Page 98 of Only Fate

She turns off a stove burner and smiles at us. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Essie sings out as I shut the door behind us.

“Good morning, Mrs. Lane,” I add.

“Oh, no, call me Carolina.” She waves her hand through the air. “The only people who call me that are my students.” She pauses as if a thought suddenly hit her. “Though I think they also call me by my first name.”

“All right then.” I nod toward her. “Carolina, it is.”

“Can I help with something?” Essie asks.

Carolina shakes her head. “Everything is almost finished.”

“Mom tries to get everything finished before I can come in and possibly help,” Essie explains. “That way, I don’t mess anything up.”

“Not true. I did leave you the job of drinks,” Carolina argues.

“Now, that’s a very difficult job,” I say with a laugh.

“Yes, collecting juices is very complicated,” Essie comments.

“What can I help with?” I ask.

“You grab the juices. I’ll grab the glasses.” Essie points at the fridge.

I open the fridge, seeing a large selection of juices.

“Just bring them all,” Essie says.

Carolina takes out a plate of French toast and pancakes from the oven warmer. As it cools, she stirs the sausage gravy on the stove.

I set the juices on the counter at the same time the patio door opens. River walks in, yawning and stretching.

“Well, good morning, sunshine,” Essie says.

He yawns again. His eyes scan from Carolina, to Essie, to me, and then he does a do-over to make sure he’s seeing everyone correctly.

“And here I was, running my late-night houseguest off this morning,” he murmurs, smirking at his sister.

Essie rolls her eyes. “No, it looks like your hand is still intact.”

“Essie!” Carolina scolds, swatting her with a towel.

River chuckles. “I’m glad to see my sarcastic, pain-in-the-asssister has returned. She’s my favorite. But joking, no house guest.”

“Ava had a shift at the hospital, so of course, you didn’t,” Essie fires back.

River ignores her and jerks his chin toward me. I return the gesture.

He walks behind Carolina and kisses her cheek. “Everything smells delicious.”

“That I’ll agree with,” Essie’s father, Rex, says, coming into view. “River and I were up all night, brainstorming ideas for a new game.” His gaze swings to me. “Hi, Adrian.”

None of them seems bothered by my presence.

Even with me being an adult, I’m sure my mom would give me hell if I had a sleepover.

My abuela? Not so much. She’d be the opposite and probably serve us breakfast in bed.

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