"Mom, what did I do?" Kylie moved a couple more feet away, not wanting Lucas to hear her fight with her mom."You know what you did; don't play innocent with me."

"I'm not playing," Kylie said, growing a little more concerned, and when she looked up she saw Lucas studying her with empathy.

"You met with Mr. and Mrs. Brighten, didn't you?" Her mom spoke so loud, it hurt her ears and she was certain Lucas could hear.

Kylie moved a few more feet away. She'd planned to tell her mom as soon she got back to the States, but after the pregnancy fiasco it just hadn't seemed like a good time. And yesterday morning with all the apologies and John praise, it didn't feel right. Besides, it might just be something they needed to talk about in person.

"Yes, and I was going to tell you."

"Was? Was going to tell me? Don't you think this is something you should have told me before you did it!"

"I did tell you. I mean, I told you I wanted to do it. We talked about it months ago, remember?"

"You should have discussed this with me first."

And you should have discussed it with me years ago. Kylie found some emotional reprieve in her own anger, but she knew better than to let it out right now. Her mom was never reasonable when this upset and adding fuel to her mom's emotional fire wasn't smart.

"Did they call you? Were they upset?" Kylie had thought the Brightens had agreed to wait and meet with her mom later. Why had they gone ahead and called? But even annoyed that they had called, she couldn't imagine the Brightens being rude with her mom.

"Yes, they called me! And do you have any idea how awkward that conversation was?"

"I'm sorry. But you were in England," Kylie added.

"How long has this been scheduled, young lady?"

"They've been out of the country and I don't even think they got my message until they got back. They called and wanted to come by immediately."

"You should have run this by me first, Miss Galen."

Oh, hell, whenever her mom referred to her as Miss Galen, Kylie knew her goose was cooked. And like so many times in the past, she didn't think her goose deserved to be cooked.

"I should have been prepared to speak to them. Instead, I get this phone call out of the blue."

"I'm sorry," Kylie said.

"John was with me when the call came in. Do you have any idea how awkward that was."

Tears filled Kylie's eyes and she couldn't hold back her anger anymore. "That's why you're upset, because of John?"

"I haven't told him that Tom wasn't your father. It was completely embarrassing."

"You're embarrassed about me?" Kylie asked, and shook her head.

"Don't turn this around," her mom said.

"Turn it around?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you are so wrong here."

"I was not embarrassed about you. I'm ... I'm embarrassed that I got pregnant by someone I barely knew."

Kylie swiped at her tears. "You said you loved him."

Her mom gasped. "Of course I did, but...""But what?" Kylie asked. "But you were afraid that your precious John would see your omission of the truth as a lie?"

"Kylie, don't be-"

"And that wouldn't be good, would it?" she continued. "Wait, you don't have to answer that, because I can tell you how it feels. How it feels when someone you thought you knew keeps something from you, something that might have mattered! I can't believe you're mad at me for not telling you I contacted the Brightens when you friggin' didn't tell me about my own father, or about my grandparents, all these years!"

Her mom's intake of air said a lot. "I ... I thought I explained that?"

"Yeah, you explained that you were so in love with my father, and now you claim you hardly knew him."

"I ... I don't think this is something we should discuss over the phone."

"Really? That's sort of how I felt about telling you about the Brightens." Another few tears rolled down her cheeks.

She hung up so angry she almost wanted to throw the phone down. She didn't, but she did turn it off just in case her mom tried to call back.

"I'm sorry." Lucas's words came behind her.

She wiped her tears away again and turned around. She hadn't known he was so close and unintentionally ran right into him. Her face landed on his oh-so-perfect chest. His arms, warm and gentle, came around and held there for two or maybe three seconds before she pulled away. Just long enough to remember how good it was to lean on him-to recall how good it had been to be able to count on him.

Just long enough for her to come to her senses and remember she shouldn't be leaning on or counting on him anymore.

* * *

The following Friday, almost midnight, Kylie lay in bed staring at the ceiling, playing mind games with her issues. Round and round they go, which one to fret over, nobody knows.

Her mom, whom Kylie was talking to but was still mad at, and her seemingly impossible quest to save the teen chameleons.

Her completely impossible ghost and the impossible and infuriating Lucas.

And an unbearable longing to talk to her dad again, who she hadn't felt or heard from since right before the Brightens' visit.

And last, but for sure not least, an impossible rogue, whose threat still rang in Kylie's ears. You will come to me, Kylie Galen, come to me willing to die, to suffer at my hands for my pleasure, because the price will be too great! Your weakness will take you down.