10
School would be out for the summer soon, and Cody had a decision to make. He had found a private boarding school on a ranch in Montana for teens with emotional disorders. Anxiety issues, abandonment. Struggles with anger and abuse. Maybe not PTSD exactly. But still Cody could relate.
A few days ago, he sent an email to the school’s headmaster, explaining his credentials and asking if they had a teaching and coaching position open. This morning he heard back from the man. His words had played in Cody’s mind all day.
Cody walked through the door of his townhome just as Riley rushed up to him, tail wagging. “Hey, boy.” He stooped down and patted the dog’s furry head. “You missed me? Is that what you say?”
Riley stayed with him as he moved into the kitchen and started the coffeemaker. Then, like he’d done a dozen times since he’d printed the email, Cody pulled the folded piece of paper from his pocket and read it one more time.
Dear Mr. Coleman,
Yes, I’ve heard of you. I read about your story in Sports Illustrated a few years back. I was impressed, but more with your character. We do have a position open and I would love to meet with you at your soonest convenience to discuss whether this might be a fit for you.
The man had included his personal cell phone at the bottom of the message. Cody folded up the paper again and slipped it back into his pocket. He took a chair at his kitchen table and stared at the wall, at a Bible verse that had hung there since he moved in.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” —Jeremiah 29:11
Cody believed God had good plans for him. The question was whether moving to Montana was part of those plans.
“It would force me to forget about Andi.” He looked down at Riley. “Right, boy?”
The chair was hard-backed and not very comfortable. Part of a set he’d picked up at a garage sale for twenty bucks. He leaned back and barely noticed the wooden spindles digging into his shoulders. They didn’t matter. Cody was too consumed with the decision in front of him.
If only God would give him a sign, let him know which way to go. Stay at Oaks Christian and keep seeing Andi’s memory everywhere he looked. Or start a new life, one free of her haunting his every hour.
God, just tell me what You want me to do. I’ll follow Your lead. The prayer came from the depths of his soul, the way it had too many times to count today. Cody waited. Just in case the Lord might have an answer this time. But there was only the sound of the coffeemaker signaling the end of its brew cycle.
He poured himself a cup and walked to the living room, where he dropped on the sofa. Maybe a little TV would help clear his mind. Riley jumped up beside him and settled in against his leg.
“I can count on you, Riley. Wherever we go from here, we go together.”
Riley looked at him, eyes faithful, devoted.
“That’s right. Good boy, Riley.” Cody flipped on the television to Fox News and was about to turn the channel when he caught the headline across the screen. LOUISIANA FLOODS DEVASTATE REGION AGAIN. Cody leaned forward in his seat and lowered the remote. Again? How had he missed this?
The anchorwoman was saying something about thousands of people being displaced, and floodwaters that had only partially receded. More storms were possible in the next few days.
Poor people, Cody thought. He couldn’t imagine losing a house to flooding. The network cut away to scenes of devastation. Homes sitting in the middle of the road after having been carried off their foundations. Others reduced to piles of ruined lumber and rubbish. The next cut was a tent shelter.
“Volunteers and relief workers from all over the country have come to serve the victims of this second year of flooding.” The reporter stepped aside to reveal a number of helpers taking bags and boxes of food from a truck and handing them to residents of what was obviously a temporary shelter.
At that moment, a girl with long blond hair came from the tent and easily pulled herself up onto the bed of the truck. Cody stood and stared at the screen. The girl had her back to the camera, but her graceful movements, the lithe way about her . . . it almost had to be her.
Cody watched the girl slide down from the truck, brush her hands on her jeans, and come up to the reporter. Cody was right. He set down his coffee and took a few steps closer to the TV. The girl was Andi Ellison. He kept walking until he was close enough to touch the screen.
“Andi . . .” He whispered her name. As if she could see him through the glass, as if she could hear him. He reached out and touched the frame of the television, mesmerized by her face, her beautiful eyes. “I’m here.”
The reporter motioned to her. “We have here one of the relief workers, Andi Ellison.” The woman looked at Andi. “How long before people will be back in their homes?”
Andi tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her cheek was smudged with mud and her shirt was dirty. Like she’d been working for days on end. “Many of these people will never be back. We’re still finding houses that were a complete loss.” The depth and care in her blue eyes was deep and soulful. Never mind how dirty she looked. Andi took his breath all the same. Most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Cody wondered if he was the only one who thought so. “They’ll need to find transitional housing before any funding becomes available and they can rebuild. It’ll be a process.”
The reporter looked concerned. “So many people affected.” She shook her head. “And what’s the greatest need at this time? How can people help?”
“Well.” Andi looked over her shoulder at the truck. “People can donate money or food to the few organizations down here making a difference.” She looked at the reporter again. “And one of the things we’re definitely short of are new socks.”
“New socks . . . just regular socks?” The reporter seemed surprised.
“Yes.” Andi looked anxious to get back to work. “In a flood zone, socks are always wet. These people would feel a lot better just knowing their feet could be dry for the night. It’s the first thing people need after food and water.”
“Thanks, Andi.” The reporter looked into the camera. “You heard it here, folks. They need our help . . . if you can donate money or food, please do so. And if you can make it down to one of the temporary tent shelters, bring a few pairs of socks.”
A quick thank-you to Andi, and the network cut back to the anchorwoman in the studio. And like that, the girl Cody had been missing for so long was gone. Again.
Cody hurried to the sofa and grabbed the remote. He hit the rewind button and took the program back to the point where Andi exited the tent and began helping in the truck. He played the segment again, and then a third time. Just before the reporter asked Andi the last question, Cody hit the pause button.
For a few seconds, Cody stared at her. Just took in the sight of her like a dying man in the desert getting his first drink of water after far too long. He had missed her so much. More than he had admitted to himself. The way her hair blew in the wind outside the tent, and the shine in her blue eyes.
His mother was right. He couldn’t let her go. Couldn’t up and move to Montana without at least trying to make things right between them. Whatever it took. Cody kept the TV there, frozen on her face. And as he did, a realization hit him.
Hadn’t he just asked God for a sign? For an answer to what he should do next . . . how he should proceed? Minutes later he turned on the television only to see Andi Ellison interviewed?
A warm certainty started in his heart and radiated through his body. Of course this was a sign. It had to be. Not only that, but now he knew where Andi was working. She’d been tending to victims of the latest Louisiana flood.
Surely he could find her now.
His heart began to beat harder than before, until after a minute it was pounding in his chest. As if it were telling the rest of his body to make a plan, kick things into action. Make a phone call. Whatever he had to do to reach her.
Cody pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called the principal at Oaks Christian. Five minutes later he had the time off. He’d have to finish working with his players, but he could leave next week. Once he got to Louisiana, he could spend the next four days looking for her. Day and night if that’s what it took.
Cody rewound the segment again and this time he let her voice melt into him, deep into the places of his soul that had so desperately thought about her and cared for her and missed her.
Finally he clicked the television off and rushed to find his laptop. Ten minutes later he had a round trip to Louisiana. As soon as he clicked the purchase button, his racing heart slowed some. Another call to his mom to arrange for Riley to be dropped off the morning of his flight and suddenly everything was in place.
He was going to find Andi.
With every minute since he’d seen her on the screen, Cody had felt an increasing certainty. He missed Andi even more than he thought. She was the other half of his heart, and he could only pray God would open doors in the days ahead. That He would lead Cody to find her, and once he did, Andi might want him back again.
One more time.
Because Cody knew something he hadn’t known before seeing Andi on TV. He not only missed her. Cody still loved her. He loved her with all his heart and he couldn’t imagine letting her go ever again. Not now that he’d seen her.
He could only hope that somehow, some way, Andi would forgive him. And that if Cody found her, she would remember something that Cody hoped had been true for years now.
The hope that just maybe she still loved him, too.