The Pick Page 10

  “Kylie?”

  Kylie’s attention was brought back to her date, Jacob.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I… I zoned out there for a moment.”

  Jacob smiled, “No worries, I was just telling you about my new job….”

  As their food arrived and Jacob attempted to keep the conversation going, Kylie tried not to focus on what Justin was saying but she couldn’t help it. Kylie learned about the many dysfunctional families and couples within his family’s social circles. She decided that there was way too much drama going on. She also learned that Justin’s friend planned to keep dating until the day he was married, just to ensure that he was marrying the right girl even though he expected his future fiancée to be committed to him. It sounded like a crazy idea to her. Unfortunately, Kylie missed Justin’s response. And she was pretty sure that Jacob would not be calling her for a second date.

  Although Kylie was a little upset that Justin didn’t seem to love Ally for the right reasons, she had to admit that he was right about one thing… Committed. Once Ally made a promise, she usually kept it. If Justin really did ask Ally to wait for him, Kylie might have a hard time ensuring that Tyson and Ally ended up together. Or at the very least, ensuring that Ally and Justin didn’t end up together.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ally stood in front of the mirror, analyzing her outfit. She had chosen her favorite black skinny jeans and a white blouse that accentuated her waist, with a bold, chunky necklace and coordinating pumps. Even though she wished that she was wearing sandals, she knew that Justin appreciated a well put together outfit. She just hoped that her shirt wasn’t too plain.

  The last couple of months had been full of adventures that she would never forget. Justin had involved Ally in helping him cross of most of his pre-mission bucket list. They had gone bungee jumping and driven in a race car. They had eaten at a lot of fancy restaurants and driven great distances just to go on certain hikes.

  For the last week, Justin and his family had been on a cruise to the Caribbean, where he was able to go parasailing and swim with sharks. Tonight’s date would be one of their last dates before Justin left on his mission.

  Ally didn’t know if it was because this was her second missionary to send off, but this time around didn’t seem as hard. She was going to miss the excitement she felt when she was with Justin, and there was no doubt that she would miss kissing him. But somehow, she just knew it would all work out.

  She heard a knock on the door and butterflies appeared in her stomach as she answered the door. Sometimes she didn’t know if they were butterflies of anticipation to see Justin or nervousness that he wouldn’t like how she was dressed.

  Justin swept her up in his arms and kissed her in a way that Ally knew he had missed her over the last week. As he let her go, she noticed his eyes survey the way she was dressed. She suddenly felt very self-conscious as a look of disappointment crossed his eyes.

  “Did you not get my text?” Justin said as Ally realized he was wearing suit. Which was saying something, since it was the middle of the summer and almost 100 degrees outside.

  “Ya, I just didn’t realize that dress nice meant dress fancy,” Ally explained.

  Justin checked his watch. “Okay, well hurry. We have a schedule to keep.”

  After Ally returned, now dressed in her favorite red dress. Justin said, “Much better.”

  During the car ride, Ally was engrossed in Justin’s animated recount of his cruise. It was full of adventure, relaxation, and lots of ice cream. By the end, she was feeling a bit jealous that she had never been on a vacation like that and it made her want to go on a cruise one day. She soaked every word in wishing that she was able to go with him, but she understood that it was just his family that went and it probably wouldn’t have been acceptable for her to go with them anyways. She was just his girlfriend.

  “I hope that one day I can go on a cruise,” Ally said dreamily.

  Justin squeezed her hand with a smile as he said, “Well next time I go, I will be sure to invite you.”

  As the car went around the bend, arose of out the ground a large, colorful hot air balloon.

  “Have you ever ridden in a hot air balloon?” Justin asked.

  “No. But I have always wanted to.”

  “Well today is your lucky day.”

  “Are you serious?” Ally exclaimed.

  “Yep.”

  Ally couldn’t contain her excitement. She immediately jumped out of the car when they parked, before Justin even had a chance to undo his seatbelt. Ally knew that Justin would be upset that she didn’t wait for him to come around and open the door, but she couldn’t wait.

  Justin hurried to her side. “I was going to get the door for you.”

  “I know,” Ally said, giddy. “I’m just so excited.”

  Ally held onto Justin’s arm tightly as they walked down the not-so-smooth path toward the balloon. It would have been a lot easier if Ally wasn’t wearing high heels. It made Ally question why she was even wearing high heels and a dress as they were walking through a field in the mountains. Justin was usually very particular about wearing clothes that were appropriate for their outings.

  “Mr. Hawthorne?” a gentleman appeared from the side of the hot air balloon to their right.

  “Yes,” Justin said as he shook the man’s hand.

  “This here is our ride for the evening,” the man said pointing to the hot air balloon. “Please take a step inside the basket. I just need to finish up some things and we can begin our ascent.”

  “Thank you,” Justin said as he helped Ally into the hot air balloon.

  After Ally and Justin settled into the corner of the basket, as far away from the flame as possible, Ally asked, “I thought that hot air balloons rides were only in the morning?”

  “Usually, but I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse,” Justin said with a smile as he leaned down to kiss Ally.

  The view was beautiful as they floated over the valley in between the Wasatch mountains. Ally’s stomach briefly filled with butterflies as she looked down at the vast fields below them. She also found herself holding on to Justin’s hand a little bit tighter.

  “Ally?” Justin asked and Ally turned to face him. “I have been doing a lot of thinking with my mission being so close, and making sure that I have things ready to go…”

  “Well you are leaving next week,” Ally said.

  “Yes, that’s why I wanted to ask you something.”

  Ally waited as Justin pulled a box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a diamond necklace.

  “I want you to know that you are important to me and I hope you will be willing to give me a chance when I get back. So, Ally, will you wait for me?”

  Ally only paused for a second before she responded, “Oh Justin! Yes, yes I will wait for you.”

  Ally fingered the beautiful necklace Justin had given her as she walked through her apartment door. She was pretty sure it was at least a carat, because she had never seen a diamond that big. It was princess cut with a whole bunch of little diamonds encircling the main diamond. Justin had hinted to Ally that the diamonds could be reset into a wedding ring when the time came. Ally couldn’t imagine having a wedding ring that big.

  “Hey Al. Where did you go on your date?” Kylie asked from the couch, startling Ally out of her day dream.

  “Oh. You will never guess, Kylie. He took me on a hot air balloon ride.”

  Kylie set down the book she was reading. “Wow. That’s pretty awesome.”

  “Yep, it was beautiful and he gave me this,” Ally said holding out her necklace.

  “Holy cow… it that real?”

  “Of course it is. Justin doesn’t skimp on anything.”

  “True,” Kylie replied.

  “I’m glad that he gave me a necklace instead of a ring. I couldn’t imagine wearing a ring that big while he is gone.”

  “So, I’m guessing he asked you to wait for him?” Kylie asked, wishing that what she
had overheard at lunch was wrong.

  “Mhmmm.”

  “You do realize that Tyson gets home before Justin will, right? Are you even going to give him a chance?”

  “I thought we had already been over this,” Ally said with her mood quickly souring. “Tyson doesn’t want me to wait for him.”

  “You don’t know that,” Kylie retorted.

  “I don’t know otherwise, because he never talked about it.” Ally stormed off to bed.

  As she laid in bed, Ally had to keep pushing the thought of what she would do when Tyson came home out of her mind. Maybe she shouldn’t have told Justin she would wait for him, because Tyson would be coming home first. She still had a year and a half to figure out what she would do. But before she fell asleep, she had decided that there would be no harm in writing both of them.

  That night Ally dreamed that she kept trying to kiss Tyson. But he kept pointing at her necklace and Tyson refused to kiss her because she had promised to wait for Justin. She woke up frustrated. She was in love with Justin and couldn’t understand why her head couldn’t figure that out.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Kylie had to admit that Ally was handling Justin leaving on a mission a lot better than she had handled Tyson leaving. Maybe it was easier the second time around? Or maybe it was because Justin had asked her to wait? Kylie wasn’t sure, but she was grateful that she didn’t have to pull Ally out of bad eating habits or beg her to get out of the house all over again, although the more she thought about it, Kylie wouldn’t be begging Ally to get out of the house ever again. Last time was a disaster.

  There was something about Justin that still bugged her. She hadn’t caught him doing anything wrong, but he was seriously lacking something. She wished that she could just figure out what it was. She didn’t like the condescending way that he talked to Ally sometimes, but he hadn’t done anything to hurt her, other than their 24-hour break up. In the way of actions, he treated her like a princess, taking her to fancy restaurants and on expensive adventures. Maybe it was the fact that he didn’t ever hide the fact that he came from a wealthy family? Or maybe it was because Justin was a jerk growing up and she kept looking for anything to prove that he still was? Or maybe it was because he still hated Tyson for no good reason?

  She had to continually remind herself that Tyson was getting home first. Hopefully, that would be enough to push Justin out of the picture. Kylie hoped that Ally hadn’t fallen too in love with the lifestyle she lived when she was with Justin. There was no way that Tyson was going to be able to compete with that.

  The last month had been difficult for Elder Brooks and his new companion, Elder Tito. To say that they didn’t quite get along would be an understatement. Elder Tito preferred to sit around and spend their days at the local church building, while Tyson wanted to knock on every door. Even though he wasn’t sure that knocking on every door would bring much more success than they had had. Tyson hadn’t met anyone who was willing to have them back for a second discussion since he left his last area two months ago.

  Not only was Tyson frustrated at his companion’s laziness but he was also starting to blame himself for their lack of success. Coming to Mexico, he had heard that the people were ready to accept the gospel and that missionaries typically baptized dozens during their mission. But day after day, no one wanted to listen, his baptism count wasn’t increasing, and Tyson was starting to feel like he was not an adequate missionary. He was beginning to question his decision to serve a mission. If he wasn’t accomplishing anything, why was he even there?

  As they walked into the internet cafe, Tyson dropped his backpack next to his chair. It was P-day, Elder Tito’s favorite day. He claimed it was the literal day of rest and treated it that way. But for Tyson, it was his least favorite day of the week and he dreaded the next 60 minutes that would feel like hours. He hadn’t answered any emails for a couple weeks, letting them stack up in his inbox. He didn’t feel like trying to be optimistic for anyone other than his mom. Most of all he did not look forward to telling his mission president that Elder Tito and himself had not had any success this week, again. But he forced himself to send the required emails.

  As Tyson was about to close the internet browser, his breath caught when he saw an email from Ally. He quickly moved the mouse to click on it. He hadn’t heard from her in months. Tyson stopped himself from opening the email. Doubts filled his mind as he thought maybe this was just a complimentary email letting him know she was engaged. He kicked his former self on a regular basis for not letting Ally know that he at least hoped that she would be available to date when he got back. He knew that was something that he couldn’t tell her now.

  He took a deep breath and a leap of faith, hoping that the email might make his day a little bit better instead of a whole lot worse.

  “Elder Brooks,

  I have to start by saying that I hope you will forgive me. I have not been a very good friend. One letter in five months.... I am the worst! I wish I could say that I was too busy with school or maybe I broke my hand so I couldn’t write, but I don’t have a good excuse.

  Over the last month, you have continued to pop into my mind. I have felt like I needed to write you, but for some reason I haven’t. At first, I think it was because I was upset that you were responding to everyone else’s emails and letters but mine. Then I let that frustration build up and somehow convinced myself that you didn’t want to talk to me. Crazy, right?

  Anyways, like I said, I have felt like I needed to write to you and increasing so over the last week. But I have been stubborn and I have lost a lot of sleep trying to push you out of my mind at night, so that is why I am writing this at 2:30 in the morning.

  I always read the email that you send out to everyone. It sounds like you have had a lot of success. That is so wonderful. But lately your emails seem a little distant. I have a feeling it isn’t because you have so many appointments you can only send a five-minute email. Ty, He never said it would be easy, He only said it would be worth it. When you backpack feels too heavy, your feet hurt, and you are faced with discouragement, please remember that.

  Think about the many people you have already shared the gospel with. A lot of them have embraced it and you have been able to share in their joy. And ‘how great shall be your joy’ for bringing those people happiness and knowledge. But one thing that I think is wonderful about serving a mission is your opportunity to become more converted to the gospel.

  When you don’t seem to be having any luck finding investigators, I hope that you will put your heart and soul into learning about the gospel. I wish that I had two years to dive into the gospel and learn all that I could without the distractions of the world. It is an opportunity I hope you won’t take for granted. As you become more converted, those you come in contact with will be able to see your light and conversion. It will be a witness to those you speak to.

  Please don’t give up. I know you can overcome any trials that you face. I am proud of you for making the decision to serve a mission. I don’t know if I ever told you that, but I am. Best of luck this week, and remember it will be worth it.

  Yours truly,

  Ally”

  Tyson quickly read through Ally’s email as hope and comfort filled him. He was amazed that Ally had addressed his worries and questions without even knowing it. Most of all he was grateful that she had listened to the Spirit, even at 2:30 in the morning, because her words were exactly what he needed to hear.

  He hadn’t shared his doubts with anyone, hoping that maybe he would get over them or they would go away. In a way, he was almost embarrassed to tell others that he was struggling. But in that moment, Tyson felt like he should tell Ally and he wanted to. Ally’s words had always brought him peace of mind in the past and he knew that he could count on her to help him see the bright side of things. Tyson took a deep breath, let his guard down, and told Ally everything.

  Feeling better than he had in weeks, Tyson responded to a few other emails.
Then Tyson and his companion headed out the door into the pouring rain. Elder Tito grumbled but Tyson was filled with new light and determination to make the best of it.

  While eating lunch at her apartment, Ally reached for her phone after hearing it vibrate on the table. She was suddenly nervous, remembering the email that she had sent Tyson early that morning. She felt silly for thinking that he might be struggling, but she couldn’t fight the feeling that she needed to give him words of encouragement.

  As Ally read Tyson’s email, tears rolled down her cheeks as he expressed his struggle with his new companion, the disappointing appointments, and his wavering confidence in his ability to be a good missionary. Tyson expressed his gratitude for Ally listening to the prompting that she had and that she had been the answer to his prayers for comfort and perseverance. She had said exactly what he needed to hear to carry on.

  A sob escaped Ally as Tyson explained to her that his mission president had asked him to only write her once a month. He asked her to write more often because he wanted to hear from her and he was sure that he would need her words of encouragement over the next 15 months. In that moment, it finally sunk in that he wanted her to wait.

  Glancing at the clock she realized she needed to leave for her last class. Ally quickly responded to Tyson’s email letting him know that she was always there for him and he could tell her anything. She promised to write more often and would wait patiently for his replies.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  For Ally, the next year was filled with sappy, love letters and packages from Justin, heartfelt, spiritual letters from Tyson, and a lot of mixed feelings. She continued to write to both of them, sharing words of encouragement. Neither of her missionaries knowing about the other one, giving Ally time to decide what she was going to do when Tyson returned home.