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“So you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” I insisted.
She studied me from across the table, as though trying to decide whether she believed me. Finally, she let go of my hand and reached for the grapes, pulling off a small bunch. “The manatee was pretty cool,” she said, obviously attempting to change the subject. “Both of them were. It almost felt like we were on the nature channel.”
I smiled. “What would you like to do now? Should I get you back to your friends so you can head to the Dalí or go shopping?”
“You know what I’d really like to do?” She leaned forward, resting her arms on the picnic table.
“No idea.”
“I’d like to watch you write a song,” she said.
“Just like that? You think I can turn it on and off like a faucet?”
“You’re the one who told me that things just come to you.”
“What if nothing has come to me since the last one?”
“Then maybe think about how you felt when you saw the manatee.”
I squinted, skeptical. “That’s not really enough.”
“Then how about the two of us having a picnic?”
“I’m not sure that’s enough, either.”
At last, she rose from the table. She walked to my side and leaned over; before I realized what was happening, her lips pressed lightly against my own. It wasn’t a big kiss or even a particularly passionate kiss, but it was tender, and I could taste a hint of apple on lips so soft they seemed almost perfect. She pulled back with a slight smile on her face, knowing she’d caught me off guard.
“How about a song about a glorious morning and first kiss, then?”
I cleared my throat, reeling a bit from what had just happened. “Yeah,” I said. “That might work.”
On the drive back to the condo, Morgan texted her friends furiously between occasional bouts of small talk.
“Keeping your friends up-to-date?” I asked.
“I told them we saw a manatee. Sent them pics.”
“Are they jealous?”
“They’re shopping, so I doubt it. After that, they’re planning to laze by the pool.”
“No Dalí?”
“I guess not. And they also mentioned visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa tomorrow.”
“That sounds fun.”
“Do you want to join us? We were thinking about heading out right after rehearsal, maybe around ten or so? And spend the day there?”
“My show is at four tomorrow, so I can’t.”
“Aww…” she said, sounding more disappointed than I’d expected.
Though we kept the conversation light on the drive, my mind kept returning to the kiss and what, if anything, she’d meant by it. Was she really just trying to inspire a song? Had she felt bad about bringing up my mom? Or did she actually want to kiss me because she was attracted to me? As much as I tried, I couldn’t figure it out, and Morgan had been no help at all. Right after she’d pulled back from the kiss, she popped a grape into her mouth and returned to her spot across from me, as though nothing had happened. She then asked me my zodiac sign. When I told her I was a Leo, she noted that she was a Taurus, casually mentioning that people from those two signs find it difficult to get along with each other. She said it with a laugh, however, leaving me even more confused.
At the condo, I pulled into my usual parking spot, then grabbed the cooler and started up the wooden steps to the second floor. Morgan trailed behind me with her bag over her shoulder, our flip-flops slapping in unison.
