"See any elephants?" a familiar male voice asked.

She smiled at Lucas. "No, but I just saw a giraffe."

He looked up in the sky. "Where?"

"Over there." She pointed to the left. "Its neck is no longer connected to its body, but you can still see it if you squint."

He dropped down beside her. She thought he looked up at the clouds, but when she glanced back, she found him looking at her. He smiled.

"You just get prettier every day, Kylie Galen."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't start."

"Okay, can I say I'll miss you?"

She sat up. "Are you going to your grandmother's house?"

"Yeah. We're in Houston."

She studied the tip of her tennis shoe, and decided to just ask. "Lucas, are you working with FRU?"

His eyes widened. "Who told you?"

"I overheard Burnett and Holiday talking about it."

"After I got inside the gang that had my sister, I got with Burnett to help me bring down a few really bad guys. So yeah, I sort of worked with them. And I told them if they needed me for anything else, I would be available."

"Isn't it dangerous?"

He studied her. "Are you asking out of concern for me or for Derek?"

"Both." She had accepted that Derek had left. She hadn't completely gotten over the heartbreak, but she would.

"It's not that dangerous. If you follow the game plan, things generally go okay."

He brushed a long stand of hair from her cheek. "You know I want to be more than your friend, right?"

She went to studying her tennis shoe again.

"I don't expect you to answer. I just wanted you to know before some other guy tries to move in." He leaned closer. "I'm patient, Kylie. I've waited eleven years for you. I can wait until you're ready." He pressed a kiss to her cheek. It wasn't anything like the kisses they'd shared, especially those in her dreams. But his nearness-his woodsy scent, the feel of his lips against her skin-sent a hundred butterflies into full flutter mode.

When she looked over at him, he was gone.

And obviously so were Kylie's wits. Because for the life of her, she didn't know what she'd planned to do, reprimand him for kissing her ...or kiss him back.

And maybe it was better if she didn't answer her own question, too.

Friday morning, Kylie, Miranda, and Della, each carting suitcases, walked the trail to meet up with their parents. They walked slowly, like condemned prisoners moving to their executions.

"I'm going to be peeing on a drug test stick every hour," Della muttered.

Miranda sighed. "I'm going to screw up at my competition and my mom is going to give me up for adoption."

"I'm going to a ghost hunt," Kylie added. Both girls looked at her.

"Don't ask."

Holiday met them at the end of the trail, channeling her normal, peppy self. "Smile, guys. It's only for a few days."

They all turned and looked at each other again. Kylie dropped her suitcase and hugged them both. "I expect a phone call from each of you twice a day."

"Twice a day," Della said. "I hope you don't mind if I call when I'm peeing on a drug test stick, because that's what I'm gonna be doing the whole time."

"Just don't flush," Miranda said. "I hate it when people flush when they're talking to me."

Five minutes later, over in the dining hall, Kylie gave Holiday a big hug. "Take care of Socks," she told her.

"I'm planning on bringing him over to my place," Holiday said. When Kylie and her mom started out of the dining hall, Perry came over and gave her a nudge with his elbow. For Perry, that was equivalent to a hug. Kylie gave him a warm smile.

"It seems like you've made good friends here," her mom said.

"Yeah, I have, Mom. They're special."

Kylie almost ran out the door when Lucas stepped in front of her.

"Hello, Mrs. Galen," he said. "My name is Lucas. I just wanted to say good-bye to your daughter."

Kylie's heart raced as she worried her mom might recognize him. "Nice to meet you, Lucas," her mom said, and stepped away to give them some privacy.

He smiled. "Take care."

"I will."

He leaned in. "Dream of me," he whispered.

She rolled her eyes, but he just grinned and walked off. Kylie headed over to her mom.

"He's kind of cute," her mom said, but she had that tone-the tone she got before she started handing out the sex pamphlets. They walked out of the dining hall and headed for the car.

"Yeah," Kylie agreed, and for the umpteenth time, she hoped that the weekend went okay. No unexpected surprises, no long, uncomfortable silences with her and her mom.

When her mom started the car, the cold that filled the interior was more powerful than any car air-conditioning.

"Wow. I've never had this car get cool so fast." When her mom pulled out, Kylie glanced in the backseat to stare at the ghost in her bloody nightgown. Suddenly the ghost lurched forward and threw up all over Kylie's shoulder. The stench was awful.

Kylie fought to keep her gag reflex from bouncing up and down her throat.

"So," her mom said, oblivious to it all. "Where would you like to go for an early lunch? I'm starving."

Chapter Thirty-one

Kylie wasn't sure who it was who said you couldn't go home again. But he had it partly right. Oh, you could go home. It was just going to be awkward as hell. Amazingly, it didn't stem from her mom. They'd actually had a good three-hour drive home, phantom puke aside. The problem was the house. It felt cold, not just because the ghost had decided to tag along, but because of her dad. Or lack of dad. There was nothing, not one thing here that reminded Kylie that he'd ever lived here. Even the pictures of their father-daughter trips were gone, replaced now with pictures of just Kylie.