Awakening (Lily Dale #1)(7)

But her only alternatives to Lily Dale are Chicago—no way—or staying here in Florida with Lisa’s family—also no way. They offered, and Lisa did her best to talk Calla into it, but . . .

Well, Lisa’s parents are Kevin’s parents. Lisa’s house is Kevin’s house, and he’s still home for the summer. What if he decides to bring his new girlfriend home to meet his parents?

He does have one. He wouldn’t admit it when they broke up, and Lisa swears he hasn’t mentioned anybody, but Calla knows, the way she just knows she’s meant to go to Lily Dale.

It was Odelia’s idea. And when her grandmother first brought it up before she left Tampa after the funeral, Calla decided she really is a whack job.

Then Jeff, without even hesitating for a split second, adamantly said no way. At which point Calla found herself deciding it might not be such a bad idea after all.

She couldn’t help it. Dad, who used to be such a nonissue in her life, has been bugging her. Mom was the one who used to fill that role—and who was also the one she confided in, the one whose time and attention Calla craved. Probably because she was always so busy with work. Calla missed her when she was away at banking conferences—which was more and more often this past year—and part of the reason Dad had insisted she take some time off.

Calla feels guilty now admitting, even to herself, that as much as she missed her mother when she was gone, she also appreciated the break from the household tension. Her parents argued a lot lately, and so did Calla and her mother.

Calla might look like Mom, but she’s always acted more like her father. They’re both quiet and a little absentminded, both can get caught up in something—like reading a book or listening to music or surfing the Internet—only to realize they’ve wasted away an entire day. That sort of unproductive behavior drove Mom crazy, and it was the source of some frustrating, no-win arguments around their household.

Life would probably be a lot easier for Calla if she had her mother’s super-efficiency and organizational skills, her practicality, and above all, her supreme confidence. Calla sometimes has a hard time thinking of things to say to people.

Especially guys.

Guys who aren’t Kevin, anyway. Kevin she’s known since kindergarten, so she never thought of him as a “guy.” He was just Lisa’s brother . . . until the day he suddenly noticed her during sophomore year.

She saw it happen. She and Lisa were in the Wilsons’ pool, and Kevin came out of the house, jangling car keys, just as Calla climbed onto the diving board. He more or less stopped short, and she could feel his eyes on her in a way they had never been before.

He tossed aside the keys and hung around by the pool with Calla and Lisa instead—a first. And he offered to give Calla a ride home that night, courtesy of his newly obtained driver’s license. She could feel the vibe between them as they drove through the darkened streets of Tampa, not saying much, listening to Alicia Keys.

When he pulled up in front of her house, she thanked him and started to climb out of the car. He reached past her, pulled the door closed so that the interior light went off again, took her into his arms, and kissed her.

That was the beginning. After two great years, last spring was the end. But not the worst end that can happen to a person.

Oh, Mom. I can’t believe I’ll never see you again.

Never again will she look at her mother and feel as though she’s seeing herself a couple of decades in the future; never again will they stand back to back, laughing, as Calla’s father checks to see who is taller. It’s been a draw at five foot seven since Calla was a freshman.

I was supposed to grow taller than you. It was going to happen any day now. You said it yourself. You said you had one last growth spurt when you were my age.

You never said you were going to die, dammit! How could you leave me?

“Are you okay?” Dad asks anxiously, and she looks up to see him watching her.

“I’m fine.” She flashes a bright, fake smile.

She has to be fine. She can’t go with him to California. She can’t stay at the Wilsons with Kevin home for a few more weeks. She won’t go to Chicago with Uncle Scott and Aunt Susie.

That leaves Odelia and Lily Dale. Case closed.

Look at the bright side.There probably aren’t a whole lot of rules in Odelia’s house.

That isn’t based on intuition, it’s based on common sense. Anybody who eats gummy worms for breakfast and cold hot dogs, straight from the package, for a midnight snack—both of which Odelia did while she was staying with them— probably isn’t a stickler for rules.

Mom had a lot of rules; rules Dad didn’t bother to enforce whenever she was away on business. He was just . . . well, there. She loved him, but she never paid much attention to him, and vice versa.

Now he’s all she has, and she’s all he has, and . . . well, he’s kind of driving her crazy. He’s grown much more strict since Mom died. He’s barely let Calla out of his sight, almost as if he thinks that if he can’t see her, something awful might happen to her, too.

She looks down at her plane ticket to Buffalo with a sudden stab of regret.

Less than an hour from now, she’ll be at thirty-five thousand feet, winging her way more than a thousand miles away from her dad. Not long after she gets on her plane, he’ll return to the airport with his luggage to get on his, which will take him to the West Coast.