She still didn’t feel very stable without her brace. The doctor assured her she’d get stronger once she got used to not having it on.

What was that on her door? Lex pulled the yellow sheet of paper from her peeling paint.

The apartment building was being sold. Lex had four weeks to move out.

A hammer sent blows to her breastbone and her stomach at the same time. She gripped the doorframe to keep from falling.

This couldn’t be happening.

She needed ice cream.

Lex jammed her key in the lock.

“Rex?”

She turned. “Oh, hi Mrs. Chang.”

Her cheerful round face had turned into a weepy moon. She held her own notice.

“Oh, Mrs. Chang. Do you understand what that says?” Lex pointed at the paper.

Mrs. Chang nodded. “I call nephew, he read.”

“What are you going to do?”

She shook her head while another fat tear dropped from her downcast eyes. She gave a rather loud, wet sniff, then a hacking sound from the back of her throat.

Okay, that was just gross.

“I live wit’ nephew. He help.”

Lex awkwardly patted Mrs. Chang’s round shoulder. She nodded, then waddled away.

What would happen to her? Would her nephew find her another place or take her in? It sounded like he knew his duty – he’d take care of his aging relative in some way. Lex had never been so relieved at the old cultural obligations. She’d stop hacking at them after this.

She needed ice cream.

She pushed into her studio. The unnatural silence confused her.

What was missing?

The hum of the refrigerator.

Lex dashed to the kitchenette and saw the drips of water from the tiny freezer, all the way down the front.

She wanted to cry. No ice cream.

She had just finished cleaning out her spoiled food and slurping down some melted ice cream when her cell phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Aiden. I’m in your area – I’m meeting some friends for dinner. Want to join us?”

Not a date, then. Lex wasn’t disappointed, not really. “Your timing is perfect. My fridge is broken.”

“Hooray for old appliances.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I’ll pick you up in ten minutes.”

He arrived in eight minutes, actually. She opened the door before he rang the bell. “Where are we going?”

“Chinese?”

“Excellent.”

Aiden kept tapping the steering wheel as he drove. Even Lex, as unobservant as she tended to be, noticed his uncharacteristic nervousness. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just hungry.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but what made you call me for dinner with you and your friends?”

Aiden’s face seemed smoother than glass. It seemed almost as if he were hiding something. No, that was ridiculous. “You did say you wanted to meet more guys, right?”

“Oh.” She had said that. “Right.”

“One guy is Christian, I think. At least, he says he is.”

His cynicism pricked her. “There are sincere Christians, you know.”

He grew quiet. “Yes, I know.” His voice thrummed low and thoughtful.

They pulled into the parking lot. “Is that them?” Lex saw two figures half-hidden in the dark.

Something made her pause before opening her door.

It couldn’t be Aiden’s friends – it was a couple. The man kissed the woman in the dark, a romantic picture. The woman’s light-colored hair shimmered almost silver.

That looked like Ike. And Lindsay.

The man lifted his head.

“Ike?” She didn’t recognize the croaking voice. Was that her? She swallowed. A wadded up ball of tape stuck in her throat.

The man smiled. It was Ike.

Aiden hadn’t gotten out either. He stared hard at the couple.

Lex swallowed. “Can we not -?”

“Sure.” He started up the engine again, no questions.

“Please just take me home.” She wasn’t hungry anymore.

They drove out of the parking lot. As they passed Ike and Lindsay, Lex felt only a twinge like a snapped rubber band in her chest.

Well, at least she wouldn’t have to kiss him now.

She glanced at Aiden. She’d like to kiss him -Look, but don’t touch.

Rats.

THIRTY-THREE

Aiden thought sitting in the front pew with Spenser would make him a target for the full force of the pastor’s sermon, but the man barely glanced at him.

The message aimed at hearts more than minds. It contrasted with the talks Aiden had with him the past couple weeks, where Aiden asked and the pastor responded with logic.

“God gives us freedom.” He studied his notes and sipped some water before continuing. “But freedom isn’t the same for everybody. Freedom could be from physical prisons or mental prisons. Freedom from inadequacy and hiding.”

Aiden wondered if that was a message to him. They’d talked about his tendency to hide behind his impassive mask, to always seem calm and in control.

From the pulpit, he swept a pointing finger at the congregation. “God wants to free you. He cares about each of you, individually.”

Aiden had a hard time believing that. The pastor had told him to set out a fleece, but Aiden wasn’t sure how.

One thing the pastor had said still resonated in his mind. Aiden, you don’t need to have all the answers before you step out in faith.

Listening to him now, Aiden struggled with the fact that he didn’t have enough to go by, and that that’s what faith was.

Okay. He sat back. He wasn’t sure how to open a channel to God, but he assumed He’d hear him. Okay. Prove Yourself to me. I’m not promising to believe, but I’ ll listen, for a change.

That’s it.

No thundering revelation. No fireworks, no surge of emotion.

Well? He didn’t feel any different. Was he supposed to?

The pastor suddenly glanced at Aiden, paused in his sermon. Then he picked up his sentence and continued.

That seemed odd.

Spenser turned in his seat, gave him a long look. He turned back around.

Hmmm.

Then Spenser leaned sideways. “Let’s go fishing after ser vice.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been talking to your pastor.” Aiden cast his line into Calero Reservoir. The hot day didn’t say much for their chances of catching anything.

“He’s a nice guy.” Spenser cast out his line and moved a step farther away.

“I like the picture on his wall.”

“Me too.”

Aiden’s lure stuck on something. “Aw, man.” He tugged, but no dice.

“Stuck?”

“Yeah.”

Aiden cut his line. It had been a cheap lure anyway. He selected another one and started stringing it. “I’m starting to understand this Christian ity stuff.” He didn’t look up at Spenser.

“Great.” Spenser didn’t say anything more, just kept jibbing his lure. Aiden looked at him.

Spenser smiled. It wasn’t brilliant, or startled, or even different from normal. But something about it… Aiden somehow felt that now he knew Spenser better than he ever had before.

He cast his lure. Yeah, maybe this was right.

“So this snooty guy comes up and says, ‘Welcome to Green Pastures Church. Are you a visitor today?’ And I was like, ‘Well, duh.’

And then he asked me if I was a Christian, if I went to Bible study, blah, blah, blah. And then he started harping about how I needed to learn Greek. Greek!” Lex shoved at the leg press so hard, her foot caught air.

She could tell Aiden tried hard not to be amused. “Greek is a worthy study.”

“Oh, don’t start. So then I told him – ”

“Hey, Aiden, where were you, man?” Ike walked up to Lex’s leg press. “Hi there, Lex.”

She stifled the urge to knock him to the mat, the two-timing flirt. “Hi, Ike.”

“So, Aiden, me and Lindsay waited twenty minutes for you, and then we just went inside to order.”

Aiden had gone still – so subtle, Lex almost didn’t notice it. He shrugged. “Sorry. I tried calling you, but my cell phone died.”

“No prob, no prob. Next time. That Chinese restaurant was great.”