replacement. And I'd like you to meet Mr. Burnett James. He comes highly recommended."

Kylie wondered if Holiday knew how tel ing the second "just temporary" was? The fact that she was going to have to work with Burnett was no doubt eating her alive.

"My second news..." Holiday then went into her spiel about the camp becoming a boarding school. Kylie watched her mom as Holiday did her dog and pony show. She half expected her mom to stand up and applaud and scream out, Freedom at last, freedom at last.

Oddly enough, her mom was able to hide her excitement. Kylie felt a shot of guilt scratch across her conscience. How unfair was it that Kylie wanted to sign on ful -time to the school, and yet she was going to be pissed at her mom for wanting the same. After Holiday finished, Kylie looked back at her mom and said, "You want to take a walk? There are some paths through the woods that are nice."

Her mom looked down at her feet. "Sure. Luckily I wore tennis shoes."

Kylie decided to take her mom to a less woodsy trail that ended by the creek. It wasn't as nice as her and Derek's spot, but stil pretty. She went by the cabin to get a blanket for them to sit on.

Her mom meandered around the cabin. "This is sparse, but nice."

Socks came running out of her bedroom and attacked her mom's shoelaces. "Oh, it's sooo cute."

Her mom picked up Socks, Jr., and held it up to her face. "Whose kitten is it?"

"Uh, mine."

Her mom looked surprised. "Okay, but don't you think you should have cleared that with me first?"

"I ... yeah, I guess I should have," Kylie said.

Her mom continued to stare at the feline. "Do you know what cat this reminds me of?"

"Socks?" Kylie said.

"Yeah. Do you remember her? We had that cat when you were born. Your dad got it for me the day we had our first sonogram. He was so excited, he..." Her mom stopped talking and blinked as if to chase the memory from her mind. "Yeah, cute kitten." She put the feline down as if she half blamed the kitten for bringing on a painful memory.

Kylie saw the emotion in her mom's eyes, and she wished she could punch her dad. She swal owed the knot forming in her throat and went to grab a blanket.

They walked in silence, and then her mom asked, "You are cal ing your dad now, aren't you?"

Kylie almost lied, but then said, "The phone works both ways, Mom. If he wants to talk to me, he can cal ."

"Honey, men aren't always good at-"

"It's not men we're talking about. It's Dad."

"I'm sure he didn't intentional y forget about coming to see you. His work sometimes can be chal enging."

"Real y?" Kylie asked. "Is that why you barbecued his shorts on the gril?"

Chapter Forty-one

Her mom continued alongside Kylie, walking through the path in the woods. "I'm not very proud of doing that."

"You should be," Kylie said. "I think it was very fitting."

Her mom looked at her before speaking. "He's just going through something right now, Kylie. That's al ."

The fact that her mom would defend him pushed Kylie over the edge. "Yeah, he's going through his super-young assistant."

Her mom stopped and grabbed Kylie's arm. Tears fil ed her mom's eyes. "Oh, baby. I'm so sorry."

Kylie shook her head. "Why are you apologizing? Are you having an affair, too? I swear, if you're seeing someone my age, I'm divorcing both of you."

"No. I would never ... I didn't want ... you to find out. You were always so close." Her mom held a hand over her trembling lips for a second. "How did you find out?"

Kylie sensed it would hurt her mom to know that her dad brought the bimbo with him last weekend, so she lied. "I caught him in a lie."

She shook her head. "He never was good at lying."

Right then, Kylie wondered how good her mother was at lying. Did her dad even know the truth? She stopped moving and closed her eyes and considered the question she needed to ask.

"My, this is pretty," her mom said.

Kylie opened her eyes and found her mom looking over at the stream. "Yeah." Kylie moved closer to the stream and stretched out the blanket for them to sit.

Her mom sat down and stared at the water. "Is there real y a waterfal here?"

"I'm told there is," Kylie said, hoping to keep the frustration about never having seen the fal s from her voice. And right then, she decided even if she had to go alone, she was going to see that fal s-for some crazy reason, it seemed important that she went. "I've never seen it, though."

"Why not?"

Kylie shrugged. "Supposedly, there's a legend about there being ghosts there. Most everyone is afraid to go there." Me included, Kylie thought, but didn't say it-not that it would stop her next time.

"Real y?" Her mom looked intrigued. "I love ghost stories, don't you?"

"Sometimes," Kylie answered honestly, and glanced away so her mom couldn't read anything in her expression.

"Wel , it's peaceful here," her mom said. "I like it." She leaned over and patted Kylie's hand. "Thanks for bringing me here."

Cal Kylie a coward, but she shelved the question she didn't want to ask, and went for the less explosive topic. One her mom should be happy about. "What do you think about the camp turning into a boarding school?"