Kenneth Yates was at work when his phone rang.
"Mommy, what's up?" Kenneth glanced at the caller ID before his eyes went back to the document he was reading.
"Kenneth, your brother is coming home tonight. You should bring Summer and stay the night!"
"Mm, okay," Kenneth replied. 'He agreed so easily?' Lianne Vance had prepared several schemes to get him to come home, but it looked like she wouldn't need them. The Kenneth she knew wasn't usually this agreeable; he'd almost certainly find an excuse to turn her down...
"Mommy, I'm at work right now. We'll talk tonight." Kenneth's eyes were still rapidly scanning the document; he really was swamped. After hanging up on Lianne Vance, he buzzed his internal line.
"Ethan's coming home tonight. Mom wants us to stay over, so get off work early today. Go home, change, and then head over to her place."
"Okay, wait. When you say I should get off work early, do you mean we're leaving together, or just me?"
"You go on ahead. I still have a lot of work to do. Isn't your car here at the company?" 'What is she thinking?' Kenneth thought with a laugh.
"Oh, right. Okay." Summer Lancaster hung up.
"Serena, I've got something with my family today, can you cover for me?" Summer called out to Serena Monroe.
"Look at you, our resident workaholic is actually leaving early for once! What's the occasion? A blind date?" Serena Monroe scurried over, eager for gossip.
Summer pushed away her friend's gesticulating hands. "A blind date? What are you talking about? Besides, you're a year older than me. If anyone should be going on blind dates, it's you." Her comeback left Serena speechless. She could only wave her hands, shooing Summer away.
Summer Lancaster drove back to Veridian Apartments. Partway there, she remembered that Caleb Bell had told her a few days ago that Melody Donovan was back. Summer put on her Bluetooth headset and dialed Melody's number.
"You brat, you're back and you didn't even call me! Have you totally forgotten I exist?" Summer said, pretending to be angry.
"No, of course not, Lancaster! I've just been swamped the past few days. I was planning to ask you out to dinner in a couple of days, but you beat me to it. So, what do you say? You treating me tonight?" Summer was floored. 'Didn't she just say she was going to treat me? How did she manage to turn that around on me?'
"I'm busy tonight. Another time. And next time, *you're* treating *me*." Summer made sure to emphasize the last three words. "Melody Donovan, you're telling me you're busy? Do you think I was born yesterday? The only time Miss Donovan was ever 'busy' in college was when she was watching the handsome upperclassmen play basketball..."
"Lancaster, I'm serious! My dad started forcing me on blind dates the second I got back. Today was the fifth one! Your call gave me the perfect excuse to escape." 'Blind dates? That made sense. As the sole heir to the Donovan Group, Melody was expected to marry early and prepare to take over. But she hadn't had her fill of fun yet and had declared she wouldn't marry until she was thirty. That had infuriated her father, resulting in the current "grand spectacle" of matchmaking.'
Summer couldn't help but laugh into the phone. "Melody, do you remember that upperclassman you had a crush on in college?"
"Of course I do. I never saw him again after we graduated. It's a shame, really. If I saw him now, I'd confess to him on the spot."
Summer laughed even harder. "All talk and no action! Just try to go easy on those poor guys during your blind dates, okay?" 'If there was one thing Summer knew for sure, it was just how sharp Melody's tongue could be.'
"But of course," Melody said, feigning obedience.
"I'm home now, so I've gotta go. Let's hang out another day." The two hung up, and Summer went into her apartment. 'I should dress up nicely tonight.' She hadn't seen Ethan Yates in two years. It was a strange coincidence, really—he had left to study abroad right around the time she got married. She'd always been a little sad to have missed out on getting a blessing from her best childhood friend.