[Canadian West 05] - Beyond the Gathering Storm by Janette Oke

Lord for the food. She managed to bow her head for a quick prayer before beginning her own sandwich, but the chatter around her had not slackened, and she found it difficult to concentrate.
    Even with everyone eating heartily, the talk and laughter still had not slowed down.
    “What happened to Maude?” asked Boyd around a chicken drumstick.
    “She has a toothache,” answered the young man in the blue-striped shirt. Christine thought his name was Jared.
    “Can you imagine that?” chirped Trudie, holding her jaw in mock sympathy. “A toothache keeping her home. I’d never let a little thing like a toothache keep me from a party.”
    “Speaking of a party—where are the drinks?” asked Stephen, a short fellow with eyeglasses.
    Boyd leaped to his feet and proceeded to his car and opened the trunk. “Help yourself,” he called, and everyone but Christine hurried over to do so.
    “What do you want, Christine?” he called to her. “Beer or wine?”
    “I ... no, thank you,” she stammered as several pairs of eyes turned to stare. She felt embarrassed—and terribly disappointed. She had thought Boyd would know she would not drink alcohol.
    “Christine’s father is a cop,” explained Boyd with a laugh, and all five broke into hilarious laughter. Christine did not understand the joke.
    “So what will you drink?” Boyd asked as he threw himself back down on the blanket beside her.
    “I’ll ... I’m fine,” she was quick to say.
    “Next time we’ll bring some soda pop,” said Trudie in an affected way that drew another laugh.
    “Lemonade,” someone else offered, and they laughed more loudly..
    “Hey, you guys, lay off,” warned Boyd, and the laughter subsided.
    Christine couldn’t help being thirsty. Had she been in the North, she would have gone to the stream for a refreshing drink. But the murky waters of the nearby river did not tempt her at all.
    The afternoon dragged by. They really didn’t do anything. Just lolled about on the blankets, talking and laughing and at times sounding a bit vulgar. A few times Boyd warned them off with a look or a word. They continued to drain the bottles, and the more they drank, the louder and coarser they became. Christine ached to go home.
    A rain cloud finally brought her release. They grabbed picnic baskets, blankets, and belongings and rushed to the cars. Christine breathed a prayer of thanks.
    “You didn’t have too much fun today, did you?” Boyd asked seriously on the drive home. He was driving much more slowly, both hands on the wheel. The rain continued to fall, the modern miracle of an outer windshield wiper keeping their vision clear.
    “I’m sorry,” said Christine honestly. “I guess I just don’t fit with your ... with your friends.”
    He nodded as though agreeing.
    Well, that’s the end of that, thought Christine, feeling a strange combination of sadness and relief.
    “I won’t ask you to do it again,” Boyd continued, and now he did take a hand off the steering wheel to reach out to her. “Come over here.” He smiled. “Please.”
    She slowly slid across the seat. He lifted an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer yet.
    “Next time we’ll do something on our own.”
    Christine could not hide her surprise.
    “You name it,” he went on.
    She turned to him. “You mean it?”
    “‘Course.”
    Suddenly the day seemed brighter again. He did not plan to stop asking her out. He wasn’t asking her to join his crowd. She could scarcely believe it.
    “So where will it be?” he asked.
    “I’ll have to think about it.”
    “Okay.” His arm tightened. “I’ll give you until we get home.”
    She laughed in delight. She could laugh now. She’d not been able to laugh at the crude jokes on the picnic blankets, but now she laughed out of sheer joy.
    They were soon pulling up in front of Christine’s boardinghouse. “You’re sure you have to go?” he asked her soberly.
    “I’m sure. I have some things I need to do before