Page 58 of Parallel

I agree, but as I hang up there’s only one thought in my head:that money is mine. And it suddenly feels very important that I spend it the way I want before it becomesours.

27

NICK

It’s been forty-eight hours since I’ve spoken toQuinn.

Toolong.

I need to hear her raspy laugh and see that surprised smile of hers, the pleasure in her face over the smallestthings.

God knows I shouldn’t, but I find myself dialing her number on Thursday morning. I could pretend this is a professional call, but I’m not fooling anyone at thispoint.

“I was just checking to see how many vanishing teenagers you’ve run into since I saw you last,” Isay.

She laughs. “My yogurt appears to have vanished from our break room, if that counts. Hey, guess what Idid?”

I settle into my chair, leaning my head against the wall behind me. “Learned how to timetravel?”

“Think slightly smaller. I talked to Georgetown about comingback.”

There’s something new in her voice. A certain charge, an excitement, that I’ve never heard before. “What did theysay?”

She sighs. “I, of course, had some ridiculous hope that they might fit me in for the coming school year. I’m too late for that, but they said next fall for certain, and possiblyJanuary.”

I might be able to help, but I don’t want to get her hopes up. “The important thing is it’shappening.”

“Yeah,” she agrees. The excitement has left her voice. “Probably.”

“What do you mean byprobably?” I demand. “This is what you want. There’s noprobablyabout it. It’shappening.”

She hesitates. I can picture her there, pressing fingers to her temple or twisting her ring. “I don’t know. If I put it toward a house, Jeff would be able to enjoy it…or he could sell it and move back to Pennsylvania and start over. It’s what he wants to do anyway. Is it selfish to spend that money on a degree I might neveruse?”

Anger, sharp and all-consuming, pierces me. She has a fucking brain tumor. He should be turning over the world to make every one of her dreams come true. “No,” I hiss. “It’s not. What’s selfish is him asking you to do anything else withit.”

“Well, once we’re married it’s our money, isn’t it? It won’t even be my decisionanymore.”

Jesus Christ. The idea of her really going through with this wedding kills me. The idea of Jeff keeping her from that degree bothers me almost as much. “Can you meet me at the harbor tonight? Around six?” I ask. “There may be something I can do. I need to make a few callsfirst.”

She hesitates. “Sure,” she finally says, her voice soft and a littleuncertain.

And I begin to count the minutes until I see a woman I can neverhave.

* * *

The light is already waningwhen I finally get out of the hospital. I walk fast, weaving through the throngs of students and tourists, a pulse of people entering Dean & Deluca, and another pulse trying to escape it. The sun is at half-mast by the time I reach the waterfront, and I scan the crowd with a sinking heart, wondering if I’ve missedher.

She is sitting on a bench in a blue dress, the sheer fabric floating around her knees. The expression on her face is wistful as she watches the dancers. When our eyes meet, the wistful look disappears, and she gives me a smile that is puresunshine.

I take the seat beside her, trying to focus on my reasons for being here and not her proximity, her smooth skin, the smell of her shampoo. It’s harder than it sounds. “I placed a call today. A buddy of mine works in the admissions office. You’re in this fall, if you want to be. Most of the classes you’ll need will already be full. He said he can find a way to get you into the majority of them. He’ll email you in themorning.”

Her mouth is open, her eyes wide and uncertain. “Wha…what? You got me into the fall class? Just likethat?”

I nod. “If you want to be. I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you. I justthought—”

She springs forward and throws her arms around me tight, laughing and crying at the same time. “Pressuring me? You just saved me!” she cries. “Oh my God, I love you somuch!”

Jesus, what I wouldn’t give to hear her say it forreal.

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