquake inside her stopped, all the pieces were in places they didn’t belong. She scrambled emotionally to pick up whatever wasn’t shattered and to find a safe place to store her feelings in her heart.
    Why would Todd have kissed me at the train station in Basel if he’s been thinking about our breaking up?
    Then she remembered his words after she said she didn’t want to cry. “ And I told myself I wouldn’t kiss you.” That’s what Todd said. He didn’t want to kiss me. He’s probably waiting until the end of this trip before he tells me it’s over between us .
    In her numbed state, Christy thought of the water fight between Todd and Katie. The way they had bent their heads close together over the chessboard. The way he knew where to squeeze her knee. Was it possible something was going onbetween them right under her nose, but she hadn’t read the signs?
    The four of them ate lunch.