As the room filled with parents, Kylie really began to worry her dad was a no show. Her throat felt tight, her heart started breaking. Wanting to get away from the crowd, she escaped outside and went to sit on the office porch ... to wait. If he didn't show, it wouldn't matter, she told herself. It wasn't as if he hadn't let her down before.
So why did it hurt so much?
It wasn't until she got settled in her chair that she remembered she was still being shadowed. She wasn't supposed to leave the dining hall without Holiday.
She started to get back up when she heard, "Hello, Miss Galen."
The female voice startled her and she yelped.
She turned in the chair and found herself staring at Lucas's grandmother Mrs. Parker. The fact that Lucas's grandmother knew who she was was a surprise.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you. You startled me," Kylie said, still holding her hand over her heart. "It must run in the family." She smiled. "Lucas is always sneaking up on me."
"It's a werewolf thing." She motioned to the chair. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not." Kylie leaned back in her chair and tried to appear relaxed. But she got the feeling that this wasn't just an accidental encounter. What could Lucas's grandmother want with her?
The woman sauntered across the porch. For someone who moved so slow, it surprised Kylie that she did it so silently and with an amazing amount of grace. She lowered herself into the chair, and even the wood didn't creak. She folded her aged hands in her lap, looking the epitome of propriety. She stared out for a few minutes, whether looking at the sky or the woods, Kylie didn't know.
The silence seemed awkward, but Kylie got the feeling it would be rude to rush her. For a second, she stared at the woman's hands, remembering the hands of the elderly woman who had come into the camp pretending to be her grandmother.
Mrs. Parker glanced at Kylie. "My grandson is quite smitten with you."
Smitten? Kylie didn't know people still used that word. But since the woman was well over a hundred, Kylie supposed it fit her vocabulary.
"Uh, I ... like Lucas, too."
She nodded and leaned in a bit. "He mentioned that you knew him when you two were young."
"Yes." The concerned look on the woman's face told Kylie what this might be about. Most supernaturals believed that a supernatural raised by rogue parents was unsalvageable-once a rogue, always a rogue. For that reason, Lucas had lied and stated he'd been raised by his grandmother all his life. "But I would never tell anyone that he lived with his parents."
"Good," she said. "He has high hopes of making something of himself. He is being considered in line to be a grand leader of the pack-to sit on the werewolf council-and this news could tarnish his reputation." She tightened her brows and studied Kylie's pattern and frowned.
"I'm sorry," Kylie said, assuming the woman's frown was about Kylie's unwillingness to let her see past her pattern. "I don't mean to be rude. I still don't know how to open up. I'm assuming Lucas explained my situation. That I'm not sure what I am."
"Yes. Lucas enlightened me on the matter." She continued to study Kylie. "Tell me, Miss Galen. Do you think you're werewolf?"
The question hung heavy in the air, reminding Kylie that Lucas had asked much the same question. Kylie's stomach knotted, and instantly she suspected what this conversation was really about. Obviously, his pack weren't the only ones wanting him to stay away from her. "I'm not sure."
Mrs. Parker smiled. "For your sake and my grandson's, I hope so."
"What do you mean?" Kylie asked, even though she suspected.
Leaning forward, she touched Kylie's shoulder. The touch was warm like Lucas's, and while Kylie wanted to pull back, she felt no animosity in the older woman's hand, nor did she see it in her eyes. There was only concern and love for her grandson. "The bloodline running in my grandson's veins is pure. His life mate will have to be one of his own kind."
"And if she's not?" Kylie asked.
"If she is part were, but shows loyalty to her heritage, they may overlook her lacking. But if she is not from our blood, then not only will he be forced to step down from his place, but the pack will no longer accept him as one of them. A were must never put another being who is not of our blood before he puts his own people."
"That sounds like racism," Kylie said.
The woman shrugged. "I cannot speak of what is right or wrong. I only speak of what is. Oddly enough, it is to correct a wrong that Lucas has fueled his long held desire to be a part of the council. Since Lucas was seven and came to live with me, he has been forced to lie to his own people and to the world about his upbringing. His goal has been to make it to that respected place and then change the views of our people about children born to rogues. He aches to show that the mistakes of the parents are not always passed down to the innocent child."
She rose from the chair as silently as she sat.
"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.
"Nothing," Kylie said.
Sara let her gaze move around the room again. "Who's the hot black-haired guy who keeps staring at you?"
Kylie looked in the direction that Sara nodded. So did her mom. Lucas was staring at her, and he smiled. His grandmother must have left, because he sat alone. Then, as if he saw their gaze as an invitation to join them, he started over.
No. No. Panic stirred in Kylie's gut. At first, Kylie didn't understand why she didn't want Lucas to meet Sara. Then she remembered that Sara had always been the biggest flirt. Kylie didn't want Sara making a play for Lucas. Not so much because she worried Lucas would respond to it, but because Kylie didn't want Lucas thinking Sara was a party girl.
Old life meets new life, and Kylie didn't want either to look unappealing.
She picked up her glass of water and drank just to have something to do with her hands.
"You must be Sara." Lucas extended his hand.
Sara slipped her hand into Lucas's. "That's me. And you are?"
"Lucas Parker, Kylie's boyfriend."
Boyfriend? Kylie's breath caught. The water slipping down her throat went down the wrong pipe. She started coughing so hard, the sound bounced around the high beams of the dining hall. If that wasn't bad enough, her mom, who'd been sipping on a diet soda, did the same thing.
Crap! If there was one person in the dining hall who hadn't already stared at them, they did now.
Holiday walked over, studying Kylie and her mom as they both worked on getting air into their lungs. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Kylie managed to say, and felt some water drip from her nose. Oh, wasn't that just lovely. She wiped it away.
"How about we get some fresh air?" Holiday asked. "Why don't we take Sara and your mom to your cabin?"
"Yeah," Kylie said, and they all stood up.
Lucas seemed to sense he'd done something wrong, and he looked at her in confusion. "Well, I'll let you four go. I'll see you later."
Kylie nodded.
Lucas looked at her mom. "It was a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Galen."
"You too," her mom said, and looked at Kylie with all kinds of parental concerns that involved boyfriends and the unspoken word ... sex.
They hadn't gotten out of the dining hall before her mom leaned in. "Boyfriend? What have you not been telling me?"
Just great, Kylie thought. Now her mom would probably start mailing her the sex pamphlets.
Sara leaned in and whispered in her other ear, "He's hot."
"I know," Kylie whispered back.
"Not hot like good-looking. I mean hot like you were that day you touched me."
Kylie didn't know what to say to that. When they got to the door of the dining hall, Kylie reached for the knob, but the door swung open first and nearly knocked her down. She jumped back.
Derek and his mom came inside. Derek's gaze shot to Kylie and his eyes tightened as if her nearness hurt him. Then a look of concern filled his eyes when he noticed Sara.
"Look, Derek! It's Kylie!" Mrs. Lakes almost shouted, and again Kylie felt everyone in the room staring at her.
Without any advance warning, Kylie became locked in an embrace with Mrs. Lakes. Thankfully, she was a fast hugger.
Derek looked at Sara. "You must be Sara."
"That's me," Sara answered with her flirty smile. "Who are you?"
"This is Derek," Kylie said, and made quick introductions, which included her mom.
Mrs. Lakes waved her hand back and forth between Kylie and Derek. "I think they're sweet on each other. Isn't it cute?"
Several gasps came from the crowd behind them, probably the vampires listening in. Kylie felt her cheeks break out in embarrassment.
"Mom!" Derek rolled his eyes.
"I'm just saying the truth, honey. She's all you talk about."
Derek's face turned bright red.
Kylie's mom arched an eyebrow and eyed Kylie as if to say she would be certain to send those sex pamphlets now.
Sara chuckled.
And Kylie just wanted to die. Right there, right then. Especially when she looked back and saw Lucas taking it all in and frowning.