First: She hadn't been woken up at dawn by the ghost. Did this mean anything? Was it a good thing? A bad thing?
Second: And this was the shocker. She wasn't alone. Nope. Completely covered under the blanket next to Kylie was a body. Dead or alive, she wasn't sure.
Biting back a scream, she touched it. More like poked it. It wasn't cold. It even made a oomph sound. Her mom's head popped out from under the covers. When she saw Kylie's expression, she bolted upright.
"What is it?"
Kylie blinked. "What are you doing in my bed?"
"Oh." She ran a hand through her newly styled hair that really looked good on her. "I came to check in on you. I guess I ... dropped off." Kylie giggled. "You were scared."
Her mom did an eye roll that would put Sara to shame. "Nooo." She broke down and laughed. "Okay, yes. It was freaky. I was shocked you could sleep."
"It was just a ghost." Kylie grinned.
"You say that as if you see them all the time." Her mom touched Kylie's cheek. "I'm so happy you're home. See how much fun we can have? You don't need to go to boarding school."
Kylie's breath caught. "But I really want to go, Mom."
The spark in her mom's eyes dimmed. "Let's not talk about this now. We have a wonderful day planned."
In spite of the anti-boarding school talk, and the fact that Kylie still was unable to get in touch with Trey, her mood remained positive. The ghost had apparently decided to give Kylie a reprieve. That or she decided she'd just caused enough trouble after last night's scene. A call to the B&B informed them that both Celeste and the old man who'd complained of chest pains had been released from the hospital.
They decided to do pizza for lunch and were primed to leave when Kylie's phone rang. When she saw it was Miranda, she asked for a few minutes. Her mom took off to check her e-mail.
"Hey," Miranda said. "I got us on three-way. Say hello, Della."
"A verbal menage a trois," Della said.
"Gross," Miranda said.
"You wanna hear gross?" Della asked. "I just peed on my hand trying to piss on this damned drug stick while talking on the phone to you."
Kylie laughed. "I miss you guys." The sound of a toilet flushing filled the line.
"Oh, double gross," Miranda snapped. "I told you not to flush while I was on the phone."
Kylie dropped on the sofa. "Miranda, have you gone to your competition yet?"
"I'm not on until four." She sounded desperate.
"You'll do fine," Kylie said.
"You will," Della added. "How was the ghost hunt, Kylie?"
Kylie checked to make sure her mom wasn't near. "You aren't freaking going to believe this." She gave them the lowdown. They all had a good laugh and then the conversation switched to how much they all wished they were back at Shadow Falls. When Kylie realized she'd been talking for almost ten minutes, she told them good-bye. They agreed to talk this afternoon.
"I'm ready, Mom." The doorbell rang. Kylie ran to the door while her mom called that she was shutting off her computer. When Kylie swung open the door all the awkwardness from the night before came hurling at her. Funny how last night's unease had stemmed from her dad not being present and now it stemmed because he was here.
"Hi, Pumpkin."
The question popping around Kylie's head was if her mom knew Dad was coming.
"Are you ready to-" Mom's tennis shoes stopped so fast at the opening to the entryway. The skid marks on the marble floor and the shock on her mom's face answered Kylie's question.
Mom didn't know. Even more apparent, Mom wasn't happy.
Her dad's gaze went to her mom. "Hi, hon." His smile wavered. The nervousness of his grin sent a desperate flutter to Kylie's gut. Okay, her dad deserved to be nervous. But it still felt downright wrong to open the door to her dad when this had been his home. His castle. Now he was unsure if he was welcome. And if her mom's expression was any indication, he wasn't.
"I thought maybe I could take you girls to lunch," he said.
Her mom took a step back. "I ... I should have known you'd want to see her." She waved a hand toward the door. "You two go."
"Why don't you come, too?" her dad insisted.
"I think not," her mom countered.
"Kylie wants you to come." His father's gaze shot to her. "Don't you, Pumpkin? Like ol' times, the three of us."
Her mother frowned. Kylie frowned. Her dad grew more nervous. The tension in the room grew terse.
Her mom notched up her chin. "Why not make it four? Your whore can come, too."
"Oh! This is a bad time, isn't it?" Trey's voice came right behind her dad.
Kylie's mom shot up the stairs. Her dad looked stunned. Trey looked embarrassed.
Then her dad frowned at Kylie. "Didn't you tell her it was over?"
Had she heard him right? "Huh?"
"You didn't tell her that it was over with Amy?"
"Should I leave?" Trey asked.
"Yes," her dad answered.
Kylie's head reeled. She watched Trey go. She heard her mom crying. Kylie stared at her dad-stepdad. The idea that he'd actually attempted to use her to get her mom gnawed on some very raw nerves. The fact that he'd expected her to update her mom about his relationship status pretty much nuked those nerves.
She pointed at her dad. "Don't you ever try to use me to get to my mom!"
"I thought-"
"Then stop thinking!" She slammed the door. The house shook. The small glass window in the doorframe shattered. She saw her dad's startled expression through the broken window before he took off. She breathed in.
She breathed out.
Then she took the stairs two at a time to check on her mom.
It took Kylie an hour to convince her mom to go out for pizza again.
She'd tried calling Trey hoping to see what was so important that the ghost had sent his message to everyone in the room, but she got no answer. They were in the middle of lunch at the pizza parlor, still not back to their prior jovial mood, when her phone started croaking.
"Oh, honey," her mom said. "Change that ringtone." She hugged herself and called out to the waiter, "Can you turn down the air?"
Kylie grabbed her cell. There was no call, but an old voice message played.
"Hi, Kylie. It's Sara. I'm sorry I had to hang up like that. I ... had something I had to take care of. Listen, I really want to see you when you're home. Please make sure to call me?"
"Who was it?" her mom asked, then lowered her voice. "Your dad?"