***
“How about joining me at church for the 11:15 service?” Nick asked Piper the following morning, as she laid in their bed in her usual depressed form, still wearing the shorts and t-shirt she had put on the day before. He stood in front of her with a glass of tomato juice in his hand, which was his drink of choice in the mornings after he had overindulged.
“No. You go. I’m just not ready to go public yet Nick.”
“C’mon, honey. It will be good for you. I’ll bet the pastor will say something inspirational. Something you need to hear. Something I need to hear.”
“Take notes for me.”
“Please.”
“No. I just can’t do it, Nick.”
“Okay. How about if we skip church and go to the beach? It’s beautiful outside today. Nice and breezy. I’ll bet the beach would help you to take your mind off things.”
“No, I’d rather not.”
“Bike ride?”
“Nope.”
Nick shrugged his shoulders and headed out the room, only to return fifteen minutes later with a bowl of popcorn and a DVD in his hand. He placed the bowl of popcorn on the nightstand next to Piper and then turned the television and DVD player on, popping the DVD into its slot. Then he hopped onto the bed next to Piper and propped up the pillows behind their heads, so that they could both comfortably sit up and watch the movie. Faith jumped up on the bed and sat between them.
“Caddyshack,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to watch.”
“Oh, Nick. I don’t want to watch Caddyshack.”
The movie started with a gopher dancing around on a golf course and the song “I’m Alright” playing from Kenny Loggins.
Piper struggled to pay attention, but found herself drifting in and out of sleep. Thoughts of her friend Cherie came to mind, and she recalled the times when Cherie had lost her babies. Tomorrow she would call Cherie.
Eyes on the Unseen Prize Page 50
