Fortuity (Transcend 3)

“I kissed Gabe,” she whispers so Nate can’t hear her as I take off her cape.

My eyes fly open. It’s too hard to hide my shock. “Oh … wow.”

She glances at her dad, giving him a fake smile before turning her back to him. “I just had to know. And I wanted him to be my first kiss.”

“What did he do?” I whisper.

Morgan frowns. “He didn’t do anything. I think I’m the first girl he’s kissed. He just wrinkled his nose and said, ‘Thanks.’ I thought I’d feel butterflies, but I didn’t.”

I smile. “Well, now you know. Always hold out for butterflies.” I glance up at Nate. “Your turn. I need to check.”

He sighs, standing and making his way to the chair I’m patting with my hand.

“It could have been Hunter. It takes weeks after exposure to realize you have them.”

“I’m sure Mr. Hans will love us accusing his granddaughter of giving Morgan lice.”

“You’re good.” I stand back and smile.

He doesn’t reciprocate.

“Doesn’t matter. She’s good. You’re good. She can wash that oil out when she gets home. I’ll give you a roller for your car seats. Strip beds. Clean and vacuum bathrooms and bedrooms. That’s it.” I swallow the new round of pain. I hate how he’s looking at me. Yes, it was a lie, but no one brags about working in a lice clinic. We just get weird looks, and friends and family don’t want to get too close. Maybe I should have been honest from the start. Maybe he would have kept his distance and not wanted to steal kisses. He also might have not wanted Morgan hanging around at our house or playing with Gabe, and that would have been tragic for both of them.

“This machine is really cool.” Morgan inspects the air machine. “I bet I could do what you do when I grow up.”

I start to grin. “No!” Nate’s hard no startles me. His shoulders sag as his mouth bends into something resembling displeasure or regret while rubbing his temples. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant it’s a little early to think about what you want to do for the rest of your life.”

I press my lips together to keep from saying words that I will surely regret.

“I know … I know.” Morgan grabs his arm and gives it a tug. “Let’s go. I want to get my hair washed, and we need to clean and pack and do so much. Maybe I need to use the bathroom first.” She wrinkles her nose at me.

I point to the restroom down the hall.

Nate has the nerve to give me this look … like he’s waiting for me to make things okay. He said it. Not me.

“Take your daughter home, Professor.”

“I’m sorry.” He lobs those two words at me like they mean something. They fall flat on the floor between us. I’ll sweep them up later and throw them in the trash. I can miss him terribly or feel hurt by his words, but dealing with both of these emotions is more than I can handle.

I shrug. “I work in a lice clinic. Now you know. Does it matter? In two days … will any of this matter?”

Morgan runs out of the restroom. “Ready! Let’s go.” She tugs on his arm.

“Bye, sweetie.” I smile at Morgan, turn, and start cleaning.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

The next night, I try to distract myself by reading on the sofa while Gabe and Mr. Hans play chess downstairs. Morgan officially has him hooked, and I’m thrilled because it gets him off a screen.

“Hey, come on in,” Mr. Hans says.

I lean toward the voices. It’s Nate and Morgan.

“We leave really early, so we thought we’d say our goodbyes now,” Nate says.

My entire heart catapults into my throat—pulsing, aching, suffocating. I can’t hear them past my body going into pain mode. And I can’t bring my legs to standing. I’m too weak and nauseous.

“Hey!” Morgan pokes her head around the corner at the top of the stairs.

I feel the burn before the tears. She plops down on the sofa and hands me a notecard and a gift wrapped in tissue paper. “It’s my email address and my grandma’s and grandpa’s address. I’ll send you my address as soon as we have one. And that’s my TikTok handle and my Instagram handle. We should follow each other.”

A smile pushes back my tears, for now. “Does your dad know about the phone yet?”

She pulls it out of her pocket and shows me the lock screen photo of her and Nate on the beach. “Yes. He even took a selfie with me.” A long breath comes out of her little body as she grins. “You’re right. He’s changing too. I was so scared to tell him, but it was also killing me to not tell him. So I just … said it. I said it all really fast. And you know what he said?”