Page 110 of Fall Into Me

Ahead of him, Grant unlocked the car and then opened the rear passenger door so Ash could load up Bri and her car seat. A few minutes later, they were on the road, heading east toward I-5. Grant had started talking about Mei and her application process for med school, which sounded daunting and reminded Ash of yet another thing he needed to be thinking about and planning for and doing—finishing his own grad school application, which was due in just about two weeks. He was also much too far behind in every other thing he needed to do, including studying for finals, especially considering how he’d actually, honestly, legitimately bombed the last test he’d taken in one of his classes and was now at risk of not even managing a passing grade if he didn’t do really well on the final.

“She’s a strong candidate, I think,” Grant continued, pulling Ash out of the mini spiral he’d entered, “but then, like, the acceptance rate to UW Med School is only like four-point-something percent, so . . .” With a shrug, Grant trailed off.

Ash smirked. “So if she doesn’t get accepted and has to go somewhere else, you’ll have to do a ‘long-distance thing,’ then?”

“Oh, shit, that’s right. Ah, man—”

From the back seat, Bri suddenly wailed, shrill and loud. Ash flinched, and his stomach dropped.

“Oh crap, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake her,” Grant mumbled, though he was barely audible over the painful crying from behind them.

“No, it’s not your fault. She—”

Bri wailed again. This time, it sounded like she was trying to say something, but Ash couldn’t decipher whatever it was.

“She’s had a long weekend. She’s tired,” Ash explained, though that wasn’t all of it, of course. He did his best to twist around in the car so he could reach her with one hand. Her fingers immediately wrapped around his, and she cried more, tugging on him.

“Un-ca Ash, Awwie? Me Awwie? Me Awwie?”

His heart hurt at the sadness in her voice. “Sweet girl, I’m so sorry. I think we left Ollie with Cass. I—”

Another wail filled the car, and Ash grimaced.

“Sorry,” he said to Grant, who just replied with a quick, “nah, man, it’s okay.” Ash pulled out his phone with his free hand as Bri continued bawling from the back seat. “Bri, sweetie, I’m gonna text Cass right now so—”

Cass (5:24 p.m.): Uh-oh . . .

A picture of Ollie the Octopus on the floor in the back seat of Cass’s car loaded directly under the first message, and another text followed it.

Cass (5:25 p.m.): I hope this doesn’t ruin your night :( I’ll stick it in the mail Priority Express first thing tomorrow. Should get there Tuesday

Ash almost laughed. Of course Cass would be that amazing and thoughtful without Ash even having to ask. But Bri cried again, reminding Ash that Tuesday was an entire full two sleeps away. He inhaled a deep breath and tried to keep the frown out of his voice.

“Bri, sweetie, look!” he said as upbeat as he could. “Cass has Ollie. He’s going to take really good care of him and send him to us in the mail.” Ash clicked on the picture Cass had sent to enlarge it, then reached into the back seat to show Bri the phone screen. Her crying quieted to occasional sniffles.

“Awwie? Cass Awwie?”

“Yes, Cass has Ollie,” Ash repeated, and he started to face forward again, but Bri grabbed the phone, holding him there.