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As if meeting Matthew’s parents wasn’t enough surprise for one day, Zach and Beth Ann asked Katherine to leave the diner and let them stay late to run dinner service with the help of GraceChen.

“You said you wanted us to take over one day,” Beth Ann reasoned. “So, why not today?”

At first, Katherine hesitated, not wanting to drop too much responsibility on them too soon. But Beth Ann insisted they were excited and ready to give it a try as Zach stood beside her, promising Katherine he could do it.

“I know you can do it,” she said to Zach. “I just didn’t mean you had to do it today.”

“Come on, Katherine. You’re a phone call away,” Beth Ann added. “What could possibly go wrong?”

Leaving The Copperwall in the hands of others felt strange, but eventually, Katherine walked out with a smile on her face. Even though it had been part of her plan, she knew it would take some getting used to when she felt a slight twinge of guilt bubbling up inside. Then she wondered if maybe it wouldn’t feelso bad if she used the extra time in her day to work out a detailed plan for her future endeavors.

But on her way home, she spotted Ava’s Salon and made a last-minute maneuver into the parking lot for a manicure.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have an appointment,” she told the receptionist. “Is there any way you could squeeze me in?”

“Katherine?!” Maddie’s voice carried over the sound of music, conversation, and the buzz of drills as her head popped out from behind a rotating rack of polish.

“Katherine! It is you! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re here!” Maddie said, making a small scene of it, laughing and clapping like a giddy high school girl, before pulling her sister by the arm toward the nearest nail table. “I’m so glad I’m here for this. I only stopped by to schedule beauty treatments for my latest bridal party, but now I’mdefinitelyhanging around. Ava, look who’s here.”

Ava looked up from her client’s hands just before her mouth fell open in surprise. “Katherine! It’s so good to see you!”

“Now, you let Ava take care of you, and I’ll take care of Ava,” Maddie insisted. “Get done whatever you want. Sky’s the limit.”

“That’s okay, Mads.” Katherine blushed at all the attention. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Oh, no, you don’t. I insist,” Maddie argued. “No,weinsist, right, Ava?”

“Right!” Ava replied, waving Katherine even closer. “We’ve been waiting years for this.”

Katherine looked down at her hands. “Are theyreallythat bad?”

Maddie shrugged as Ava inspected her nails. “They’re not bad, sweetie. They’re just boring.”

Then Katherine compared her nails to Ava’s rainbow-colored talons with rhinestone accents. “I hate to disappoint you, but Ithink I’m going to pass on any colors or gems today and just have you do a simple French manicure.”

Maddie and Ava looked at each other and laughed.

“No worries, kiddo.” Ava grinned. “We get it. Baby steps.”

On her way out the door, Katherine thanked Maddie and Ava one last time. Though she had no idea a quick stop at a salon would take so long, it was surprisingly fun. And Maddie had been right about getting her nails done. They looked much better than before.

Still, she was glad it was over because now she could go home and get ready to see Matthew. She’d wanted to look her best, and she wanted tonight to be as special as all the ones before it. But pulling into her driveway, Katherine spotted Sarah Brandon cutting across Matthew’s front lawn, heading toward her truck.

“Katie!” She waved, coming over to the driver’s side to chat. “We’d like to take your mother some flowers as a thank you for inviting us to dinner tonight, but Matthew didn’t know if there were any allergies or preferences we should be aware of?”

Tonight?Katherine thought.

No wonder her mother had hurried out of the diner so quickly. Ginny Bennett was known to throw together a dinner party at a moment’s notice. And apparently, her casual “bring your parents by for dinner” remark to Matthew wasn’t as casually put out there as Katherine had thought.

“No, she doesn’t have any allergies,” Katherine said. “And my mother loves all kinds of flowers, so anything would be appreciated.”

“Great!” Mrs. Brandon beamed. “We’ll take Libby with us and leave ahead of time to stop by the florist. Matthew already gave us your parents’ address, so we’ll see you there.”

As Sarah retreated across the front yard and back into Matthew’s house, Katherine hurried inside to call her mother and find out exactly what was going on.

After dropping her keys on the front table, Katherine pressed theplaybutton on her ancient answering machine.

“You have eight new messages.”