Mom, you in there?” Chad knocked on the door to the room where his parents were staying in the White House.
The heavy door opened and Mom ushered Chad in. The spacious room was decorated in deep reds and browns, with two huge windows on either side of the large bed. The curtains were tied back, and the sun shone brightly into the room.
“Need help with your tie?” Mom smiled as Chad handed the black bow tie to her.
“I hate these things.” Chad sighed. “And this is a luncheon. Couldn’t we be a little more casual at lunch?”
“This is the White House.” Mom looped the tie around Chad’s neck.
“I know, but seriously. A tuxedo at eleven in the morning?”
“Yes, dear, you have such a difficult life.” She winked as she finished tying the bow. “There you go.”
Chad sat on the bed. “Where’s Dad?”
“Working with the soundmen. Do you need him?”
“No.” Chad lay down on the feather pillows, his mind drifting to Orlando. “The auditions will be over this week.”
“Are you nervous about that?”
“A little.”
“About the show, or about your costar?”
“Both.” Chad put his arms behind his head. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing? Giving up my singing career for this show?”
“Still thinking about what Jim said?”
Chad nodded. “I’d forgotten what it was all like before I won the show. But when I was at the auditions with all those kids waiting for their chance . . . I don’t know. Am I throwing that away? Is that right?”
“You haven’t enjoyed being a pop star, Chad.” She sat next to him. “I don’t think any of us ever thought about how difficult all this would be.”
“But what if I don’t like being on the show either? I don’t want to be ungrateful or discontent.”
“I know, son.” Mom held his hand. “Your dad and I have asked the same questions. But this show allows you to use all of your talents, not just your voice. And you can settle in Orlando again, at home. You don’t have to travel all around.”
“As much.”
Mom smiled. “But we’ve always traveled some.”
Chad thought of the family’s yearly vacations. They had traveled the continental United States in their RV, seeing the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, most of the state capitals. “I just want to be a little more normal. I know life won’t go back to what it was before. But I just don’t want it to be as crazy as it has been.”
“Then I think you’re making the right choice.” Mom squeezed his hand. “Or you could just drop everything and go to work for your dad.”
Chad laughed. “I don’t want to be that normal.”
The bedroom door opened and Dad walked in.
“Hey, Dad. Are we all set for lunch?”
“Boy, are we.” He walked to the adjoining bathroom and washed his hands. “I still can’t get over how much state-of-the-art equipment they have here.”
“You look like a little boy in a toy store,” Mom said.
“That’s about right. I had a lot of fun with those guys. Got some ideas to run past our folks down at the recording studio.”
Mom’s cell phone rang, and she walked over to the nightstand to answer it. “It’s Flora. I’ll put her on speakerphone.”
“I’m sorry to bother you.” Chad listened as Flora’s voice crackled over their speakerphone. “I know you’re at the White House, and I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Flora.” Dad laid his palms on the nightstand. “What’s wrong? Is it your ankle? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.” Flora’s emphasis on the word I’m made Chad nervous.
“Who is it, then?” Chad asked.
“One of the girls here. Her father had a heart attack. She flew home last night. This is the girl I’ve been telling you about. The one I think is the one.”
“I’m so sorry,” Mom said. “Is there something we can do?”
“I’d like to fly up and be with her.” Flora spoke so quickly that Chad had to stand next to the phone to catch everything she said. “She has a large family. But her family doesn’t know Christ. And this young woman doesn’t either. But I think God will use this circumstance to draw her to him. I want to be there to help her see that. I know I’m needed here at the house, but this is so much more important.”
“You don’t need to explain,” Dad said. “You feel like you need to be there, then go. We’ll pay for the ticket.”
“What about the other girls?”
“We’ll have someone else come in and stay with them,” Mom said. “There’s just one more audition, right?”
“Yes,” Flora said. “But I still think we should cancel it. This girl is it. I’m positive. I’ve prayed about the others, and I have spent time trying to speak with each of them. This young woman is the one for Chad.”
Mom looked at Dad, her expression clouded.
“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Dad said. “The girls have rehearsed, and they deserve a chance to film the show. We’ll look at the footage and sit down with you when we come home this weekend. Until then, you go be with this young woman. We’ll take care of everything else.”
Dad ended the phone call and looked at his wife. “If we don’t pick this girl, I think we’ll have a mutiny on our hands.”
“But she’s not a Christian.” Mom shook her head.
“I know,” Dad said. “But Flora is determined.”
“So am I.”
Chad’s mind was spinning. Is it possible? No, what am I thinking? Kara was visiting Addy when I was in the hospital. It can’t be Kara. Can it? God, what are you doing to me? I’m trying to forget Kara. You’re not making it easy.
Chad left his parents’ room, praying for Kara’s dad, and for . . . Kara’s dad? He tried not to hope these girls were one and the same. Either way, lives hung in the balance. Whoever this girl is, heal her father. And Kara, God, I know how close she is to her folks. Help her right now.