The Fortune Cafe by Heather B. Moore, Melanie Jacobson, Julie Wright

phone call would never end.
    Though Emma was already running late, she had to text Harrison to let him know she couldn’t have dinner with him after all. If she didn’t take a lunch break, she could leave work earlier. She hated breaking off the beginnings of something that felt like it had potential and hated that she had to do it over text, but what other options existed? And wasn’t it better? She again imagined one of her mom’s explosive tantrums happening in front of Harrison again.
    Yes. It was better to never let anything start than to have him bear the mortification of her mom. She hit send on her phone hard enough she could’ve put her finger through the glass, grabbed her keys since she’d need the car to get to her mom’s, and kicked the door shut before thumping down the stairs to the carport. If she hit the lights right, Cái’s restaurant wouldn’t cry out in despair or whatever it was bewitched restaurants did. She made it with thirty-eight seconds to spare. Cái’s restaurant was safe.
    “So,” Cái said as she clocked in and tied the apron around her waist. “Feeling fortun ate?”
    “That’s a terrible pun, even from you.” She moved to where the kitchen connected to the dining area. The kitchen’s humid heat stifled and chafed today in a way she found she couldn’t handle.
    Cái followed her. “Okay, fine. I leave the jokes to you and your dragons, but I think you owe me an apology.” His wrinkles folded into a wide smile.
    “I am not apologizing for the crazy lady.” She wasn’t sure if she meant Harrison’s date or her mother, but either way, she wasn’t apologizing.
    “Who cares for crazy lady? You owe me an apology for spending four years making fun of my restaurant’s divine calling.”
    “An apology would indicate some remorse and some intention to stop making fun of your voodoo. And you think I’m stopping why again?”
    He snapped his fingers in her face. “Your fortune! It’s come true.”
    She glanced at Nate, who shrugged and then mopped a handkerchief over his forehead. So she wasn’t the only one who felt like the kitchen was too hot to handle. “You don’t even know my fortune, what do you—”
    “ Look around. Love is trying to catch you. ” He grinned, knowing he’d surprised her.
    Who told Cái what her fortune had said? Emma frowned; how could anyone have told when Harrison was the only other one who knew?
    “You knowing what it said proves nothing,” she scoffed, still a little unsettled because he had insider information on the contents of her cookie. “It’s not like it came true.”
    “Really? I think you should have another look around,” Cái said and pointed out toward the dining area to where the windows overlooked the ocean.
    Standing outside the restaurant and appearing a little nervous was Harrison. His blue long-sleeved pullover accented his build in a way that made her take in a sharp breath. His fingers gripped a small bouquet of... what was he holding?
    And more important than what was he holding, what was he doing there? “Why is he here?” She actually whispered the question out loud.
    “I would think that’s obvious,” Nate said when it became evident the only answer Cái planned on giving was a cocky grin. “He’s trying to catch you.”
    “He is not!” she whispered. “Is he?”
    Nate laughed. Cái beamed. Jen rounded the corner to try to enter the kitchen but stopped when she saw her pathway blocked. “What are we looking at?” she asked.
    “We’re watching love catch our Emma.” Cái’s voice sounded reverent, confident, and self-satisfied all at the same time.
    “We’re apparently watching magic,” Nate tried to clarify.
    Cái pursed his lips and wagged a finger at Nate. “Ah! But love is always magic!” he insisted before giving Emma a shove toward the dining area at the same time that Harrison opened the door.
    A wave pounding the sand outside felt like a punctuation mark to Emma’s increased heart