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than for you embrace life completely like I did. If you’ll indulge Daddy a wish, I have created a Carpe Diem list for you to complete at your earliest opportunity:
    Rescue a dog.
    Host a girls’ night.
    Only date someone who leaves you breathless.
    Fix your biggest regret.
    Don’t be upset with Daddy for giving you homework. It’s only because I believe this list will help you seize more of what life has to offer like you deserve. I left a list for your mother as well. Please take care of each other. My love will be with you both forever.
    Always remember that each breath of air is precious, every bird’s song is magic, and when you look up to find where the sky is shining brightest blue, know that’s where I’ll be . . . smiling down at you.
     
    Love,
    Daddy
     
    I reread the letter over and over, hot tears spilling over my cheeks. Since he’d died unexpectedly, we never got to say good-bye to each other. Now, in some way, he’d been able to tell me good-bye. But why had he told my mom that my inheritance hinged on my completing this Carpe Diem list? He said in this letter that he wanted me to seize life, but instead he’d put up a big blockade to my dream.
    I scanned the list again. Rescue a dog? Why would he ask me to do such a thing when losing Checkers had been so utterly painful? Host a girls’ night? Like anyone would show up if I did. He used to bug me to have girl friends over, and I’d rolled my eyes every time. He never did get that I was the queen of being excluded from exactly this kind of event, and he was still pestering me about it from the great beyond.
    Only date someone who leaves you breathless? The problem with this task was that the kind of guy to leave me breathless was the exact type of guy to break my heart. Um, hello? Two words: Nate Carter. And Fix your biggest regret? That would prove to be a little difficult, considering it would involve going up in a hot air balloon with my dad who happened to be dead.
    Wiping my cheeks with the back of my sleeve, my brows furrowed as I wondered how long it would take me to complete this list. Because one thing was for certain: I had to complete this list in time to save the bakery.
    ****
    Bernie and I spent the afternoon together, with him catching me up on all of the bakery’s current procedures, which comically hadn’t changed that much since I was in college. After confirming that I was fully capable of caring for his business, he finally went home to rest.
    I didn’t tell Bernie that I wanted to buy the bakery because I wanted to make sure I could complete my dad’s Carpe Diem list and get my inheritance money first. While Bernie was briefing me, I’d spotted Nate once or twice in the kitchen, but then he disappeared. Part of me wanted to tell him about my dad’s letter and my desire to buy the bakery. But I knew the urge to confide in him was just an old habit that had been conjured up by seeing him again.
    Avery, Bernie’s new barista, had taken the news that I’d be supervising her in stride. Her only concern was whether or not her hours would be cut, and Bernie assured her they wouldn’t. When it was time to close up shop, I was getting ready to leave when Avery asked if I’d help her wipe down the tables and clean up. I found her request odd since she didn’t strike me as the kind of person who asked for favors.
    “I have to admit, I didn’t peg you as the type to work in a café.” Avery scrubbed a wet cloth over the top of a bistro table, causing the pretty purple knot of hair at the base of her neck to bob back and forth. “More like editor of a fashion magazine or something.”
    Her tone held humor so I wasn’t sure if she meant her comment as a compliment or an insult, but I immediately felt defensive. “Actually, I was the lead customer service rep for one of the top office software companies in Sacramento.”
    “Didn’t see that one coming,” she said, her tone containing that same hint of humor. “What brings