[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

looked down at her glass.  Now, I ll leave and stop embarrassing you.
Thank you for the water.
As Kylie watched the woman walk away, she muttered,  I m sweet on
him, too. And she was. What wasn t to like about Derek? She liked
him
405/679
for his easygoing ways, she liked the way he was nice to everyone and
didn t think he was better than anyone else. She liked him in other
ways,
too.
The vision of him standing naked in the shower filled her mind. She
was really, really sweet on Derek.
So, why hadn t she barged into his dreams? Why wasn t Derek the one
whom her subconscious went to for fulfilling some kind of naughty
fantasy? Feeling her face heat up just thinking about this in public, she
looked back down at the glasses of ice water.
213/375
 Hi, Pumpkin.
Thoughts of fantasies immediately took flight. Hi, Pumpkin. Hi,
Pumpkin. Realizing who stood right behind her, she froze. Even if she
hadn t recognized the voice, only one person called her pumpkin.
She turned and lifted her eyes to her dad & stepdad.  What are you
doing here? she blurted out, and damn it if she didn t want to drop to
the
406/679
floor, curl up in a ball, and start to cry.
 What do you think I m doing? I came to see my girl. He smiled and
looked at her the way he used to when she did something cute, or
when
she showed him a good report card.
Yup, she wanted to cry all right. The tightness in her throat made that
crystal clear.  You didn t tell me you were coming. Was that enough
of a
reason to walk away?  You should have told me.
The loving father look on his face quickly changed to an unhappy
father
look.  I would have told you if you d taken my calls, he said in a
disgruntled
voice. It was a voice he didn t use a lot, because her mom had always
been the heavy.
 I ve been busy, she answered.
His eyes tightened.  We both know I left you about seven voicemails,
two texts, and a couple of e-mails. And I don t think you ve been so
busy
407/679
that you couldn t have returned just one of them. I even called your
camp
leader.
The tears she didn t want to come started filling her eyes just as anger
started filling her chest. But she welcomed the anger, because it
crowded
out the hurt. She looked into his eyes. He had no right getting angry at
her. No right to tell her what she d done wrong when his wrongs had
totally ruined her life. Ruined her mother s life, too.
 Do you really want to talk about right and wrong? she asked.
To his credit, his expression went from annoyed to ashamed in zero
flat.  I guess your mom s been talking to you. Damn it! She really
shouldn t have told you about our problems.
214/375
 What? Are you kidding me? Are you seriously going to stand here and
blame this on Mom?
He blinked.  I just & I don t think she should have said any 
 Stop. Kylie gripped her hands to keep them from trembling & or
408/679
from punching him in the nose. Right then, she wasn t sure which was
more likely to happen.  Mom didn t tell me anything. Tears spilled
down
her face.  Mom didn t have to tell me anything. You told me. No, wait.
I
misspoke. You didn t tell me anything. You showed me.
 What are talking about, Kylie? He leaned in and lowered his voice as
if hinting she should do the same.
But she was too mad, too hurt to care who heard their argument. He d
left her. He d left her and her mom for some bimbo. The vision of him
and his slutty little intern making out in front of the downtown B&B
filled
her head.
 Well, first you hit on Holiday when you came to visit me, she said.
 That was embarrassing enough, but then I saw you in town later that
day. You hadn t come alone. And I saw you and your intern standing
in
the middle of downtown Fallen. You want to know why I remember it
so
well, Dad?
409/679
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.
So she continued,  Because you had your tongue shoved down her
throat while she had her hand jammed down your pants. Kylie
blinked
and felt more tears spilling over onto her cheeks.  Lovely, she
seethed.
 It was such a lovely sight, seeing your dad practically get a hand job
in
public.
Instantly, she realized that the entire room had gone deadly silent.
Damn! Had she really screamed that out in the middle of the entire
camp
and their parents?
She glanced out at the crowd. Staring at her and her father. And from
the look on everyone s face, yeah, she had.
215/375
Okay, now she really, really wished she d taken her dad s hint about
lowering her voice. Turning around, not looking at her dad, not look-
ing at
410/679
the crowd, she walked out of the dining room, hoping she could get
outside
before she started crying in earnest.
She would have run, but exhibiting her superfast supernatural running
skills would have caused even more of a scene.
So she walked slowly toward the exit and pretended she didn t feel the
tears gliding down her cheeks.
She pretended her heart wasn t breaking.
She pretended that she didn t know that about one hundred pairs of
eyes were watching her go.
But pretending could only take her so far.
This & this was too damn real, and it hurt her too much.
216/375
Chapter Twenty-one
The knock sounded on her bedroom door not three minutes after she
crawled into her bed and pulled the covers over her face and continued
to
cry.  Go away, Kylie called out.
The door opened. She yanked the cover from her face, expecting to see
Holiday. But nope, Derek stood there with a heck of a lot concern for
her
shimmering in his eyes.
Seeing it only made her start crying harder. She cried because of her
dad, and she cried because she felt bad about the dreams she d had
about
Lucas. Derek rushed over to the bed and pulled her against him. If he
read any of her emotions about guilt, he didn t say it. He just held her.
And she loved him for doing that, too.
She buried her head on his shoulder and continued to sob in his arms.
She didn t care that she was getting tears and snot all over his shirt.
His
arms felt so good wrapped around her and while he didn t say it, the
way
412/679
he held her said he didn t care about his shirt, either. Good thing,
because
when she got through crying, it was really going to be a mess.
 Hey? Another voice came from the open door.
Kylie pulled away and saw Della and Miranda standing there.
 I could turn him into a toad if you want, Miranda said, waving her
pinky.  Or maybe a skunk. I could use the practice.
Socks, who d been sleeping at the foot of the bed, raised his head,
meowed loudly as if in agreement, and then shot off to hide under the
bed.
Della snarled.  I could pick him up and drag him up a tree and then
drop him on his head a few times until he comes to his senses.
Kylie cried harder and then for some reason she started laughing. She
wiped her eyes and looked at three of the most beautiful people in her
world right now.  Did I really say that in front of all your parents?
 Yup. I think my dad had a stroke, Della said, grinning from ear to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]