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couldn’t remember ever hearing them from her dad. Hearing them from Uncle Bob meant almost as much to her.
    Almost.

4
    A s soon as Katie hung up, she drove to the gas station to fill Nicole’s car. Driving back up the hill to the Rancho Corona
     campus, Katie mentally tried to organize her mounds of must-dos for the remainder of that day. She was on front-desk duty
     that afternoon for three hours and hoped the shift was uneventful because she planned to work on a big project due next week
     that she hadn’t started. She also had a mandatory staff meeting at seven. Katie had no idea when she was going to find time
     to write her already-overdue paper for her intercultural studies class. She also was behind on turning in three summaries
     from reading assignments that were due while she was sick.
    “I’m never going to finish it all.”
    As a diversion, she put her phone on speaker and called Rick. “Hey. Guess who misses you and can’t wait to see you this weekend?”
    “Hey, yourself. Guess what?”
    “No, I’m not going to guess. First you have to guess who misses you and can’t wait to see you.”
    “Katie.”
    She couldn’t tell if he was speaking her name as the answer or with an edge of frustration. No matter. She kept playing along
     with her own game.
    “That is correct. Now it’s your turn. What do you want me to guess?”
    “We got clearance on the Redlands café. Opening day is set for April 27.” He sounded elated, but Katie was pretty sure he
     had told her that information before.
    “Cool.”
    “More than cool. This is going to change everything. We got in on this location at just the right time. How about if I pick
     you up early on Saturday morning and we come out here for the day?”
    Katie hesitated. That wasn’t exactly her idea of what their long-awaited date would hold. “I may have to bring some schoolwork
     with me.”
    “Not a problem. Everything’s wired. Bring your laptop. The espresso machine should be installed by Friday afternoon, so I’ll
     make you some of the good stuff while you study. It’s really shaping up, Katie. Nicole did a great job on her selection of
     colors. Did she tell you she was able to use the interior design plans for one of her finals? She got an A.”
    “I knew she was trying to get credit for all the work she did with your mom. That’s great. So are you in town tonight? Do
     you want to come by? I’m on duty at the front desk from four to seven. We could have dinner after that. Oh, wait; I think
     I have a staff meeting then.”
    “I can’t come anyway, Katie. Too much is going on here right now. I miss you. Things have been way too crazy for way too long.”
    “I know. We’re almost to the end of this particular finish line.”
    “I know,” Rick said. “April 27 is just around the corner.”
    “May 16 is just around the corner too.”
    “What’s May 16?”
    She couldn’t tell if Rick was deadpanning to tease her.
    “Let me see, May 16… May 16… Now what was it? Something is happening May 16. Oh, that’s right! Katie Weldon is graduating
     from college on May 16.”
    “Did you think I forgot?”
    “I think the way your life is right now you need to be reminded. Often. This is a nonnegotiable, by the way. You have to be
     there, Rick. It’s man-da-tor-y. Got it? Mandatory.”
    “Katie, relax. I get it. Don’t worry. I plan to be there.”
    She knew she would have felt more comforted if his word choice had been “I
will
be there,” but she needed to back off. More than once she had told Rick that he, Todd, and Christy were going to be her stand-in
     — and only — family there that day. He knew how important that was to her.
    Rick had assured her he would get his parents to come and possibly even his brother, Josh, who was as caught up as Rick in
     the opening of the new cafés. Katie had good reason to be leery of Rick’s demanding schedule. As a backup, she thought maybe
     she would invite Bob and Marti. Why not? Uncle