Coming Attractions (11 page)

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 very 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.”

From the way his profile changed as his jaw set forward in frustration, Katie knew Rick didn’t like her declaration. His face
flinched slightly, and then he said in a flat voice, “If that’s the way you want it to be.”

Katie leaned back and stared out the front windshield. She told her shoulders to relax.

Neither of them spoke the rest of the short drive to Bob and Marti’s. When they got out of the car, Christy and Todd were
laughing about something and looking as if they had all shared a lighthearted trip.

“We have cheesecake,” Bob said to them as Rick and Katie entered the house with everyone else. “Either of you ready for some
dessert?”

“Sure,” Rick said. “Do you need any help in the kitchen?”

“Not necessarily. Although you’re pretty comfortable in the kitchen, if I remember correctly.”

“He’s a great cook,” Katie said. “As a matter of fact, you should have Rick make omelets for everyone in the morning. That
is, if you don’t mind turning your stove over to a genius.”

Rick gave Katie a confused look, as if he couldn’t tell if she were praising him or mocking him. She realized she was overdoing
it. The fast-flung compliment was overcompensation for the thin line of tension that still lay between them like a tightrope.
All evening neither of them had managed to walk all the way across that communication tightrope without slipping off and falling
into the safety net below. That safety net was the longevity of their relationship. They had bounced back from arguments and
tense conversations plenty of times. Katie believed they could do so yet again.

Unfortunately, that never happened. For the next two hours, everything Rick or Katie said was misinterpreted not only by each
other but also by Marti. By the time Katie found her way upstairs to the newly remodeled guest room, she felt like crying.

That wasn’t her style at all.

The sleeping arrangements were a little odd. Marti insisted that Christy and Katie take the upstairs guest room while Todd
was assigned the sofa in the family room and Rick was relegated to a blowup mattress on the living room floor. It was as if
they were back in high school.

“You and Todd should be sleeping together in this bed,” Katie said once she and Christy were under the fresh sheets of the
guest bed. “I’d be more comfortable on the air mattress than Rick. Todd should be here, Rick should be on the sofa in the
family room, and I should be on the air mattress.”

Instead of answering Katie’s objection, Christy said, “Hey, listen, whatever you and Rick are going through right now, I know
it must be frustrating and confusing, but I think it will all work out, Katie. You don’t have to tell me what it is, but I
know things are bumpy for you guys. I’ve been praying for you both all evening.”

Katie didn’t respond. She stared at the ceiling in the darkened room and listened to the faint but steady roll of the ocean
waves as the ageless melody of the sea floated through the half- open bedroom window. Even though Katie knew she could tell
Christy anything and that her best friend would stay up with her all night if necessary to talk through all Katie’s feelings,
Katie didn’t want to talk.

Again, that wasn’t her style. She didn’t know what was going on with her.

“Thanks, Chris,” she whispered after a pause that brought no peace. “Sleep well.”

“You too, my peculiar treasure friend.”

Christy’s words sailed across the surface of Katie’s confused heart like a well-aimed pebble. Each place the sentiment touched
produced a small, expanding circle, pushing Katie into a flustered state. Now nothing inside her felt settled.

Within a few minutes, Katie could tell by Christy’s easy breathing that she had fallen asleep. During their year as college
roommates, Katie had come to know the sound of Christy’s sleeping. She also knew how deeply Christy could go in her sleep
pattern once she dove into dreamland.

As exhausted as she was, Katie lay awake, her eyes fixed on the faint shadows across the room caused by the dim nightlight
in the adjoining bathroom. Instead of the waves’ sound lulling her to sleep, it seemed to have the opposite effect. With each
curl and unfurl, Katie prayed.

What is it, God?

Are you trying to tell me something?

What?

Is all this unsettledness just normal emotions, hormones, or whatever? Or am I losing it? I’m about to go berserk, aren’t
I?

I hate feeling so unsettled like this. What’s my problem?

Christy stirred in her sleep and turned toward Katie. Christy reached over, and her hand fell on Katie’s arm. She snuggled
closer, leaning her head into Katie’s shoulder.

“Hey, I’m not Todd,” Katie murmured.

Christy didn’t retract. She continued her even-paced breathing with her cheek gently resting against Katie’s shoulder and
her hand on Katie’s forearm.

You and Todd sleep together.

The thought had an odd effect on Katie. Of course she knew that Christy and Todd slept together. That intimacy between them
as husband and wife was an obvious part of what had changed after they married.

However, this close, cuddly sort of connection between them every night was something Katie never thought much about. What
would it be like to go to bed each night and have the man you love be right there beside you, breathing peacefully and welcoming
you into his arms?

Katie could see Christy and Todd sleeping like this every night. Close, cozy, and invisibly knit together forever at the heart.

As soon as that thought came to her, Katie felt her throat tighten. As if a clear and steady light suddenly had turned on
inside her head, she could see, really see, what the problem was with her emotions and, more deeply, with her spirit. This
wasn’t hormonal. This was true at the gut level.

The old, on-a-whim Katie was back. She knew what was wrong. She knew what she needed to do.

And she knew she needed to do it now.

R
ick?” Katie knelt down to where her sleeping boyfriend lay on his side on the air mattress. She placed her hand on his shoulder
and gently shook him. “Rick, wake up.”

He stirred and slurred his words as he said, “What’s wrong?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Rick rolled over and drew in a deep breath. “Katie?”

“Yeah, it’s me. I need to talk to you.”

“Now?”

“Yes. I need to talk to you now.”

“What time is it?”

“I don’t know. Can we go into the kitchen?”

“The kitchen? Why?” He propped himself up on his elbow and blinked at her in the dimly lit room. “What is it, Katie? What’s
the problem?”

“Us.”

“What?”

“Please get up. Let’s go talk in the kitchen. Please.”

By all the grunts and heavy exhaling Rick did, Katie was aware that he wasn’t happy about her midnight 911.

“Can’t this wait until morning?” He followed her to the kitchen.

“No, I don’t think it can. I’m sorry to be so dramatic and wake you up and everything, but I couldn’t wait. I figured it out,
and I knew I had to talk to you right away.”

They stepped into the kitchen, and Katie flipped on the light switch. The brightness momentarily blinded both of them. She
slid over to the stools tucked under the counter and sat down. Rick lowered himself onto the stool next to her. His hair was
sticking up funny on the side he had been sleeping on, and his face was scrunched up in an unpleasant expression.

“What is it, Katie? Is it the money?”

She was surprised that the inheritance was the first topic his mind had gone to. But then again, she wasn’t surprised.

“No, it’s not the money. It’s us. Our relationship.”

“What about our relationship?”

“We’re not knit together at the heart, Rick.” Her voice came out cracked and full of all the clarifying pain she had felt
when the revelation came to her a few moments ago.

“What in the world are you talking about?”

“You and me — us — it’s not a good idea anymore. We’re not meant for each other. We need to see things as they are and call
it a day. Or a year. Or actually more like half my life. It’s what it was, and now it’s over.”

She felt her throat tightening. This was more difficult to say than she expected. But then, this wasn’t something she planned
or ever expected to say.