Coming Home by Audrey Stover Read Free Book Online Page A

there
sometime. It was awesome."
    Susan smiled, "Thank you."
    Susan looked at Craig who was just watching her.
"What?"
    "Nothing. I'm just glad you came."
    "Craig, can I start playing some songs?" A boy
asked holding up his guitar.
    Craig nodded, "I think that would be a good idea, Tim.
We need to get a move-on here."
    "Maybe I should go," Susan said, suddenly feeling
a little out of place as she watched the kids start to gather around the
fire-pit as Tim started strumming some chords on his guitar.
    "No, you just got here. And it looks like your dinner
is ready," he gestured toward the boy named Jim who was walking toward her
with a rather charred hot dog on a slightly sandy bun.
    "Thanks," Susan said as graciously as she could
as she took the less than appetizing item from his hands -- rather dirty hands
at that. She subtly looked around wondering if there was anywhere that she
could get rid of it without offending anyone.
    "They taste better than they look." Craig said in
a low voice next to her ear.
    Susan was proud of herself for not jumping away from him,
but she hated herself for the shivers going up and down her spine at the feel
of his breath against her neck.
    She took a small step back, "Are you sure?"
    "Yep. I'll eat it for you if you want," he
offered with raised eyebrows.
    She looked down at the hot dog, "It's okay I'll eat it
as long as you have some ketchup, mustard and relish."
    He gave her a smile that warmed her down to her toes.
"That's my girl. The condiments are right over there," he said,
pointing to a cooler that was serving as a make-shift table.
    Susan watched the group as she put the finishing touches on
her hot dog and took a wary bite.  She chewed slowly trying not to grimace at
the grittiness of the sand and the still cold middle of the hot dog.  She
swallowed as the group began to sing a song that had words like "God"
and "Love" and "Joy" and she really began to feel uncomfortable.
She looked toward Craig and he motioned for her to come sit by him. She almost
shook her head no, but she did come here of her own free will. He didn't force
her to come, and she had known it was with the junior high kids from his
church.  She just hadn't realized they would be doing something like this,
especially on a public beach where there were a lot of people around.
    She took a deep breath and trudged her way through the
shifting sand toward where Craig was sitting.
    "How's your hot dog?" Craig asked quietly as soon
as she was settled.
    Susan swallowed her second bite of the nasty thing,
"Gritty and cold," she answered with what she hoped was a smile.
    "That bad, huh?" He gave her a quick pat on the
shoulder, "If you come again, try to come a little earlier and I will make
you one of my gourmet hot dogs, and I mean hot with no grit."
    She turned to look at him and their noses almost touched
because he had been leaning toward her to speak quietly. She turned away
quickly and felt her face flush all shades of pink and red – kind of like the
sunset happening on the horizon just behind them.
    The group sang a few more songs that Susan had never heard
before, but still with the same message that God loves everyone. Then a young
man in his twenties got up and started to speak as Tim put his guitar away. The
man read a couple of verses from his Bible in the fading sunlight and firelight
then he expounded for about fifteen minutes on what those verses meant.
    Susan hoped Craig wouldn't ask her any questions about what
this man was saying because honestly she didn't understand any of it and it was
hard to concentrate with Craig sitting next to her.  She kept glancing his way,
but he was engrossed in what was being said. When it was over the man had them
all bow their heads for prayer. Susan looked around and was surprised that all
of the kids bowed their heads. Weren't they embarrassed that other kids from
school would see them and make fun of them? Didn't they care that people had
been looking at them kind of