“Well he’s not family yet, either.”

Oops. Without looking at my mom I knew I opened my mouth a little too wide with that one. I heard the refrigerator door open and the plastic salami bag slap forcefully against the back, where it would probably stay now, rotting. Then I heard the loud tapping of her shoes make their way into the small powder room in the hall.

Conversation over.

With perfect timing, Garreth appeared on the back porch, umbrella in hand, to escort me to school. I could hear the faint idling of his Jeep in the driveway.

“Hi.” He leaned over to kiss my forehead, then leaned his head and shoulders into the door frame to call good morning to my mom.

“Don’t bother. It’s not a very good morning.”

“She tried again, huh?” Garreth’s eyes met mine as he noted my sullen attitude. I felt guilty this time. Well, maybe not that much.

“I guess I laid the resistance on a little too thick. You ready?” I asked, grabbing my books and my house key.

I closed the back door behind us, with my mother sulking inside. I knew things would be better when I came home this afternoon. We would eat dinner.

She would try again. I wanted to make her happy, I really did, but sometimes it was hard. Dr. Dean was the first man to seriously sweep her off her feet since my father, and I had to be the one to put a glitch in things.

Garreth opened the door for me and ran around to his side, avoiding the puddles in our neglected and uneven driveway. I looked over at him and forced a smile. Being with him made me beyond happy; it was just taking a little longer this morning.

He shifted the Jeep in reverse and his warm hand found mine. I absently traced his palm with my finger, feeling the soft embedded lines that completed a circle with the intersecting points of his star. His mark never ceased to amaze me. There were days I forgot he wasn’t human. It was so easy to take for granted that a person was born with human traits, little identifiable markings that showed they belonged to the human race … blue eyes, green eyes … arms and legs … curly hair, straight hair. And the odd little markings to distinguish one person from the other, fingerprints for example. No two were alike. Like a snowflake or birthmarks.