Coming Attractions (36 page)

After they reconnected that night, Katie and Rick fell into a steady, side-by-side rhythm of being together. She even took
a job at the Dove’s Nest. The past half-year had been the most stable stretch of her life, and she didn’t want anything to
change. All she wanted was a label for their relationship. She wanted to be established once and for all as boyfriend and
girlfriend.

“Katie!” Christy’s aunt motioned sharply from her staging position next to the wedding trellis. David already was posed, holding
up the garter. The photographer was checking the fading light with his meter.

“You’re being summoned,” Todd’s dad said.

“So I am. You want to come with me?” She reached for Rick’s arm.

“You go ahead. I told Doug I’d help him with a little, ah… project.”

“You guys aren’t going to mess with Todd and Christy’s car, are you?”

Rick only smiled.

Todd’s dad stepped away. “I didn’t hear that. I’m not in on whatever you guys are planning.”

“Rick, Christy doesn’t want you guys to do anything to their car. You and Doug know that, right?”

“Katie!” David’s voice interrupted them. “Aunt Marti says to hurry up!”

“Promise me you won’t do anything to their car, Rick. I’m the maid of honor. I’m supposed to protect Christy. Help me out
here. Please don’t — ”

“You’d better go.” Rick pointed her toward Aunt Marti and the photographer. “Your flowers are crooked, by the way.”

She took off for the trellis, glancing at the bouquet in her hands. What did he mean the flowers were crooked? They didn’t
look out of balance to her. A little fluffed up and missing a rosebud, maybe.

“For goodness sake, Katie, bend your head down.” Aunt Marti reached up and repositioned the headband of white baby’s breath
Katie wore as the crowning touch of the bridesmaid’s outfit.

Suddenly Goatee Guy’s comment made sense, as did Rick’s. Her halo had slipped. Katie made her own adjustments with the two
remaining bobby pins after Marti finished her attack. Smoothing back her silky red hair, Katie asked, “Better?”

“It will do.” Marti stepped aside and gave an irritated snap of her fingers, as if she were in charge of giving directions
to the photographer.

David moved closer to Katie and put his arm around her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Katie asked.

“Posing for the picture.”

Katie wiggled out from under his lumbering arm. “Just smile, David. That’s all you have to do. Smile. Like this.” Katie gave
the photographer her best, cheesy-faced grin.

The perturbed photographer looked up from behind the lens. “A little less exuberance, if you don’t mind.” He took another
shot. “Now give me a casual pose.”

David stretched his arm in Katie’s direction. The scent of his adolescent sweat was strong enough to wilt the flowers in the
bouquet — and the trellis that surrounded them. “I’m warning you, David. Keep your paws off me.” Katie’s words leaked out
through her closed-mouth smile. David lowered his arm.

“That’s it.” The photographer gave them a nod and walked away with his camera.

Katie tossed out a “thank you” and noticed Goatee Guy standing at the end of the aisle next to Tracy, the other bridesmaid.
Tracy was married to Doug, and the two of them were expecting their first baby in a little more than a month.

“Are Christy and Todd preparing to leave?” Katie called to Tracy across the rows of empty chairs.

Tracy nodded, her hands folded on top of her round belly. “I came to find you. They’re in the chapel signing the marriage
license, and they need you to sign as a witness.”

Katie scurried across the grass toward the small prayer chapel located on the corner of the university property. The chapel
was one of Katie’s favorite hidden treasures on the Rancho Corona campus. This grassy meadow on the high mesa that encompassed
the university campus usually was used for long strolls along the trail. Having an outdoor wedding in this gorgeous space
had been Todd’s idea, and it was a great one. No doubt the meadow now would become a frequently requested wedding location
for other Rancho Corona students.

Taking a shortcut past the palm trees, Katie caught a glimpse in the distance of the flaming sun making its nightly trek into
the hazy blue field of the Pacific Ocean. The air was cooling already. Thick, atmospheric layers of peach and primrose hinted
at a touch of glory soon to be viewed in the sunset.

Katie smiled. She found it easy to believe that God, in his not-so-subtle way, was adding his celebration touch to the end
of Todd and Christy’s perfect day. In a whisper, Katie said, “Will you bless them, Father God? Bless all their years to come.
You have been so good to them.”

With a catch in her throat, she added, “I don’t know exactly what you have in mind for me, but would you bless me too? If
Rick isn’t the right guy for me, would you make that clear pretty soon? I don’t want to convince myself that becoming Rick’s
girlfriend is one of your God things if it’s really only a Katie thing.”

Arriving at the chapel, Katie paused before she opened the door and added a P.S. to her prayer. “If you don’t want Rick and
me to go any further in our relationship, then will you break us up? This unsettled thing of being his ‘almost’ girlfriend
is killing me. Especially today.”

On a Whim Robin Jones Gunn , Bestselling Author of the Christy Miller Series

Ever since high school, Katie Weldon has wondered what it would be like to be Rick Doyle’s girlfriend. As a college senior
she’s about to find out.

In the swirl of Katie’s upgraded dating life, she receives an unexplained bouquet, an unexpected call from her mother, an
unprecedented girls’ night out with Christy, and an unhappy moment when her beloved car, Baby Hummer, takes its last wheeze.
Rick’s new roommate, Eli, complicates things by inviting Katie on a midnight jaunt to see a meteor shower. Under a canopy
of stars Katie grasps a new view of the universe — out there as well as up close. As if she had nothing else to do, on a whim,
she singlehandedly starts a fund-raising campaign for clean water for Africa.

With Rick caught up in making plans for the future, how will Katie navigate her way through the remainder of her college career
with no money, no transportation, no spare time and no idea what God is up to?

On a Whim
is the second book in the Katie Weldon Series.

Softcover: 978-0-310-27657-9

Pick up a copy today at your favorite bookstore!

with Christy, Todd, & Katie

As Christy, Katie, and Todd head into the tumultuous
years of college, each must make life-changing
decisions about life, love, and God. From a whirlwind
trip abroad to an engagement surprise to a beautiful
wedding, the path ahead for these three friends will see
both happy and hard times.

With important decisions on the line and fun memories
to be made, you won’t want to miss a single
adventure with your favorite
friends.

C HRISTY AND T ODD : T HE C OLLEGE Y EARS Until Tomorrow, As You Wish, I Promise

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