Read Online Luke's Crazy California Christmas by Cindy K. Green - Free Book Online Page B

fence. Handing off my bat, I jogged to the exit, removed the helmet, and grabbed the ringing phone, hoping it might be Andrea and yet knowing it wouldn’t be. No, it was Amy Appleby, Andrea’s best friend.
    “Hello, Amy.”
    “Luke, you jerk, how could you break up with Andrea?” I paused a few feet from the guys and rested back against a wall.
    “Wait, it was her idea.”
    “Andrea loves you. She would never break up with you. What did you do?”
    “What did she say I did…wait, she loves me? Did she tell you that?”
    “She doesn’t need to. It’s in every look and every word coming out of her mouth. Her brain is consumed with you. I’m surprised she can still play piano with how in love she is with you.”
    I sucked in a breath and let it go. “I don’t know.” I dragged a hand through my sweat-dampened hair. “Sometimes even if people care for each other, they aren’t meant to be together. It’s just getting too hard.”
    “Luke, life is hard. But the important things in this world—the valuable things—are worth working for. Andrea is worth it. Do I actually have to tell you that? You are the guy who asked her out to homecoming like four times. Why are you giving up so easily this time?”
    The guys were all looking at me as if they knew what was going on. “I gotta go, Amy. When you see Andrea, tell her I’m sorry.” After ending the call, I replaced the phone in my pants pocket. A pain ached in the center of my forehead and continued all the way down to my chest cavity. We broke up. Andrea and I were no longer together. I was still trying to wrap my head around it and realize it was true and not just some horrible nightmare.
    And since Amy had called me, that meant Andrea had told her. She was telling people. That made it more real than anything. This had to go down as the worst Christmas break I’d ever had. I mean, yeah, it’s great Dad and I seem to be on better footing in our relationship, but other than that—the worst!
    I said goodbye to my friends and jumped on Dad’s bike that I’d borrowed for the ride two miles down the road to the batting cages. A single tear rolled from the corner of my eye to my ear. I swiped the moisture away. I’d been fighting it all week, but all of a sudden, I was praying as I pedaled. Lord, I’ve been struggling all week and I think it’s safe to say I’ve finally hit rock bottom. I’ve been angry, and I’m not exactly sure why. Instead of coming to You in my time of trouble, I was avoiding You. That was wrong and probably the reason I just haven’t been right all week. I need some peace of mind. Some clarity for my future wouldn’t be too bad either. More than anything, I need to understand what just happened between Andrea and myself. This can’t be the end. Over. Forever. Are we supposed to be together, or is holding on just going to cause more pain? Help me figure out what I can do to make this right.
    I’d been missing Andrea all week, but right now I missed her more than ever. I just wanted to hear her voice, which tempted me to call her, but I didn’t. She probably wouldn’t answer anyway.
    My conversation with Amy played over in my mind. She was right. I was giving up too easily. Just like my dad. When things got hard, he ran away. Why was I doing the same thing? Did I want to be like him?
    Even if I couldn’t talk to Andrea, there was one thing I could do to be close to her. I remembered her journal. After making it back to the condo, I ran to my room and opened the closet door where I’d stashed the journal. Then I brought it with me to the bed.
    A few minutes later, I smiled, reading her words.
    “I know You can work miracles, and really I’m not asking for one, but please…” Or, “Really, if I could ask for anything, it would be the ability to freeze time. Then I might actually get everything done.”
    But it was when I got to this passage that it all really got to me.
    “Today it isn’t about me. It’s about Luke.