Chosen at Nightfall (Shadow Falls #5)(71)

"If you would like you can keep it," Mrs. Brighten said. "I made it up for you."

Kylie smiled. "Thank you so much! I will cherish this, I promise."

Mr. Brighten sat up. "You even act like your father. He was so ... polite."

"Yes," Mrs. Brighten said. "He was such a good boy. Always kindhearted. A gentle spirit. A little shy sometimes, but-"

"I can be shy, too," Kylie said. "I hate it when I'm called on to stand up and talk or give a report in school." Or everyone is looking at my weird pattern. Or thinking I'm pregnant.

Mrs. Brighten smiled. "He really didn't like school very well. He always said he felt as if he didn't fit in anywhere."

"Oh boy, do I know how that feels," Kylie said.

"Not that he got into trouble. Well, there was that one time in his last year of high school. There was a kid at school, Timmy. He was slow, and while walking home from school, Daniel came upon a group of older boys picking on him-really mistreating him. There were maybe six of them, and Daniel lost it. We still don't know how he did it, but he gave all of them bloody noses and black eyes. And there wasn't a scratch on our boy."

Kylie listened to the story with a hungry heart-a daughter eager to know about a father she knew so little about.

"The school suspended him," Mrs. Brighten continued, "but when Timmy's parents found out, they went to the local news channel and they interviewed Timmy about what happened, and the news channel honored Daniel as a hero. And the boys got in trouble. The school was forced to drop Daniel's suspension. Of course, Daniel was embarrassed about the attention. The news channel gave him a trophy, and the next day, he went over to Timmy's house and gave him the trophy. He said that Timmy was the real hero having to deal with those bullies all his life."

Pride for her dad swelled in Kylie's chest. He'd been a protector just like her, and like her, he didn't want the credit. She wished again that she hadn't lost the man whom she'd taken after. Sure, she still had a part of him in spirit form, but she could have used so much more.

"But you know after he graduated from high school, he just sort of found himself. As a matter of fact, one day he came home from a trip and he told me he was finally figuring out who he was."

Kylie remembered her dad telling her about meeting an old man who'd told him he wasn't human. She wondered if that was the same trip.

"I told him," Mrs. Brighten continued, "that I already knew who he was. He was a kind and gentle soul." She stared at Kylie. "I see the same in you. As if ... as if you had some magic spirit that very few people have." She reached across the table and rested her hand on Kylie's.

The aged hand reminded Kylie of how her great-aunt had touched her when playing the part of Mrs.

Brighten. There was no extra warmth from the real Mrs. Brighten's touch as had come from her greataunt's. Yet it didn't make the real Mrs. Brighten's touch any less special. And just like that, Kylie knew how easy it was going to be to love these people, and how lucky her father had been to be raised by them.

* * *It was almost five that afternoon before Burnett and Holiday, holding hands like two lovebirds, walked Kylie to her cabin. Della waited inside to take over shadowing duties.

"You sure you'll be all right?" Holiday asked.

"Yeah." And amazingly, Kylie sort of believed it. Yes, she was still craving some chocolate to counteract the freaking crazy day, and yes, her heart would forever be broken over Lucas, but she was going to be okay.

Thinking of her other roommate, Kylie asked, "Did you talk with Miranda about the Nikki episode?"

"Yes," Holiday said, her eyes frowning. "Although I haven't come up with her other punishment yet."

Kylie couldn't help but put in her two cents. "I'm not saying Miranda didn't do wrong, but Nikki was being overly obvious about her crush with Perry. I even warned her about it. But she didn't listen."

"I know," Holiday said. "Nikki was wrong, but Miranda can't go around turning people into kangaroos."

"Really? You seemed to enjoy hearing about it when she did that to me," Burnett said sarcastically.

Holiday hiccuped. "That was funny." She sent him a devilish grin.

Kylie watched them leave before stepping inside. She found Della sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on a glass of blood, with schoolbooks in front of her. The little vamp took her homework seriously.

Della looked up. "I agree with Holiday. It was funny when Miranda turned Burnett into a kangaroo."

Kylie slumped down into a chair. "Where's Miranda?"

Della rolled her eyes. "She and Perry went off to have make-up 'almost sex'-her words, not mine.

Personally I didn't need to know that. Although I have to admit I wonder exactly what 'almost sex' is."

She frowned. "Then again, it probably involves Perry sucking her earlobes and I'm really not willing to hear about that. Again."

Kylie chuckled. "When you think about it, all things sexual are sort of ... I mean, even French kissing ... having someone's tongue in your mouth. It's gross."

"Unless you're doing it." Della's words came out dreamlike. Kylie felt certain her friend was thinking about Steve. "And then it's not gross. It's almost magic."