“You’re telling me you were sitting on more than what Josh and I needed for our start-up funds for the cafés, but you never told me. You never offered to make us a business loan so we wouldn’t have to sell our souls to the bank at high interest. Why do you think I’ve been trying so hard to make a financial success of these cafés? Are you not seeing the importance of what we need for our future together, Katie? I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you kept this from me!”
A dozen comeback lines were on the edge of her fired-up spirit, but surprisingly Katie kept them all inside. For once in her life she held back. She knew she could ruin everything if she shot out the wrong response to Rick.
Instead of white-hot words flowing from her mouth, steaming silver tears flowed from her eyes.
Rick looked at her in the dimmed light from the streetlights and changed his expression. He went from Furious Rick to Neutral Rick. Katie knew he had rarely seen her cry. She just wasn’t big on sobbing, especially around him. Now the tears were flowing so quickly that her vision turned blurry. A gasp caught in her throat, and she parted her lips just enough to let the wobbling, desperate sound escape.
“I don’t get it,” Rick said quietly. “What happened to our relationship, Katie? We were doing everything right. When did you stop trusting me? What else haven’t you told me? What am I supposed to do with all this?” His voice rose. “Especially when you won’t even tell me now. Why won’t you tell me the amount? What have I ever done during the past year and a half that would make you withhold something as significant as this? Why don’t you trust me?”
“I do trust you!” Katie choked out. “All I’m asking is that you trust me and not badger me to tell you!”
“If you trusted me, this wouldn’t be an issue. We wouldn’t be having this argument. Especially not now, when everyone inside is waiting for us, and we’re supposed to be having a great time together. I can’t believe this, Katie. All you had to do was tell me.”
“Fine!” She knew she had flipped an internal switch and was running on raw response. Even though she had told herself she would never reveal to anyone the amount she had received, she spat it out in front of Rick and then grabbed her overnight bag and marched toward the house.
Rick hustled after her and grabbed her by the arm. The expression on his face was one of mixed delight and awe, shadowed by the still-present fury.
“That’s why I never told you,” Katie said in a lowered voice. “That look, right there. I never wanted you to look at me like that.”
“Look at you like what?”
“Like I’m a big, juicy pork chop, and you haven’t eaten in a week.”
Rick pulled back. He loosened his grasp of Katie’s arm. “Don’t put that on me, Katie. I’m not like that.”
“I don’t want anyone to know, Rick. I mean it. No one! It’s none of their business. If I ever find out that you told anyone — ”
“Katie, honey, relax.” He tried to hug her, but she pulled back and stayed rigid. All her tears were gone. Her jaw was set. She wanted to scream and stomp off to be alone long enough to calm down. This was the worst feeling in the world.
“I won’t tell anyone. You have my word on that. But, Katie, you have to know that I’m not just anyone. It’s me. Your boyfriend. Soon to be your fiancé.”
Katie felt her face involuntarily flinch when he said “fiancé.” It was the first time he had used the term outright.
“I’m not just anybody,” he repeated.
Katie gave a slight nod. Something inside her softened just a little. Silently she admitted she should have told Rick. Even if she didn’t want to disclose the amount, she could have been the one who controlled the information rather than ignoring the topic, putting herself at risk for the sort of revelation that had just occurred. She could have handled the whole thing better. Rick was her boyfriend and, according to him, soon to be fiancé. She should have told him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Rick’s strong arms were around her in an instant. “Me too. I didn’t mean to blow up like that.”
“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have kept this from you. You’re my boyfriend.”
Rick pulled back and repeated, “Yes, I am. I’m your boyfriend.” A warm, affectionate look for her started in his eyes and moved to his mouth where a smile curled his lips as he added, “But not for long.” Then he kissed her.
Katie didn’t enjoy the kiss. She wasn’t ready to kiss and make up. She would have preferred waiting until her emotions had receded and her heart had gone back to pounding at a less anxious rate.
Rick kissed her a second time, but she barely responded.
“Here, let me take the luggage for you. I’ll go back to the car and get the other one.”
“I’m going inside,” Katie said.
“I’ll meet you in there. And Katie? Let’s put all this aside for the moment, okay? We can talk more later. I don’t want anything to ruin our time together.”
She nodded, but in her convulsing stomach she already felt that things were ruined.
As soon as she stepped inside the house, Christy met her with a concerned look on her face. “Everything okay?”
Katie was pretty sure Christy had glimpsed through the window by the front door what was going on outside.
With a nod, she said, “I need to use the restroom.”
She stayed in the downstairs restroom longer than necessary. She knew the others were waiting for her. Aunt Marti would be flustered because of her undisclosed dinner plans. Rick would be weird. He always was weird when he went into his Neutral Rick mode. She liked it better when Rick was furious or flirty or joking around. The controlled, mild temperament he had been developing wasn’t present in his life when she had such a killer crush on him back in junior high and high school. She liked knowing where she stood with him. Even during the long stretch when Katie was the school mascot and Rick never gave her the time of day, at least she knew what he thought of her.
The only feeling that Katie didn’t mind experiencing in her encounter with Rick was the heart-melting sense of anticipation that came when Rick said “fiancé.” He was serious about her, about them, about their future. Of course he would want to know about the money and to be called on as she made decisions on what to do with the inheritance.
“I’ve been thinking as an individual,” she whispered to her reflection in the bathroom mirror. “If Rick and I are going to get married, I need to think in terms of ‘us.’ ”
A tap sounded on the door. It was too soft a tap to be Aunt Marti. Had to be Christy.
“Katie, are you sure you’re okay?”
Katie opened the door and offered her best friend a fully recovered smile. “My stomach…”
“Mine too,” Christy whispered. “Is everything okay with Rick?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
“My aunt changed the reservation. It’s in twenty minutes. She’s determined that all of us go to dinner at a particular Italian restaurant. I told her you and I already ate. Uncle Bob suggested we order some pizzas and eat here. But you know my aunt; she won’t hear of it.”
“That’s fine. I’m good to go. Do you need to get in here?”
“I do. Tell everyone I’ll be ready in a minute.”
Katie drew in a fresh breath and strolled calmly through the tastefully decorated house, making her way to the living room, where she knew everyone would be gathered. “Sorry for holding up the party.” She faced Aunt Marti and gave her a half-curtsy, as if she were royalty. This wasn’t at all in Katie’s nature, but she had been around Christy’s aunt enough to know that if she didn’t put on the royal act, things could go bad quickly. After what had just happened with Rick, she was determined not to be the one to sabotage the evening.
Marti, a petite, dark-haired woman in her fifties, gave Katie a look of pardon. Marti was dressed in an outfit much nicer than the rest of them, but that was how it usually was with her. Her hair, makeup, and nails all were presente
d in top form.
Uncle Bob rose from the leather couch and gave Katie a side hug. “Great to have you back here, Katie. Rick went ahead and put your suitcase up in the guest room in case you need anything out of it.”
Katie had avoided eye contact with Rick when she first entered the room. She glanced at him now, and he offered her a steady, affirming grin. He seemed unaffected by the upset they had gone through ten minutes ago.
Katie, however, still felt deeply affected. More affected than she wanted to admit to anyone, especially to herself.
9
Once all six of them were seated in the amber-lit restaurant, Marti clicked into her typical high-style form. The restaurant owner came over to the table and greeted Bob and Marti by name. Marti introduced the “young people” around the table and treated the gathering as if it were her birthday and all her grown children had come home to see her.
Both Katie and Christy ordered small dinner salads. Rick and Todd made up for the women’s slight orders and went all out. Katie could hardly look at Todd’s full plate of lasagna or watch Uncle Bob use the edge of his fork to cut into his eggplant parmesan.
During most of the dinner, Marti peppered Rick with questions about the cafés. He opened up with even more details than Katie knew about. Then came the clincher question. It sprang from Marti along with a wry grin just as Bob was paying the bill.
“So you haven’t given any specifics about the news we’re all waiting to hear.” Marti looked at Katie and then back at Rick. “Have the two of you set a date yet? Fall weddings are always so lovely. Late fall. After all that wretched heat from the Santa Ana winds subsides. Early November, perhaps. That would give you seven months of planning. Almost eight. Christy and Todd only gave me six months to help plan their wedding.”
Since Bob and Marti had no children of their own, they had been vitally involved in Christy’s life. It now appeared that Marti expected to have the same sort of influence over Rick and Katie’s future.
Katie spoke up. “We’re not there yet, Marti.”
Marti blinked at Katie’s evenly spoken comment and turned her head toward Rick, as if he would give a different answer than Katie had.
“We’re still in the happily-almost-after stage.” Rick turned to Katie and gave her a wink.
“The happily-almost-after stage?” Marti repeated. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means they’re taking their time and figuring things out on their own.” Bob’s tone emphasized the words on their own.
Undaunted, Marti turned to Katie. “You do know, don’t you, Katie dear, that when the time does come, Robert and I want you to call on us for anything? Anything at all. We hope both of you will think of us as your own aunt and uncle. We would love to be involved in your plans.”
“Thank you, Marti, Bob.” Rick gave each of them a nod. “That means a lot to us.”
When no one else at the table responded to Rick’s comment, he added, “Doesn’t it, Katie?”
Even though Katie didn’t feel particularly warm and fuzzy about the way any of this was going, she did appreciate the support. “Yes. Your support means a lot.”
She then reminded Bob and Marti about her hope that they would come to her college graduation. Possibly the decoy topic of her graduation would divert Marti from Rick and Katie’s yet unannounced engagement and unplanned wedding date.
Bob gave Katie a smile and answered, “We’ll be there for you, Katie. I have your graduation on the calendar already.”
“Be sure to add April 27 to your calendar,” Rick said. “That’s the date the Redlands café’ opens.”
Marti seemed less than enthusiastic about committing to the opening of Rick’s café. She rose from her chair, indicating it was time to leave. “I thought you young people might enjoy going for a short walk. Does that appeal to everyone?”
No one protested. They all seemed to know it didn’t really matter if the idea appealed to them. Marti was at the helm.
Rick took Katie’s hand as the group strolled through the open-air shopping plaza where the Italian restaurant was located. Southern California was shamelessly showing off her mild climate, the way a gleeful three-year-old shows off her new party dress with a twirl. The air was warm and calm.
Katie caught a whiff of the star jasmine that grew liberally in the open areas throughout the plaza. “What a beautiful night.”
Rick slowed down and pulled Katie close. He kissed her.
“What was that for?”
Rick gave her a playfully exaggerated look. “On a night like this, do I need a reason?”
“I suppose not.” She gave his hand a squeeze, and they kept walking.
Even with the sweet kiss, the fragrant air, and the beautiful night, Katie didn’t feel quite right. Her emotions were on the surface like a rash that she should know better than to scratch.
In the back of her mind, her original plan to work hard on her paper in a quiet corner of Bob and Marti’s guest room rankled. Instead, they were on a guided tour for the evening, and she was pretty sure tomorrow would hold more of the same.
“You know, maybe this was a bad idea,” Katie muttered.
“What was a bad idea?”
“My coming here for the weekend. I have so much to do. You do too. Maybe I should have stayed in the dorm, locked in my room all weekend. I’m too far behind on everything. I don’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to come here overnight.”
“Hey.” Rick stopped walking and tilted her chin up with his free hand. “What happened to the Katie who is always saying things like, ‘go with it’ and ‘live in the moment’? What happened to the Katie who does everything on a whim?”
“I’ll tell you what happened to her. She started her final semester of college.”
“And she is almost done with her final semester of college.”
“Almost. But I have so much to do.”
“Relax, Katie. When was the last time you and I had a chance just to be together and enjoy some down time?”
“I don’t know. A long time. Christmas, maybe?”
“Even then we were on the go. Listen, it wasn’t easy for me to take all this time off so I could be with you.”
“I know. Thanks, Rick.”
Katie gave his hand a squeeze, and they picked up their pace to catch up with the others. She still couldn’t shake the reality that, even though she knew leaving campus for the weekend was a bad choice, she had chosen to do it anyway.
One thing she did know for certain. She was the only one who could take responsibility for her choices. For a brief moment, she wondered what other poor choices she might have made lately.
“You know, it’s probably a good thing I haven’t decided what to do with your grandmother’s brooch yet.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I don’t think I’ve been making good decisions lately. I think it’s all the stress. Do you feel that way too? It never seems to let up.”
“I know. That’s how my life is right now too. Nonstop. But it’s all for good reasons. Things will change soon enough.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Rick drew her closer in a side hug. “Whatever you do, Katie, don’t go hormonal on me, okay?”
She pulled back and gave him a searching gaze. She couldn’t tell from his expression if his comment was serious or if he was trying to give her a hard time. She chose to go with the belief that he was teasing her and quipped, “And you promise me you won’t go macho and know-it-all. Especially when it comes to picking out cars tomorrow.”
They were at the parking lot. Todd and Christy decided to ride with Bob and Marti, leaving Rick and Katie alone in Rick’s car. Rick drove out of the covered parking structure and nonchalantly said, “So aside from buying a new car tomorrow, what are you thinking about doing with the money?”
“A used car.”
Rick glanced at her. “Why not buy a new one?”
“I want to get a used one. Not v
ery old. Low miles and all that. It’s a better route to go economically.”
“Okay.”
When Katie didn’t respond to his first question, he once again asked, “Anything else you’re thinking about buying?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on Katie, let’s not do this.”
“Do what?”
“This game with the short answers and roadblocks. This isn’t the way you and I communicate. Talk to me. I want to know what you’re thinking about the inheritance.”
She let out a long, low breath. “I’m not ready to discuss all this, Rick.”
“Why not?” The irritation in his voice escalated.
“I’m just not. I need to think things through some more.”
“I know you need to think it through. That’s exactly what I’m saying. You have a lot of big decisions to make.” Rick’s tone softened. “All I’m saying is that I want to be the one who helps you think through everything, that’s all. Is it wrong for me to want that in our relationship?”
“I don’t know. Probably not.”
He waited until the traffic light changed before asking his next question. “Can you see any particular reason this is difficult for you to talk about with me? I mean, do you see me as not being on your side or as being out of line in any way?”
“No.”
“Then what is it? What’s bothering you? Why can’t we talk about this?”
Katie gave him the first answer that came to mind. “I think you’re not going to like my choices.”
Rick let out an odd sort of snorting laugh that wasn’t typical of him. “Why wouldn’t I like your choices?”
“You just wouldn’t.” Katie knew that if Rick found out she had already spent more than half the money on things like tuition scholarships and the clean water for Africa campaign that she and Eli had worked on, he would flip out. Also, a large amount went out earlier that year when she paid her taxes.
With all her heart, she wished she hadn’t told him the amount of the inheritance. “The way I see it, Rick, if you and I are going to truly relax and enjoy being together tonight and tomorrow, then I’m telling you, you have to drop the inheritance topic. Just drop it. I promise I’ll talk with you about everything when my mind is clear. Right now, it’s not a good idea for me to talk about it.”
Coming Attractions Page 8