Discovering (Lily Dale #4)(36)

“It’s better. How was your trip to Florida?”

“Great,”she lies, not wanting to get into it.

“What’d you do?”

“Oh, you know . . . the usual Florida stuff.”

“The weather was great, right?”

Was it? That was so far off her radar, given what happened, that there could have been a hurricane and she probably wouldn’t remember.

“Sure,”she agrees, because it’s easier that way. “The weather was great, and I hung out with my old friends.”

“Yeah. I kept seeing you there.”

Seeing her?

Oh! He means in a psychic vision, of course.

“What did you see?”she asks cautiously, aware that now he’s going to ask her about Sharon Logan, and about her mother, and maybe even about the baby.

And then she’s going to have to explain it all to Evangeline, too.

Life was so much less complicated when she wasn’t surrounded by people who know as much— or more— about what she’s been doing than she does.

“You know, you were in the water—couldn’t tell if it was a pool or the Gulf,”Blue says.

Now he’s going to tell me someone was trying to drown me, and he’s going to ask why . . . unless he already knows.

“You were wearing a bathing suit, and you looked great in it, of course— and you were really relaxed, and there were palm trees, you know, and a bunch of people. You were having a great time.”

“Really?”Calla doesn’t dare look at Evangeline, who now knows the truth about what happened there.

Calla hasn’t worn a bathing suit in ages.

And her time in the water was hardly relaxing.

“Yeah, really.”Blue flashes her his familiar, flirty smile. “I like to keep tabs on you, you know?”

Uneasy, she watches the wipers’ rhythmic arc across the rain-spattered windshield. “Well, anyway . . . thanks for picking us up. I thought your dad didn’t like you to drive to school.”

That’s because Blue got a speeding ticket one morning, doing sixty in a school zone.

“Yeah, well, he doesn’t have much choice. I mean, what am I supposed to do? Hobble down the road on crutches?”

“He could drop you off,”Evangeline points out.

“Yeah, he could . . . if he were around. But he’s not.”

Typical. Blue’s father, David Slayton, is a celebrity medium who spends far more time in front of television cameras in New York and LA than he does with his son in Lily Dale.

Calla has only met the man once, and was unnerved by his warning that she was going to find herself in a dangerous situation. He didn’t specify water, as others had, but somehow, his warning left just as great an impact on her.

But . . . what about Blue?

Why is he talking about things that didn’t happen, as if he’s trying hard— too hard— to convince her of his psychic abilities?

Maybe because he doesn’t have any, she realizes, and her stomach turns a little.

Maybe, living in his father’s larger-than- life shadow, Blue feels obligated to live up to a larger-than- life reputation. And maybe he thinks that the only way he can do that is to lie.

Sitting beside him, driving toward the school, Calla is certain she made the right choice when she chose Jacy over Blue, the guy all the Lily Dale High girls want.

With Jacy, what you see is what you get.

He doesn’t play games, and he doesn’t pretend to be someone he’s not.

They pull into the crowded school parking lot, and Blue instantly finds an empty spot close to the door.

“This is a miracle,”Evangeline declares, as he turns off the engine. “I thought you’d have to park in, like, the next state. How’d you manage this?”

“Guess I was born under a lucky star. Hey, Calla, can I talk to you for a second?”

Uh-oh.

“Sure.”

As Evangeline scrambles out of the backseat, she raises her brows at Calla, who shrugs.

She has no idea what Blue wants to talk about, but she has a feeling it’s not the weather.

“See you later, guys. Thanks for the ride, Blue.”

“No problem.”

Evangeline closes the door behind her, leaving them alone in the car to watch her splash off through the rain toward the redbrick school.

“Calla . . .”

She turns toward him reluctantly, wondering what to say if he asks her out again. She can tell him she can’t because of Jacy, though she and Jacy haven’t exactly discussed whether they’re free to see other people. She knows she doesn’t want to, and she’s pretty sure he doesn’t either.

“What’s up, Blue?”she asks breezily, as if she’s expecting him to ask her what the cafeteria is serving for lunch today.

“Before my dad left for London last night, he asked me if I’d seen you lately. I kind of . . . told him you were away.”

Puzzled, she says, “That’s okay. I was.”

“No, I mean . . . I told him you were still away last night. And that I didn’t know when you were coming back.”

“You lied? Why?”

“Because I didn’t want him bugging you.”

“Bugging me?”she echoes. “Why would he bug me?”