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Chapter One

Kelly

“You knoorry about you two,” Mo in the doorway of my bedroo her concern plain on her face “I don’t want you getting into any trouble over there”

“Mrs J, honestly, we’re going to be fine” Lena shoots Mom a smirk as she stuffs a fresh handful of clothes into her suitcase

I giggle at the way ood it is that she’s able to laugh, she’s able to enjoy herself, and let herself go after all she’s been through

First, her Mo cancer, a cruelty that couldn’t be stopped no matter how hard she cried And then her dad – tall, handsoo

I try not to let myself think about Kane Konstantinov too oes to steah to deal ithoutover her six and a half foot tall ex-Ar silver hair and his stark blue eyes

Crushing on hi up, and every ti – infor him

Guilt twists through me

What would Lena say if she kne badly I’d crushed on her father, especially after he went ?

I can’t tell her, ever

Mom paces across the room and stares at Lena

They could be aze at each other Lena and Mom are both thin, tall, with sculpted features The only difference is Lena wears her hair up in a tight black ponytail, whereas Mom lets her brown locks spill down to her shoulders

I try not to let my mind dance off to unhelpful places as I study the tomen, try not to curse enes I’m more like my dad in build, wider and stockier and less wraith-like

Telling myself I don’t care doesn’t really work

Even if Kane Konstantinov had stayed around long enough to see me become a woman, he never would’ve looked twice at me Nobody looks at me like that, so I don’t knohy I’d ever think the man of my dreams would be any different

Stop it, I cry out in my mind

I should think about how good is it that Mo I should focus on hoping that Kane returns, yes, but not for me, never for me For my best friend