Luke slid his arm around the back of my chair and nodded toward Kai. "You two know each other?"
"Kind of." There was no need to turn and see the contempt on Kai's face.
Luke's eyes narrowed. "He's into you."
"No." I shook my head even as shivers ran...
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I'd gotten my tears pretty well under control by the time I got home, but my entire body hurt. Whoever called it a broken heart had gotten it wrong. It felt more like a broken body. A broken life. Had I really expected to win Kai's heart? I was just a stupid girl. I always knew it couldn't happen. He was devoted to his tribe, which was as it should be. All I wanted was to flop onto my bed and cease to exist—for at least a few weeks.
But when I walked in the front door, there was a thickness to the air, and Mom and Dad looked at me with widened eyes. Mom patted the chair across from her. "Sit down, honey."
"What's going on?" I perched on the edge of the chair, praying Dad hadn't seen me with Kai. It hurt to even think of his name. My head ached from the base of my skull to my forehead, and they were about to drop a bomb on me.
"Is Emma okay?" I asked.
"She's fine." Mom wrung her hands. "But we've been thinking a lot about her situation."
"Yeah?" Okay, so it was about Emma and it didn't sound like she was on death's door. Good.
"You know how my sewing room is pretty empty?" Mom said.
"Oh." Relief flooded over me. "It's fine with me if she stays here until another foster family can take her." It'd be cool to have another kid in the house for a while. I started to stand so I could go up and dissolve into my bed.
Mom and Dad exchanged a quick glance and then Dad cleared his throat. "Actually, Bay, we were thinking about something a little more permanent."
"Permanent?" I sank back into the chair. "You want to be foster parents?"
Dad grabbed my hand. "Even more permanent than that."
Adoption.
I rubbed my forehead. What about all the visions I had about her? It'd be exhausting. But maybe I wouldn't have any more because she wouldn't be in need. What about Dakota? I'd die if he started to love her more than me. My heart was already broken. There wasn't much of it left.
Mom grabbed my other hand, tears in her eyes. "If it's not okay with you, honey, we won't do it."
"I didn't say it wasn't okay." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "I'm just trying to process it." Mom wanted this. Of course she did. No doubt Emma would be one of the other children she hadn't been able to have, and Emma deserved a good deal. She'd been through so much, and who knew what kind of foster family she'd go to next. At least with us, she'd have a safe, loving home. Plus, I could try to help her find her sister.
Dad grabbed my shoulder. "She wouldn't replace you, Bay. No one could."
"I'm not worried about that, Dad." I rolled my eyes and tried to breathe, but my lungs didn't seem to want to cooperate.
