Lee McKenzie - The Parent Trap

She’d also seemed interested when Casey told her she was going to be a veterinarian, even though she’d been squeamish about some of the critters. Not everyone was comfortable with rodents and reptiles, but she’d said Manny the praying mantis was the grossest thing she’d ever seen.

Casey leaned in for closer look at her terrarium. “Good thing I didn’t feed you a fly while she was here.”

If Kate thought Manny eating a cricket was gross, watching her tear a housefly apart and gobble it up would totally freak her out.

They’d talked about their families, too, since having only one parent was something they did have in common. Kate’s mom was alive and well and living in Europe with her new and disgustingly rich husband. They traveled a lot so Kate couldn’t live with them. Then she’d said she didn’t think they wanted her anyway.

Casey had a hard time believing that. Her mom was strict about some things, like homework and curfew and not friending strangers on Facebook, but they also had fun doing things together. Like Saturday movie-and-pizza night, which had still turned out okay tonight even though Kate and her dad had been here and they hadn’t watched a movie.

Kate had confessed to being mad at her dad for making her move away from her friends in the city. Casey had tried to sympathize, but she hadn’t told Kate that she didn’t have many friends, mostly because other kids thought her obsession with animals was weird and her determination to get straight A’s was completely lame. If Kate thought she was weird or lame—or both—she hadn’t let on.

Casey’s phone whistled and she grabbed it off her nightstand. A text from Henry! He must be back at home, finally.

How R U?

Good. U?

Also good. Won’t B back 4 school tho.

No way. We R supposed 2 go 2gether.

Still visiting the fam. Back Fri.

Rats. This was not how things were supposed to go. Henry was her best friend. They always went together on the first day of school, and this was the first day of high school. She needed him there.

UR loss. Getting a ride to school with new neighbor anyway.

The new teacher?

Yep & daughter Kate.

Is she hot?

Let’s just say some of the girls at SBH were going to freak when they saw their new competition. Instead she typed:

Don’t be gross.

Ha! She is!

But UR not so 4get it.

Ouch. How R things with U and Dex?

There is no me and Dex.

That bad huh? U still haven’t made a move?

No, she had not, and even if she had wanted to, she had no clue what the moves were.

I said don’t be gross.

Gotta go. Mom’s yelling lites out.

What time is it in Montreal?

After 11.

K. G’night.

TTYL.

She set her phone back on the nightstand, slid off the bed and walked over to the window. It was getting dark and across the driveway she could see the light was on in Kate’s room. No sign of her, though. Maybe she was helping her dad unpack.

Casey had never considered the possibility that Henry wouldn’t make it back in time to start school. Good thing she’d accepted Kate’s dad’s invitation to get a ride with them. The first day of high school seemed like kind of a big deal, and she’d never imagined having to go alone.

Casey was looking forward to high school because she would finally have science classes with real labs, but she wasn’t looking forward to some of the other stuff. Like not having anyone except Henry to hang out with after school. But maybe that would change. Maybe she’d be heading to high school, not just with a friend but with one who was totally cool. That’d sure make people sit up and take pay attention. Maybe even Dexter would notice her.

Her uplifted spirits took a sudden dip. Would Kate still want to hang out with her once she realized Casey wasn’t one of the cool kids? Better question. Was there even the remotest of chances Dex would notice Casey, or would he only pay attention to Kate?

CHAPTER FIVE

ON THE MORNING of the day school started, Jon was up before dawn. He pulled on running shorts and a T-shirt and, with a pair of socks in hand, padded downstairs to the kitchen in bare feet. He started a pot of coffee and checked that the bread maker was doing its thing, then sat on a kitchen stool and pulled on socks and laced his running shoes.

Princess strolled into the room, meowing loudly to announce her presence and to indicate it was time someone served her breakfast.

“Good morning, girl.” He rubbed the top her head and she started to purr as she did a sideways sashay around his legs, back arched, tail in the air.

He retrieved a can of cat food from the fridge and scooped some into a bowl, dumped kibble into a matching bowl and returned the can to fridge. After he fulfilled his role, Princess promptly lost interest in him.

He poured himself a glass of water and stood at the kitchen counter while he drank it. He would never tire of this view. The bay would soon reflect the sunlight, but in the faint light at this early hour, the surface was flat and dark gray. A lone sailboat slowly motored past the end of the breakwater, on its way to open water where the sailor would hoist the sail and catch a breeze.

After letting himself out the back door, he locked it and tucked the key in a pocket inside his waistband. He spent a few minutes warming up before he set off down the driveway at an easy jog. Early morning was his favorite time of the day. Even in the city he’d liked the quiet, cool stillness, but here it was magnified, exaggerated in the best way possible. At the end of the block he turned right and took the steep road that led downhill to the beach, where he picked up the walkway that paralleled the seawall. He nodded at another man jogging in the opposite direction, passed an elderly woman walking a small dog, but otherwise he had the beach and his thoughts to himself.

He ran past the quaint little downtown business district that stretched for six blocks along Shoreline Boulevard and three blocks away from the beach. There it gave way to a mix of old cottages, newer homes and low-rise condominiums. Over the years, residences had slowly crept up the hillside, biting chunks out of the rain forest, affording homeowners spectacular views of the bay and the breakwater. His house was one of those. Moving here felt right, as though he’d finally come home to a place where he belonged instead of being someplace biding his time. Convincing Kate that this was her home, too? That would take some doing.

For the past few days he had pretty much worked from morning till night, and now the furniture was in place, the boxes unpacked, the closets and cupboards full. Kate had hated her bedroom curtains so they’d driven down to Sechelt yesterday afternoon so she could choose new ones. She had asked if Casey could go with them, and he had agreed, although he’d also recalled what Kate had said about their new neighbor after the cookie delivery. She’s probably a geek . Now he wasn’t sure if she actually wanted to be friends with the soccer-playing tomboy next door or if she simply hadn’t wanted to be seen alone with him in public. Either way, he was glad Casey had agreed to join them. She was a nice kid, and unlike some of Kate’s friends in the city, she seemed as though she’d be a positive influence.

And there was no ignoring the fact that her mother was pretty nice, too. Easy to talk to. Very easy on the eyes. Her parenting skills were as enviable as her culinary skills were deplorable, and he had no idea why but he found that charming. Over the past few days, though, he’d only caught rare glimpses of her, and he suspected she might be avoiding him. He regretted his blunt comments the other night. He’d been comparing his parenting to Sarah’s, his daughter to hers, and had fallen short on both counts. He hadn’t meant to sound critical of Kate but he had, and Sarah probably thought he was a jerk. She was right, and he hoped she would accept an apology the next time he saw her.