Changing Her Heart. Gail Sattler

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      Randy smiled. “I couldn’t be without my computer. Computers are my only source of income, so I have to keep up with all the latest and the greatest.” He grinned wryly. “Sometimes my online activities make me late for practice on Wednesday nights, but, of course, I’m never late for work.”

      She stared blankly at him. Randy hadn’t meant to get so personal, but his computer and all that went with it had played a big part in his recovery.

      “What is it you’re practicing? Are you in a league?” Lacey asked.

      “Uh…” Randy felt his cheeks flush. “Actually, it’s not sports, it’s music, and it’s my friends who are really practicing, not me. When we first started I tried to learn to play keyboards from a book, but that went about as well as you might expect, so they found someone else to do it. But Celeste is phenomenal. Maybe even the best piano player I’ve ever met. So now I work the sound system and do all the computer stuff, which is right up my alley.”

      She smiled. “That sounds like fun. Does your band have a CD out?”

      Randy laughed. “No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just the worship team for church.”

      “Just? Don’t say that. The worship team is important. I think it’s wonderful that you’re utilizing your talents. I wish I could do something like that, but I don’t seem to be good at anything besides sewing.”

      “That’s a skill not everyone has. Maybe you can…” His voice trailed off. “Wait—you go to church?”

      “Yes, I do.”

      Randy smiled. “Great! Would you like to join me in a short prayer before we eat? It’s always awkward to ask that in work situations, or when you don’t know someone very well.”

      “I was just thinking the same thing. I’d like that.”

      Just at that moment, the waiter arrived with their meals. Randy led with a short prayer, and they began to eat.

      “So, did you move to Appleton recently?”

      “No. I live downtown, where I just rent an apartment. Now that I have the new job, I think I’m going to move closer to it. Do you live near the mall?”

      “Yes. I grew up not far away from here. It seemed natural to get a job in the neighborhood, too.” More than that, his friend Bob knew Tom, the store owner. Because of Bob’s reference, Tom offered Randy a job when no one else would consider him. He’d been there ever since, which was coming up on six years. And now he was the assistant manager.

      “I’ll never move. I live within two minutes of my friends, within five minutes of my church and ten minutes from my job.” He didn’t know why God blessed him like this, especially when he’d once blamed God for so much. But now his life was in order, and he didn’t intend to ever change a thing.

      Randy dunked one of his fries in the blob of ketchup, coating it just right. “Where do you go to church, then, if you live downtown?”

      Lacey smiled, and her eyes turned dreamy as she spoke. “Every Sunday morning I drive back to the west end where I grew up and go with my family, and we spend the day together.”

      Randy nodded. He spent a lot of time at church, but it was with his friends. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his family. Usually it didn’t bother him, but today, watching Lacey smile at her private thoughts, it reminded him of the big hole in his life. For the past few years he’d been so busy with his friends that he hadn’t really noticed, but now that Adrian and Celeste were married and Bob was getting married, Randy had more time on his hands. Still, God always found things for him to do, and Randy couldn’t complain. “Lately I’ve been going to both the morning and evening services because I’m on the worship team, so that keeps me pretty busy on Sundays. It’s sometimes a lot of work, but at the same time, it’s also fun. And speaking of fun, I should tell you a little about the sidewalk sale that’s coming up at work next week. Or rather, I should warn you.”

      Lacey’s fork froze halfway to her mouth. “Warn me?”

      “You can see some really funny things with bargain hunters. There’s this one couple who always show up, and one of them always wears a disguise, as if we can’t recognize him. I hear everyone’s already making bets to see what he’s going to do this year. Last year, the guy pretended to be a rich Texan—big hat, the drawl, everything. He even pasted on a fake mustache. You could tell it was fake because it was a different color than his hair, and it was crooked. It was hilarious.” Randy grinned, remembering Carol’s reaction when the man called her “L’il lady.” He really thought Carol was going to kick him.

      Randy sobered. “Seriously, though, you’ve got to watch out for them. He tries to distract the staff person at one end of the table while his partner, who is dressed normally, tries to steal something from the other end.” He leaned forward over the table, and Lacey leaned forward in response.

      “She always puts smaller items in her bra so no one will challenge her to put them back. But last year when I caught her and started calling the cops on my cell phone, she dug everything out real fast and ran.”

      Lacey gasped. “You’re kidding!”

      “I wish I was.” Randy straightened. “But most of the time, the sidewalk sale is a lot of fun.”

      Lacey glanced from side to side. “Have you noticed that we’re nearly the only ones here? I think we lost track of the time.”

      Randy looked around, confirming that she was indeed correct.

      “Yeah. I guess we should go.”

      While he signaled the waiter for the bill, a strange sense of loss came over him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much. He was at an age where most of the women he knew were sizing him up for a husband, so those situations quickly became awkward. God had shown him that he wasn’t husband material, and he never would be.

      But Lacey was marriage material. Randy couldn’t help but think that her boyfriend was indeed one lucky man. Tonight, Randy had thoroughly enjoyed himself, but for tonight he was on borrowed time, and the lender had called in the loan. It was time to go home.

      When she dropped him off in front of his apartment building, a surge of melancholy for what could never happen coursed through him.

      Once inside, instead of settling down, Randy walked to the patio door to his balcony and looked out the window. They’d stayed at the restaurant so long that it was dark, and all the city lights were on. His suite faced downtown, so he had a good view from the seventeenth floor.

      Randy stepped out onto the balcony to take in the city below. He couldn’t make out specific details, but he could see the brightly colored lights of the mall in the distance.

      He gazed over the expanse of the city, paying particular attention to the high-rise towers in the downtown core, wondering which building was Lacey’s.

      Chapter Two

      “I’ll be back in two hours, Kate,” Lacey called as she stepped into the mall.

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