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KENNEDY’S PHONE RANG a few seconds after they got back on the road.
She sighed and rolled her eyes before answering. “Hi, Dad.”
“Hey, Princess. You made it in safely?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Could he take the hint and stop worrying about her? If it weren’t for his constant paranoia, would she still struggle with anxiety as much as she did?
“Great.” At least his voice was cheerful. “I’ve been keeping my eyes on the reports. Looks like that volcano’s been pretty quiet the past ten hours or so.”
Kennedy didn’t know what to say in response.
“Well, just stay safe, all right?”
“I will.”
Her roommate was chuckling when Kennedy ended the call.
“What’s so funny?”
“Your dad. Has he always been like that?”
“Yeah, but he means well.”
“Oh, I know he does. That man would seriously do anything to keep you safe. It’s wicked cute.”
Cute isn’t the word Kennedy would have chosen, but she decided not to argue.
“So what’s he think about the whole winter solstice, end of the world thing? Does he buy into that?”
Kennedy shook her head. “No. I mean, there’s been some weird stuff going on lately, those typhoons and tornados and things. And obviously he’s convinced that the volcano’s going to erupt and bury us in ash. But more than anything, I think he’s worried people might start acting crazy. Like riots are about to break out all over Anchorage.” Kennedy chuckled, but surprisingly Willow didn’t share her laugh.
“A lot of people are worried about that.”
Kennedy glanced over to try to tell if she was joking.
“Anchorage might not be that big of a city, but crime is awful here. It’s got one of the highest per capita murder rates in the nation. Same thing with rape. It’s terrible.”
Kennedy had no idea.
“Some of it has to do with the gangs in the Lower 48. The jails get so full they pay to relocate criminals up here. Just set them free in Anchorage. I would never want to live in a city like this.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed.”
Willow shrugged. “Most people wouldn’t. They think Alaska’s all frontiersmen and fishing and igloos, but there’s a major poverty and crime problem here. It’s something Nick and I have talked about. We still aren’t sure where God’s calling us after we get married because there are so many needs everywhere. That’s why we agreed for me to take the semester off, spend that time praying to find out what he wants us to do.”
Kennedy wasn’t ready to think about returning to college next semester without her roommate. “How long will you be with Nick’s family in Washington?” she asked.
“Oh!” Willow swerved so fast that Kennedy thought they were about to crash.
“What was that?” Kennedy snapped her head back, checking the road for signs of danger.
“I just missed our turn.” Crossing two more lanes of traffic, Willow backtracked down a somewhat shady-looking side street.
“This is where we’re staying tonight?” Kennedy hoped her voice didn’t give away her concern.
“No, silly.” Willow pulled the car into a crowded lot. “This is where we’re having dinner. Welcome to the Raven’s Claw, home of the best pizza in Alaska. Or anywhere else for that matter.”
Once inside the restaurant, Kennedy doubted that even the most delicious pizza in the universe could warrant a ninety-minute wait. After three and a half games of smart phone Scrabble and another forty minutes from the time they ordered until their food arrived at the table, Kennedy would have been willing to eat roadkill moose or fried whale blubber.
Fortunately, the food was just as good as Willow had promised, even their vegan pizza made with cheese alternative. They finished dinner with nothing left over. “Come on.” Willow grabbed Kennedy’s hand after they’d paid the bill. “If we hurry, we’ll make it on time.”
“Make it where?” As far as Kennedy knew, the only thing she had to make tonight was her hotel room bed.
“There’s that new movie out. Remember? The Christian flick about the end times. I haven’t been to the theater in months, and I’m really curious about this one.” Willow unlocked the car door and got in. “You know, I read all of Revelations. I even wrote down my questions to ask Pastor Carl, but he’s so busy with church and still gets those bad headaches after his accident, and I hate to bother him. So what I was thinking was we can go see the movie tonight, and on the drive home tomorrow, we can go through the list because I know some of them are really basic. If you could answer those, then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for wasting Pastor Carl’s time later on.”
“It’s getting pretty late,” Kennedy began tentatively.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. The theater’s right around the corner.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay awake.”
Willow smiled. “I know. I’ve heard it’s super cheesy, and we’ll probably get a lot of good laughs, but I’m still curious about it. Especially with what everyone’s saying about the winter solstice and those constellations lining up like in that prophecy.”
Kennedy had read the book the movie was based on years ago. It was an engaging story, but she wasn’t sure how useful it would be for helping Willow understand Revelation, at least not without someone like Carl to help her make sense of what was biblical and what was fiction.
Thankfully, last fall Carl had astounded his doctors when he woke up from his coma, but he got tired more easily and sometimes suffered such debilitating migraines he had to take a day or two off work. Willow was right about one thing. If Kennedy could help get some of her questions answered, it would give Carl more time to rest and focus on his family and his preaching and his recovery.
The problem was Kennedy had no clue what she thought about the end times. The only solid opinion she had on the matter was that she hoped to be buried and dead long before any of the events in Revelation started to unfold.
“Why don’t you ask Nick?” she asked.
Willow strummed her fingers on the steering wheel in time with the music on her radio. “Oh, you know Nick,” she sighed. “I love that man to death, but when he starts talking theology, you better have a master’s degree if you want to keep up with him. Which is probably why he and my dad get along so well.”
Kennedy didn’t have time to come up with any better plans before Willow pulled her car up alongside a miniature trailer in an empty parking lot. “Come on. I’ll get you a coffee. That way you’ll be able to stay awake.”
“I’m really not sure ...”
Willow nudged Kennedy playfully. “Stop being so uptight. You don’t have any classes to get up early for tomorrow. It will be fun.”