Awake at Dawn (Shadow Falls #2)(99)

Why would the ghost send Trey's message to everyone in the room? Kylie looked up at the ghost who stood in the middle of the room wearing spaghetti all over her blood-soaked nightgown, which definitely would be putting Kylie off pasta for a long time. "It's Trey? I'm supposed to help Trey? But you said ... 'she' needed help."

The ghost started to fade.

"Don't you dare leave!" Kylie screeched.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I thought you were right behind me," her mom called from the other room. Seconds later, she ran back in and dropped beside Kylie. "Oh, God, is she dead?"

The woman's eyes shot open and she screamed.

Twenty minutes later, while Kylie's mom spoke to the ambulance driver who was about to cart off Celeste and one of the guests who was now complaining of chest pains, Kylie got her mom's phone and deleted

Trey's message. The last thing Kylie wanted was her mom getting suspicious. She hoped her mom hadn't heard Trey's name mentioned in the mix of things.

Kylie listened to his message. All he'd said was to call him. She did. It went to his voicemail. Just freaking great!

When Kylie woke up the next morning at nine o'clock, she had two startling realizations.

First: She hadn't been woken up at dawn by the ghost. Did this mean anything? Was it a good thing? A bad thing?

Second: And this was the shocker. She wasn't alone. Nope. Completely covered under the blanket next to Kylie was a body. Dead or alive, she wasn't sure.

Biting back a scream, she touched it. More like poked it. It wasn't cold. It even made a oomph sound. Her mom's head popped out from under the covers. When she saw Kylie's expression, she bolted upright.

"What is it?"

Kylie blinked. "What are you doing in my bed?"

"Oh." She ran a hand through her newly styled hair that really looked good on her. "I came to check in on you. I guess I ... dropped off." Kylie giggled. "You were scared."

Her mom did an eye roll that would put Sara to shame. "Nooo." She broke down and laughed. "Okay, yes. It was freaky. I was shocked you could sleep."

"It was just a ghost." Kylie grinned.

"You say that as if you see them all the time." Her mom touched Kylie's cheek. "I'm so happy you're home. See how much fun we can have? You don't need to go to boarding school."

Kylie's breath caught. "But I really want to go, Mom."

The spark in her mom's eyes dimmed. "Let's not talk about this now. We have a wonderful day planned."

In spite of the anti-boarding school talk, and the fact that Kylie still was unable to get in touch with Trey, her mood remained positive. The ghost had apparently decided to give Kylie a reprieve. That or she decided she'd just caused enough trouble after last night's scene. A call to the B&B informed them that both Celeste and the old man who'd complained of chest pains had been released from the hospital.

They decided to do pizza for lunch and were primed to leave when Kylie's phone rang. When she saw it was Miranda, she asked for a few minutes. Her mom took off to check her e-mail.

"Hey," Miranda said. "I got us on three-way. Say hello, Della."

"A verbal menage a trois," Della said.

"Gross," Miranda said.

"You wanna hear gross?" Della asked. "I just peed on my hand trying to piss on this damned drug stick while talking on the phone to you."

Kylie laughed. "I miss you guys." The sound of a toilet flushing filled the line.

"Oh, double gross," Miranda snapped. "I told you not to flush while I was on the phone."

Kylie dropped on the sofa. "Miranda, have you gone to your competition yet?"

"I'm not on until four." She sounded desperate.

"You'll do fine," Kylie said.

"You will," Della added. "How was the ghost hunt, Kylie?"

Kylie checked to make sure her mom wasn't near. "You aren't freaking going to believe this." She gave them the lowdown. They all had a good laugh and then the conversation switched to how much they all wished they were back at Shadow Falls. When Kylie realized she'd been talking for almost ten minutes, she told them good-bye. They agreed to talk this afternoon.

"I'm ready, Mom." The doorbell rang. Kylie ran to the door while her mom called that she was shutting off her computer. When Kylie swung open the door all the awkwardness from the night before came hurling at her. Funny how last night's unease had stemmed from her dad not being present and now it stemmed because he was here.

"Hi, Pumpkin."

The question popping around Kylie's head was if her mom knew Dad was coming.

"Are you ready to-" Mom's tennis shoes stopped so fast at the opening to the entryway. The skid marks on the marble floor and the shock on her mom's face answered Kylie's question.

Mom didn't know. Even more apparent, Mom wasn't happy.

Her dad's gaze went to her mom. "Hi, hon." His smile wavered. The nervousness of his grin sent a desperate flutter to Kylie's gut. Okay, her dad deserved to be nervous. But it still felt downright wrong to open the door to her dad when this had been his home. His castle. Now he was unsure if he was welcome. And if her mom's expression was any indication, he wasn't.