“It’s okay,” Katherine says, relenting. “We can talk about it more later. But a college fund is definitely going to be our first priority.” She pauses and her gaze shifts to me. “And I think we should arrange one for Alice too.”
There’s a brief silence where I feel my face go prickly.
“What?” I say, blinking at her. “No, you don’t need to—”
“Alice,” Katherine says with a smile. “You’re the one who bought the ticket. This is all because of you.”
Across the room Teddy has gone stock-still. He’s staring at me, his arms limp at his sides, his face ashen. The triumphant look he’s been wearing all afternoon has disappeared entirely. “I can’t believe I didn’t…,” he begins, then stops and shakes his head. “I feel awful. It’s just that today’s been such a whirlwind, and I wasn’t thinking….”
“It’s fine,” I say quickly. “Really.”
He walks over and sits on the coffee table across from me so that his knees bump up against mine. His face is very serious. “You bought the ticket,” he says in a low voice. “And you picked those numbers. I’m so sorry. I should’ve thought of this right away.”
His brown eyes are focused on me with unnerving intensity, and he takes a deep breath, then sticks out a hand. I stare at it for a moment. There’s something strangely formal about the gesture, and I think again of our kiss this morning, the way his arms closed around me so tightly, the way we fit together so perfectly.
“Half of it’s yours,” he says, his hand still outstretched, and I hear my aunt breathe in sharply. Beside me on the couch Leo tenses. “It’s only fair.”
“Teddy…,” I say, though I’m not sure how to finish that.
His arm sags a little, but he’s speaking fast now, the way he does when he’s excited about something. “You’re the one with the lucky numbers. You’re the one who made this all happen.”
“It was just—”
“It was all you,” he says, pushing ahead. “So you should be part of this. How about it? You and me?” He smiles crookedly. “Just a couple of millionaires?”
Numbly, I shake my head, my eyes still on his open palm.
“I can’t,” I say quietly. “It was a gift.”
“What?” he says, standing up fast, and when I look up at him his face has hardened slightly. “You can’t just pass this up, Al. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
The others are all watching us; I can feel it. But it might as well just be me and Teddy in the room, our eyes locked and our jaws set.
“Teddy,” I say. “Really. The ticket is yours. So are the winnings. Thank you for offering, but—”
He frowns. “Thank you for offering? It’s not a stick of gum, Al.”
“I know that.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“There’s not a problem,” I say, lifting my chin, trying to seem calm in spite of the panic that’s starting to bloom inside me. “I just don’t want it. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t besorry,” he says with a scowl. “I mean, you’re the one who’ll be missing out. Who turns down twenty million dollars?”
“Actually, it’ll probably be more like 26.5 if you take the payout,” Leo interrupts, and we both turn to glare at him. He holds up his hands. “Just saying.”
I rub my eyes, suddenly tired. “Can we please just drop it?”
“No,” Teddy says, “because you deserve it at least as much as me, and I don’t think it’s so crazy that I’d want to—”
“Teddy,” I say, cutting him off. He stops short, and I take a deep breath. “It’s not crazy. And it’s so generous. But I don’t need it.”
He stares at me. “What? Why not?”
“My parents,” I begin, but my mouth is suddenly chalky. “My parents…”
“Her parents had a life insurance policy,” my aunt says, and I glance over at her gratefully. Her gaze is fixed on me, her eyes full of warmth. “Most of it will go to college, but there’ll be a little left over for when she turns twenty-one.”
