Coming Attractions by Robin Jones Gunn

truck and handing it to Daniel, “what did the church board decide
     about Todd’s position? Are they going to keep it as a full-time job?”
    “What’s this?” Katie asked.
    “I didn’t tell you yet, but Todd found out last week the church is cutting back on staff, and he’s the last one they hired.
     They might cut his hours and ask him to go part-time. But they haven’t asked yet.”
    “Part-time? How in the world could Todd do all that he does part-time? If anything, they should hire an assistant youth worker
     to help him out.”
    Christy shrugged. “They’re going through a rough time at the church right now. So far, Todd still is employed. We’ll see what
     happens though.”
    Katie had no idea anything out of the ordinary had been going on at the church. But then, she only came and went on Sunday
     mornings, and even then it wasn’t every Sunday. That was one pattern from this past semester she planned to change once she
     finished school.
    As a matter of fact, she remembered a conversation she had had with Todd several months ago. She had told him once summer
     arrived, she could volunteer to go on outings with the youth group as well as help out on Sundays and at events.
    I guess I won’t be much help to Todd if I go to Africa this summer. If he has to scale back to part-time, then he’s going
     to need more help than ever.
    Doug, Christy, and Tracy kept chatting, but Katie’s attention flitted out of the conversation. She wondered if the same fluttering-flock-of-butterflies
     feeling she had when she first thought about going to Africa would be there if she helped with Todd’s youth group. Was the
     anticipation of being free from school and studies what propelled her toward the rush of making new plans?
    There’s one thing I know for sure right now. My judgment on just about any given topic can’t be trusted.
    Katie confessed her feelings of uncertainty to Christy as they drove on Interstate 5 to Newport Beach. “It’s the stress, isn’t
     it? I think I need to take a stress-reducing vitamin. Could you pull into the first drugstore you see? Maybe I need more calcium
     too. My fingernails haven’t grown beyond their nub stage all semester. Milk has lots of calcium, right? Pull off on the next
     exit, will you?”
    “What do you want? Vitamins or milk?”
    “I was thinking more along the lines of a milkshake. I’m paying. When was the last time you had a thick, fat, happy, vanilla
     milkshake?”
    “Chocolate,” Christy corrected her. “If I’m going to drink that many calories, it’s definitely going to be chocolate. And
     you’re right. It’s been far too long. Let’s find a place that serves milkshakes before we get to my aunt and uncle’s and Aunt
     Marti puts me on a soybean diet for the rest of our stay.”
    “Aunt Marti wouldn’t do that!”
    Christy laughed. “You don’t know my aunt. The first summer I stayed with them I came down for breakfast one morning, and Uncle
     Bob was making waffles.”
    “Ooh, waffles. I’m so hungry right now.” Katie crossed her arms across her middle.
    Even though Tracy had said to help themselves to anything they wanted to eat, both Christy and Katie felt a little funny about
     raiding the sparsely filled refrigerator.
    “So my uncle served me a hot waffle, complete with butter melting in every little square and just the right amount of warm
     maple syrup.”
    “Stop! You’re torturing me!”
    “That’s exactly how I felt when my aunt walked into the kitchen and shrieked. Mind you, I was only fifteen and weighed at
     least ten pounds less than I do now. I was ready to take my first delicious bite, but my aunt Martha — ”
    “Ooh, I love it when you call her Martha! This is going to be good!”
    “My aunt Martha comes marching into the kitchen, snatches the fork from my eager little hand, and whirls up something horribly
     nasty but decidedly nutritious in the blender. She tells me that’s what a young lady should drink for