Forever Together by Leeanna Morgan Page A

of his niece’s life. He didn’t have a clue what
would happen when the transplant was over. He presumed Kate would
go home, Kaylee would start her recovery, and he’d go back to
having hair longer than his collar.
    His cell phone beeped on his belt. “Hang on a
minute.”
    Kate took a step back while he fumbled under
the cape for his phone. He glanced at the caller display. “What’s
wrong?”
    “Why do you always think something’s wrong?”
Anna asked.
    “Because you only call me to invite me to
dinner or if something’s happened to Kaylee. Tom’s taking you out
to dinner tonight, so how’s Kaylee?”
    Dan glanced at Kate. She was biting her
bottom lip, looking so concerned that he felt guilty for not
sharing the call with her. “Kate’s looking worried. Talk fast.”
    “Kate’s with you? Where are you?”
    The mess he’d dug for himself into was
getting deeper by the minute. “At The Beauty Box. What’s happened
to Kaylee?”
    “I just got a call from Doctor T. He wants to
have a family meeting at half past five. Can you be there?”
    “No problem. I’ll tell Kate.”
    “Tell her I’ll be there in fifteen minutes to
pick her up.”
    “Don’t worry. I can give her a lift.”
    “What are you doing at The Beauty Box?”
    Dan could hear the concern in Anna’s voice.
She thought something was wrong with Kate. Little did she know that
he was the one with his head on the chopping block. Literally.
    “I needed a haircut.”
    “Really?” He ignored the note of surprise in
his sister’s voice.
    “We’ll meet you at the hospital.” He hung up
before Anna asked any more questions. He told Kate about the family
meeting.
    “It must be about the transplant.” She
stepped forward and started cutting his hair in short, sharp, snips . “I hope they’re planning on
doing it soon.”
    “Are you that desperate to leave?”
    “You’ve got no idea,” Kate muttered as Dan
watched another chunk of his hair fall to the ground.
    If the transplant was going to happen soon, Kate could be gone within the
week. And he wouldn’t have a reason to step foot inside The Beauty
Box again. For some reason, that thought wasn’t as comforting as it
could have been.
     
    ***
    “Oh my God. Look at you.” Anna reached for
Dan’s head. He ducked out of the way before she got too close.
    “Kate gave me a haircut.”
    “Is this handsome, hunk of a man really my
brother? What happened to the Neanderthal I saw yesterday?”
    “He got trapped in a beauty salon,” Dan
growled. “We’re not here to talk about my hair. What’s happening
with Kaylee?”
    Anna pinched her lips together. “In case you
haven’t noticed, Doctor T isn’t here. All I know is that he wants
to talk about Kaylee’s transplant.”
    Kate sat beside Anna. The frown on her face
matched his sister’s scowl. The only person not looking at him like he needed a good shake was
Tom.
    He walked across the room and poked his head
around the doorframe, looking into the corridor. “He’s late.”
    “Happens,” Tom said.
    Dan sat down and an uneasy silence filled the
room. He twirled the brim of his hat in his hands. No one spoke.
The persistent tick of the clock was the only sound in the
room.
    “Loretta said I look like Tom Cruise.”
    Anna burst out laughing.
    Dan didn’t think it was that funny. He’d
consoled himself over the loss of so much hair with images of
zip-lines, fast cars, and hot
women. For some reason, Kate kept appearing in his fantasy wearing
skin-tight black Lycra. Really tight Lycra, the kind that could get
a man in trouble if he stared too long at the body on display.
    He yanked his imagination away from his
fantasy and back in to the room he
was sitting in. His black Lycra fantasy girl blushed and he felt
the same heat reach parts of his body that hadn’t seen action in
years.
    “ Sorry I’m
late.” Doctor T bounded into the room. “How’s everyone doing?”
    No one replied. Even Anna had given up
smiling. She looked as