He looked at her finger. Looked at her face. Glanced at Gus. Then back to McKenna. “And you think I have it because...?”
“Didn’t you listen to my messages? I zipped it inside your pants pocket.”
“Seems like a pretty good reason to think you’d still have it,” Gus said to Nate with a shrug.
Nate gripped the front of his hair, then smoothed down his cowlick. “All those messages were from you?” He’d lost the scowl at least.
“Who else would they be from?”
“Wacky Nebraska Lady Number Two,” he said, reaching for his hair again.
“Just how many wacky ladies put something in your pocket that day?”
“Two too many, apparently,” Gus mumbled.
Nate started massaging the back of his neck. “Look, I didn’t know that was you. I definitely didn’t know you were talking about the ring. Especially since, as I recall, I specifically told you I didn’t want anything to do with that ring, then handed it back to you.”
“Then if you’llfurtherrecall, we were in a stressful situation, so I basically had no choice but to sneak the ring inside your pocket while we kissed.”
“Ireallyneed to hear the full version of this story,” said Gus.
“Oh, I see,” said Nate as two older women and a pretty Hispanic woman peeked their heads around the corner, no doubt curious to see what all the commotion about kissing was for. “So you’re not only a crazy stranger-kisser, you’re a pickpocket too?”
McKenna tried ignoring the three women now leaning further around the corner. “I didn’t pick your pocket. I put somethinginsideyour pocket. The side pocket. The one with the zipper.”
“Sounds like she’s aput-pocket,” a woman with green glasses whispered.
“Is that legal?” the younger of the women whispered back.
“I think I would’ve noticed if you were hiding something inside my pocket,” Nate said, drawing McKenna’s attention back to him.
“Obviously you didn’t.”
“Well, I don’t know how. It wasn’tthatgreat a kiss.”
“Hey, don’t blame that on me,” said McKenna. “You were the one standing there like a statue.”
“Because a stranger was mauling me with kisses. I needed a moment to think.”
“Can we just get back to the ring? I’ve flown across the country, stayed up all night in an airport, driven through a storm, lied to multiple people, and eaten lots of questionable gas station food. Right now I just really need you to tell me that my mother’s priceless ring is still in your pocket so I don’t puke all over my shoes.”
They must’ve known she wasn’t kidding. Everyone but Nate took a step back from McKenna.
“I don’t know if it’s still in my pocket.”
“How can you not know if it’s still in your pocket?”
“Because I never checked. Since my pants were still wet from the river, I changed out of them in the ER parking lot, then wadded everything inside a patient belonging bag so I could shove it into my carry-on before I got to the airport.”
A whoosh of air left McKenna’s lips as she bent forward holding her stomach. “But it should still be inside the pocket, right? Even ifyou never checked. Even if you washed your pants, which I’d sort of hope you’d have done by now, it should still be there.”
“In theory.”
She straightened and inhaled a couple of deep breaths. “Okay. I no longer feel the need to puke. But can you please, please go get the ring before the feeling returns? I’d like to book a return flight as soon as possible. I just want to get back to Nebraska.” Well,thatwas something she never imagined hearing herself say.
Nate stared at her for the longest five seconds of her life, then turned and walked away. But instead of returning with the ring, he returned with an empty brown paper grocery sack.
“What’s this for?”
