Chosen at Nightfall

Chapter Twenty-four

  "Okay," Kylie said, in a bit of a panic. "Well, it's gonna be a quick walk because I . . . I have to go pee. "

  "You went to the bathroom at the restaurant," her dad said as if her peeing habits concerned him.

  "Tiny bladder. " She popped out of the car. She cut her eyes briefly at the other car and saw the passenger side door opening and then she saw . . .

  "Oh, crap!" It was not the Brightens. And right now she really, really wished it were.

  Her mom and . . . She watched in sheer horror as John's head appeared on the other side of the car.

  "Kylie?" her mom called out in a stern voice.

  She turned to her dad. "You should leave before . . . before things go crazy. "

  "It's okay. " Her dad looked embarrassed. "Just because of what happened last time doesn't mean we can't be civil to each other. "

  Her mom's posture and expression as she came stomping over to the car didn't seem to agree with her dad's "civil" declaration. Oh, lord, Kylie was so not in the mood to deal with her parents' drama right now.

  But as she got closer, Kylie noticed her mom, her hair mussed, her clothes wrinkled, and her eyes bloodshot, didn't have her frown zeroed in on her dad, but on Kylie.

  Okay . . . whose drama was this? Her parents'? Or . . .

  "Is it true?" her mom snapped.

  Kylie instantly remembered her mom had just flown back from England, which explained her appearance, but it didn't explain what was wrong.

  Kylie looked to her dad to see if his expression would tell her if he had a clue to what her mom was talking about. But he looked equally puzzled.

  "Is what true?" Kylie asked, and noticed John walking up to stop beside her mom. He didn't appear wrinkled or jet-lagged. But just seeing the man sent a bad feeling wiggling its way inside her.

  "You called your dad about this, but not me?" her mom asked.

  Kylie saw Holiday and Burnett high stepping it out of the office, probably thinking another free-for-all fistfight was about to occur.

  Glancing back to her mom, Kylie sent up a prayer that this-whatever this was-wouldn't escalate into chaos.

  "I didn't call him about anything. What are you talking about?"

  "Did you use the credit card I gave you?"

  Kylie nodded, her mind running circles and then landing on a possible answer to what this was all about. But Kylie really really hoped she was wrong.

  "Are you pregnant?" her mom blurted out.

  Okay, so Kylie wasn't wrong. Her mouth opened but nothing came out. "She's pregnant?" Her dad looked at Kylie with a stern parental glare. "We won't be able to go on that hiking trip now!"

  "Unfreakingbelievable," her mom seethed. "You hear your daughter's pregnant and you're worried about a hiking trip. "

  "No, I was . . . I'm just in shock. "

  He wasn't the only one shocked. "Stop!" Kylie said.

  "Just answer me, young lady," her mom demanded.

  "No, I'm not . . . pregnant. " Kylie shook her head back and forth, imitating Burnett's hell-no head shake.

  "I haven't even . . . I'm. . . " I'm still a virgin! The words sat on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't spit them out.

  "Then why would you buy three pregnancy tests?"

  "You bought three pregnancy tests?" her father echoed.

  Kylie suddenly noticed another car parked beside John's Cadillac. It didn't have tinted windows, but it didn't matter if it did, because the windows were rolled down and the elderly couple in the front seat both had their faces turned, listening to the fiasco that was going on.

  It suddenly hit Kylie who these people were.

  The Brightens.

  It had to be, didn't it? With Kylie's luck, yup, it had to be them.

  Lovely.

  Just lovely.

  Kylie's knees started to tingle, signaling her desire to vanish.

  Not now. Not now!

  Take a deep breath and just relax. The voice came with a certain familiar chill.

  Kylie looked around and didn't see him, but could hear him. Daddy?

  I'm here. It's gonna be okay. I promise.

  Your parents are going to think I'm a slut.

  Nah. They are going to love you. You'll see. You will impress them. And soon, soon we will be together.

  Kylie gasped. Am I going to die?

  Daddy? Daniel? He, and his familiar cold, were gone.

  Kylie took a big gulp of air. Now on top of worrying about her possible upcoming death and convincing everyone that she wasn't pregnant, she had to worry about the Brightens liking her. Because if they didn't, it would no doubt hurt her dad.

  Oh, hell! Maybe she should just vanish.

  * * *

  Daniel, her dad, was right, at least about everything being okay. Well, she still had to face the Brightens.

  But within two minutes, Holiday had the Brightens by the arms and was escorting them into the office.

  Much to Kylie's relief, her parents were clueless as to who they even were.

  And within five minutes, she had her stepdad on his way to his meeting, and her mom had calmed down. Not completely chilled, but calmer. Holiday had explained the whole confusion with the pregnancy tests in a much more rational way than it actually went down. Claiming the test had been for her and that she'd forgotten her purse and Kylie had been so kind to offer the credit card, and she'd already mailed a check to her mom. And so on and so on.

  Yeah, Holiday pretty much lied, but it sounded really good.

  Her mom explained that after the flight she'd found the credit card company had called and thought the charges might be fraud because the card had never been used and charges were made in Fallen, not in Houston. Her mom wanted to make sure the card hadn't been stolen so she called the drugstore to check on the purchase. That's when she was informed it was for three pregnancy tests and the buyer had been a Kylie Galen.

  Now that her mom had calmed down, Holiday walked back to the office. Kylie spent about five minutes visiting with her mom, pretending to be interested in her off-the-wall ramblings about England.

  Finally, her mom confessed she was too tired to think, much less talk. She kissed Kylie's forehead, told her she was so proud she wasn't pregnant, and asked John to take her home.

  John had barely said two words the whole time he was here, but Kylie had caught him watching her in a way that made her antsy. However, when the man put his arm around her mom and gently kissed her brow and told her she could sleep while he drove, Kylie felt a flicker of guilt for not liking him.

  Maybe Kylie needed an attitude adjustment where John was concerned. Because face it, if he made her mom happy, that made Kylie happy.

  Liar, her heart seemed to say as it skipped some beats. She wasn't happy with John. But maybe Kylie should work on that. Work on trying to like the man. It felt impossible. Yet so much in her life lately had felt impossible-like the possibility of her impending death, like letting go of Lucas-that maybe she just needed to try harder.

  Waving good-bye to her mom, Kylie headed back to the office to face the Brightens. And she had another case of stomach flutters. And for good reason, too. One's very first conversation with your recently discovered grandparents shouldn't be about pregnancy. Even when the conversation was about not being pregnant.

  Stopping at the office door, mentally exhausted, she thought about how her day started on a downward spiral ever since Miranda had turned Nikki into a kangaroo with pimples.

  This was definitely going down as one of her most bizarre days.

  Squaring her shoulders, determined to get through this meeting with Daniel's adoptive parents, hopefully without having the sword appear again, Kylie decided that after this visit, she was going to go to her cabin and either cry or eat a lot of chocolate.

  May
be both.

  She recalled her dad's promise that the Brightens would love her, and while she trusted her dad with all her heart, she couldn't help but worry. Then again, maybe they were going to be so thrilled to have a granddaughter that they wouldn't even care if they thought she was sleeping around and possibly pregnant.

  Right before she reached for the knob, Kylie experienced a bit of deja vu. She'd been right here before -walking into the office thinking she was to meet the Brightens. Of course, that turned out to be her real grandfather and aunt. But the point was, she recalled with clarity the fear and anxiety she'd felt then.

  A crazy sense of accomplishment tugged at her heart. While she'd just admitted to being worried and either wanting chocolate or a good cry, what she felt now was so much more manageable. No matter what happened in there, Kylie would be able to deal with it. She could almost hear Nana, her mother's mother, whispering from the outskirts of heaven, My little Kylie is growing up.

  Suddenly feeling a bit more confident, and deciding that maybe all she'd need this afternoon was some good chocolate, Kylie walked into the office.

  Holiday came rushing up to her. "Burnett has the Brightens in the conference room sipping tea. He took the sword to my house and locked it in a closet so . . . maybe that won't happen again. I explained the whole pregnancy situation to the Brightens, too. " Holiday bit down her lip in concern. "Oh, Kylie, I'm so sorry. All this is my fault. I got you into this jam. "

  "It's fine," Kylie said.

  Holiday gave her a quick soothing hug. "Are you really okay?"

  Kylie inhaled. "A little nervous, but yeah, I'm okay. "

  "Do you want me to come in with you?"

  Kylie considered it, and then said, "No, I . . . I think I can handle it. "

  Holiday sighed. "You are growing up. "

  Kylie stared at the fae. "I could swear I just heard my grandmother say that. "

  "She did," Holiday said. "She was just here. "

  Kylie grinned. "Really?"

  Holiday nodded. "She pops in at the oddest times. "

  Kylie felt her Nana's love stir inside her. "Tell her I love her," Kylie said, and went to meet the people who had raised her father and probably contributed to the great man, and ghost, that he turned out to be.

  * * *

  When Kylie walked in, Burnett was already standing up, ready to excuse himself. "I'll let you three visit. "

  As he walked past, he rested his hand on her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. It was a cold touch, but came with warmth and a feeling of go get 'em, girl. She was hit again with how lucky she was to have the people at Shadow Falls in her life.

  The moment Burnett left, and she felt both Mr. and Mrs. Brighten's gazes on her, the flutters in her stomach returned full force.

  She gave herself a second just to study them. Mr. Brighten was balding, with brownish gray eyes, and he had a kind face. Mrs. Brighten had a head of thick gray hair and what looked like hazel eyes. She had a gentle, kind look about her. A little plump and with a likable face. Like someone you would pick out of a crowd to play the part of loving grandmother.

  "Hi. " Kylie forced a smile, but she didn't force it too hard. She took one step into the room and decided to clear the air first. "I just want to reconfirm that you know that I'm not pregnant. "