Page 39 of Promise Me, Katie (Bennett Sisters #1)
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 feel so 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’m definitely hanging 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, we insist, right, Ava?”
“Right!” Ava replied, waving Katherine even closer. “We’ve been waiting years for this.”
Katherine looked down at her hands. “Are they really that 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 I think 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.”
“Seriously?” she said to the machine but was quickly interrupted by the first message.
“Hey Katherine, it’s Suzie from your favorite restaurant.
I’m calling to tell you we got a new vegetable guy today, so Mr. Chen is very happy.
I’ll probably even get some nookie tonight.
” Suzie paused to laugh.“Anyway, thank you, and make sure to say hello to Officer Hottie for me.”Then Suzie laughed again before saying goodbye.
Beeeep!
Katherine was scribbling Call Suzie on a notepad by the phone when the next message started.
“Why Katherine Bennett, you sly girl,”her mother’s voice came through the machine, gushing with excitement.
“I had a feeling something was going on with you from the moment I saw your face. Anyway, I just found out from Beth Ann that you’ve left work early again, so I’m calling to let you know that I’ve invited everyone over for dinner.
Be here by six o’clock sharp. And why aren’t you answering your cell phone or any text messages? ”
Beeeep!
Katherine wondered what she meant by“everyone.”
“Hey, sweetie, I heard you might be home, but I guess not. Anyway, I wanted to see if you knew what was up with dinner tonight. I’ll catch up with you later. Can’t wait to see you.”
Beeeep!
That message was from her sister Ellie, with two others like it from her other sisters, the first one from Maddie.
“Girl, I know you just left Ava’s, but I have to say, it was so great to see you today. Anyway, I can’t wait for everyone to check out your manicure tonight. They’ll be so surprised.
Beeeep!
The following message came from Andie with her kids fighting in the background while her exasperated husband Andrew called out that he needed help finding a clean pair of socks.
Beeeep!
Katherine couldn’t help laughing but stopped when she heard her father’s voice. She was beyond surprised. She couldn’t remember the last time her dad called her on the phone, let alone left a message.
“Hello?”He paused for a long moment.“I think that was a beep. Anyway, if your mother hasn’t already caught up with you, I wanted to let ya know she invited everyone to dinner tonight. And I mean everyone.”
Beeeep!
With her fears confirmed, Katherine wondered if they were ready for the entire Bennett clan to meet the Brandon’s. Then, the next message started.
“And don’t worry about it, baby girl… I’ll be there to protect you.”
As Katherine’s heart began to melt, tears formed in her eyes. She appreciated her dad calling again just to say he had her back.
Beeeep!
“Hey, beautiful, I thought I’d try to catch you at home.
Beth Ann said you left the diner a while ago.
I assume that has to do with your mom inviting everyone to dinner.
Should be interesting. Oh, and there’s a message on your cell that says you never set up the voicemail.
Let’s do that later.” Then he chuckled. “Still can’t believe you have an answering machine. Talk to you soon. Bye.”
Beeeep!
Katherine smiled at the answering machine, pressed the repeat button, and listened to Matthew’s message again. The calming, confident resonance of his voice boosted her own confidence, and for a second, she felt like everything would be alright.
Listening to the end, Katherine doodled little hearts on the notepad by the phone. If her family wanted to be supportive of her and Matthew’s relationship, then who was she to stand in the way?
Of course, there’d have to be boundaries, and like Matthew said, no one but the two of them and God would know everything there was to know. Still, she knew she needed her family by her side now.
Picking up the phone, Katherine dialed her sister Andie’s number and waited for her to answer.
Since it wasn’t uncommon for the phone to ring four or five times before someone picked it up, she dug around in her bag and pulled out her cell phone.
She had ten missed calls and three texts waiting for her, including a C U L8TR text with half a dozen heart emojis from her sister Georgie that made her smile.
“Hello…” her sister finally answered. She sounded out of breath.
“Hey, Andie, are you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m good. What’s up?”
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”
“No, I was just showering, so I had to rinse fast and run for the phone. Andrew took the kids to the park so I could have some time to myself.”
“And everything’s okay?”
“Yeah, why do you ask?”
“I heard Andrew and the kids on the voicemail you left. Why was everyone home? Are you guys sick?”
“Oh, no, thank God. The kids were home today for some teacher training thing going on in the district. Then Andrew decided it’d be a good idea to stay home, too. He thought we could have a relaxing day at home as a family.”
“Didn’t go so well?” Katherine snickered even though she knew she was poking at Andie’s frazzled last nerve.
“Nope. But on the bright side, I have a new respect for teachers and an even greater appreciation for my former law career. God knows, if I had any sense, I’d run right back to it.”
“Really?”
“Without a doubt.”
“But you’re such a good mom, and the kids are so blessed to have you at home.”
There was a long moment of silence.