"Hey, pumpkin! There you are." Tom Galen's voice filled Kylie's ears, but she couldn't look away from Mrs. Parker's face to say hello to her stepdad. Was the woman really telling Kylie that if she wasn't werewolf, then she and Lucas couldn't get married?
Heck, she hadn't even officially agreed to go out with him. Marriage was a long, long way from here.
Footsteps sounded on the porch steps.
"I will go and let you visit with your company," Mrs. Parker said, and she nodded politely at Kylie's stepdad and walked off.
"You okay?" he asked, looking oddly at the elderly woman as he dropped into the chair she'd just vacated. "Is something wrong?"
"No," Kylie answered, and tried to push away her concern about Lucas's grandma so she could deal with her concern about seeing her stepdad again.
* * *
The visit with her stepdad wasn't as awkward as Kylie had thought. Then again, maybe it was just that after the extremely awkward visit with Lucas's grandmother, Kylie's awkward meter was malfunctioning.
Before Holiday missed her, Kylie moved her dad into the dining hall. Poor Holiday skirted from one group to another, trying to keep the peace.
As Kylie expected, her stepdad asked about her mom. Kylie didn't tell him about the business lunch/date her mom had gone on. He talked about some of the trips they'd taken on their father/daughter outings. Then he asked if she thought maybe they could go on another one soon.
Kylie hadn't said yes, but she hadn't said no. "I'll have to look at my schedule." For once, telling the truth-that some old vampire either wanted her to marry his grandson or planned to kill her-wasn't for the best.
When the time got close for him to leave, Kylie motioned to Holiday that she was going to walk her dad to his car, and Holiday's gaze shifted to Perry, who then followed them out.
When they reached the car, she hugged her dad. It didn't feel as awkward as the hug she'd given him the last time he'd come out for Parents Day, but there were still undercurrents of sadness to it.
"I love you," he whispered.
"Me too," Kylie said, and it was true. She loved him.
Before she released him, she realized he felt thinner. When she pulled away, she asked, "Are you eating okay?"
"Restaurant food isn't as good as your mom's cooking," he said.
"I miss her pancakes," Kylie said.
"I miss her." He gave her hand a tight squeeze. "If she asks about me, tell her I said that."
The loneliness she saw in his eyes gripped Kylie's chest. But he'd brought this pain on himself. None of this would have happened if he hadn't decided to bang his intern.
Mistakes. People make them. And most of the time, they had to pay for them. Was her stepdad destined to live alone the rest of his life because of his foolish decision to cheat on her mom?
"You okay?" Holiday asked as Kylie walked back inside, followed by Perry. "Did you survive the visit?"
"Yeah. It was sad, but seeing him is getting easier." Kylie looked around to check on Miranda and Della. Both looked miserable sitting like little soldiers with their respective parents.
Then she found Lucas. He sat attentively, hanging on every word his grandmother said. Evidently, the woman held a big influence over his life. But was it big enough that he wouldn't marry someone he loved because they weren't werewolf? Did Lucas even consider that a viable concern? Or was his grandmother just mentally stuck in the 1800s and thought it should be a consideration for Lucas?
Kylie looked at Holiday. It wasn't the place to ask, but the need to know was strong. "Do you think that supernaturals worry about who they'd marry because of bloodlines?"
Holiday's brows arched at Kylie's inquiry. "What brought on that question?"
"Curiosity," she lied.
Suspicion lurked in Holiday's eyes. She looked at Lucas and his grandma. The camp leader hesitated before looking back at Kylie. Kylie could tell Holiday searched for the right way to word her answer.
"I think that it might be more of a concern to some species than others," Holiday finally said.
"Like werewolves?"
She nodded. "They are the ones who have fewer mixed marriages than all the others. But it's changing. Today there are five times as many were mixed marriages than even ten years ago."
She tightened her mouth in a disapproving manner. "But those kinds of worries can wait for another ten years, young lady."
Holiday was right. It was a stupid thing to think about now. Stupid thing for Mrs. Parker to bring up, too. Kylie wasn't even seventeen. She didn't sit around and fantasize about getting married. Her dream with Lucas was a steamy make-out session, not going to a preacher to exchange vows. But stupid or not, Kylie knew she wasn't finished thinking about it.
"There she is!" a feminine voice called out, and without a doubt Kylie knew it was Sara.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, while her mom grabbed a soda, Kylie sat with Sara, feeling as if everyone in the dining hall watched and listened. Because everyone had been talking about her latest superpower gift of healing her old best friend, Kylie knew all the campers were guessing this was Sara. It wasn't that she was ashamed of healing Sara; Kylie just didn't like being the center of attention.
Sara still looked thin, but everything from the shine of her brown hair to her complexion said she was okay. Sara kept glancing around at everyone and asking who was who.
"Is that your roommate?" She pointed to Miranda, sitting with her family.
"Yes," Kylie said. "I'll introduce you to her later."
"Where's the other one? The grumpy one?"
Della, across the room, shot Kylie a smirk. "She's over there," Kylie said, and pointed.
Because Della was still glancing at them, Sara waved. "She looks like a b with an itch."
Kylie's mouth dropped. "She's not. She's one of my..." Kylie almost said best friends, but she realized how awkward that might be. Sara used to be Kylie's best friend. "She's one of my good friends here."
"I remember you saying-"
"That was a long time ago," Kylie insisted, and hoped Sara shut up before Della got her feelings hurt.
"So, you're feeling better now?" Kylie tossed out the first thing she could think of to change the subject. But from the sparkle in Sara's eyes, Kylie realized it was the wrong question. Obviously, Sara was dying to bring up the whole "you healed me" topic.
"I think you know the answer to that better than I do," Sara said.
"Know the answer to what?" Her mom sat down next to Kylie.