"Without having breakfast?" Sam said, looking amused, as if he knew exactly what we were up to.

Claudia shrugged and pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Well, actually, we . . . uh, left our electric curlers switched on in the bathroom." "Oh, that's right," Mary Anne piped up. (I should tell you that Mary Anne is a terrible liar.) "Gee," she added, "if we don't get back upstairs right away, the curlers might overheat and burn the house down." Charlie snickered and even Travis looked a little amused.

Without another word, all seven of us stampeded toward the door. I had time for one last look at Travis, and when his blue eyes zeroed in on mine, I felt a funny little flutter in my chest.

Upstairs, I took a quick shower and spent the next hour fiddling with my hair and makeup. I decided that I wanted to look casual (but gorgeous!) and finally settled on a pale blue ten-button top with my favorite jeans. (Not that I had much choice, since I'd only packed for an overnight.) When we went back downstairs it was almost twelve o'clock, and guess what. The boys were still there! I couldn't believe my luck. I made sure that Travis noticed me and slid onto the bench next to him.

"You must be starving," he said, pushing a bowl of fruit toward me.

"Ravenous," I replied, taking a tiny bite of an apple. Who could think about food at a time like this?

"Hey, Travis," Charlie spoke up, "did I mention that you and Dawn have something in common? She's from California, too." "Really? That's fantastic." Travis looked like he had been waiting all his life for this bit of information. "Do you miss the ocean? We lived right on the ocean, and I used to go for long walks on the beach every night after dinner." "You did? We didn't live on the ocean, but I used to take long walks, too." I was so excited I nearly dropped my apple. Have you ever met someone and felt like you've always known that person? That was the way I felt about Travis.