Coming Attractions (10 page)

“I remember.”

“That was the day I received the money and put it in the bank.”

“And you didn’t tell me until now? Why?”

“It was a lot of… it was… I don’t know. It just seemed easier not to make a big deal of it.”

Rick put down the bags and placed his hands on his hips. Katie didn’t like this stance on Rick. She never had. This was his
I’m-going-to-act-like-your-boss-now stance. She had never responded well at moments like this when she worked for him at the
Dove’s Nest Café.

“Katie, exactly how much money did your aunt leave you?”

“She was my great-aunt, actually.”

“Please don’t do that. Don’t try to avoid the topic. Just tell me. I think I have a right to know when my girlfriend inherits
a substantial sum of money. I would tell you if I had inherited money. How much was it?”

“I don’t want to tell you.” Katie felt defiant and irritated by Rick’s approach.

“You don’t want to tell me? Why?”

“It was a lot. Can we just leave it at that?”

“What’s ‘a lot’? Are you talking about ten thousand dollars? Twenty? Thirty?”

Katie kept her lips pressed together as Rick kept going up the scale. When he hit one hundred thousand dollars and her expression
still hadn’t flinched, Rick threw his arms up and turned away from her.

Spinning back around he shouted, “Katie, you have to be kidding me! You inherited more than one hundred thousand dollars?”

“I’m not saying.”

“Your lips might not be saying, but your face is telling me everything.” Rick paused, analyzing her more closely. “It was
more than a hundred thousand, wasn’t it? Was it more than two hundred thousand?”

When Katie still didn’t flinch, Rick put both hands on top of his head and bellowed, “I can’t believe this!”

Katie’s heart was pounding with anger at Rick for pressing her when she had made it clear she didn’t want to talk about this
now.

“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 presented 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.

O
nce 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.