Chapter 1: Stranger Danger
Destiny Carson was the fastest kid in her class and everybody knew it. Even Ms. Manx's mouth had dropped after her perkiest first-grader had crossed the faded chalk line on the sizzling September concrete: 4:42, her stopwatch had read. For a half-mile. You were lucky to get half the six-year-olds to run that far—-the other half had probably tripped and sobbed themselves into exhaustion by then. By the time she had looked back up, Destiny had already made it halfway to the soccer field, where an older group of fourth-graders was counting off teams for kickball.
"Her legs," she had noted with suppressed amusement to Destiny's father during their first conference of the year, "move almost as quickly as her mouth."
"She gets that from me," Bridge had confessed, sheepishly scratching his right ear. "I mean, the talking. Not the body parts. Not the running, either."
Bridge played all of this back in his head as he moved from room to room, calling his daughter's name: she hadn't been in the laundry room, which was her quiet space, and she hadn't been in her bedroom either. Usually she liked staying in the living room on Saturday mornings—he'd turn the TV to Cartoon Network and as long as We Bare Bears was on she'd be glued to the couch for hours, which was about the only time he could expect Destiny to stay in one place for longer than five minutes. He ran his gloved fingers through his hair. Shouldn't have waited until the toast was done to check on her. You know how often she slips out. Stupid stupid stupid...
"Kiwi!"
At the name of Destiny's pet ball, he bolted across the living room and out the door. The scene he ran into made him freeze in horror: somehow, Kiwi had slipped out of his daughter's hands, rolling to a stop smack dab in the middle of the road. Destiny was already two or three steps into the road, eyes locked onto the green ball—-and not at all on the car barreling in her direction at 30 miles an hour.
"Hey!"
A woman stepped into the road, frantically waving at the driver. He slammed the brakes, sending a high-pitched squeal throughout the block—the woman swept in, crossing half the road in just a few strides, and pulled Destiny back inches before the car passed both of them, kicking up dust as it sped past the block and into the next alleyway.
"Rude motherf...oh, no," the woman stopped, craning her head down at the sobbing young girl she had just saved. "Hey, you're good now," she cooed, using one hand to cradle the girl's face and the other to brush her hair out of her eyes. "What's your name, hon?"
"Destiny!" Bridge cried, joining them on the curb. He embraced his daughter in his arms, resisting the urge to cry himself. They'd have to talk about communicating whereabouts again. Maybe after breakfast. "You had me so worried, sweetie. Are you okay?"
As always, Destiny had a long answer ready, even in between sniffles. "TherewuzBARKINGoutsideandItookNoodlewitmebutthenIDROPPEDhimandIhadtogethimback—and, andthentherewasaVROOMandacarwuzcoming—-"
"That's okay, babe." He smiled at her gently, wiping her eyes dry with his fingers. "You can tell me later." He looked up at the stranger who had stepped in just in time. "Geez, I...thank you so much. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there and she had…" he trailed off, shaken.
"No problem at all," she replied. She had kept to herself her first two weeks in South Newtech, but something about the way this man cradled his daughter moved her. Then a flash of recognition washed over her face. "Wait a minute. You were at that neighbor's association meeting, weren't you?"
Sky and Syd had talked him into going to exactly one meeting, in the hopes it would help their old friend settle into a new place. Bridge remembered little of it, besides fidgeting in his vaguely juice-stained folding chair and counting the number of couples around him, many of them longtime residents in tailored suits and professional-looking dresses. Oh, and briefly waving at the other straggler in the room, whose sunflower top and denim skirt made him feel less out-of-place in his rumpled T-shirt and jeans.
And who had just now saved his daughter from becoming a roadside pancake.
She extended her right hand. "Anyway, I'm Z. I'm guessing you live in the apartment complex there?"
"We do! I'm Bridge. And this is Destiny."
"And Kiwi!" Destiny volunteered.
"And, uh, Kiwi," he gestured at the ball now well into the next block.
At this Z found her lips curving up ever-so-slightly. "Well, what a pleasure to meet all three of you. You got any other siblings, Destiny? Or pets?"
"Nope!" Destiny said. "Just me and Kiwi and daddy. And mommy used to be with us too but sometimes I forget but daddy shows me pit-churs so I can remember."
"That's nice of your daddy," Z nodded. Her eyes connected with Bridge's for a moment before he looked away, his face turning a shade of maroon that complimented his flannel shirt.
"Well, ma'am-I mean, Z," he stumbled, "thank you so much. I just, uh, I just remembered I forgot to turn the toaster oven off, so I might need to make sure I haven't set my kitchen on fire. But if you'd like to join me and Destiny for breakfast, we'd love to have you over. Not that you have to, I mean, but it's the least we could do for what you just did."
It was Z's turn to blush, although thankfully her hair ran long enough to shield her rapidly reddening cheeks. "Oh! Wow, er, I'd love to, but I'm actually running late to work right now. But...another time?" she offered. It was awfully nice of somebody in the neighborhood to invite her over, she had to admit. Against her own judgment she found her brain flipping through next week's schedule. Monday? Thursday?
"S-sounds great!" he said, his face breaking into a grin despite himself. "We live right in 101. Just knock whenever you're around."
"Thanks." Z smiled back. She collected her messenger bag off the pavement. "It was great to meet you both! Have a good one." As Z speed-walked down the street, taking a right onto the next road, Bridge found himself staring, wanting to stand at the curb a little longer.
Until his daughter began pulling at his sleeve, of course.
"Let's get you some toast, honey bunny." As Bridge and Destiny walked back to collect Noodle, he found himself squeezing his daughter's shoulders a little tighter than usual. "I made it extra peanut buttery today. And make sure to tell me if you want to go outside again, okay?"
"Okee, daddy," she chirped, as if she hadn't been bawling only five minutes ago. For once, she was happy to slow down a little bit, much to Bridge's relief. "Can I ask you something?"
"Mhm?"
"Don't toaster ovens turn off automatically?"