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 very old. Low miles and all that. It’s a better route to go
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 very old. Low miles and all that. It’s a better route to go
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