Enchanted Secrets by Kristen Middleton Page A

all of the daycare stuff lying around. I’d die of total embarrassment if he walked into this place.”
    My mom frowned. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed about my line of work. It’s the only way we can keep this place. If he’s turned off because of how or where you live, he’s definitely not worth seeing.”
    Kala sighed. “Can’t you just meet him outside? I’m sure he’ll be in a hurry to get going, and it would only take a minute to talk to him anyway.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll see. I’d rather him be the gentleman and come into the house to introduce himself.”
    “It’s not the seventies or eighties , mom. Guys don’t do that anymore.”
    “That’s the problem,” sighed my mom. “N obody has manners anymore.”
    “Especially Mark,” I said mumbled under my breath .
    “What was that , Kendra?” mom asked.
    “Not hing. Can I be excused?”
    “Sure. Make sure you hit the sack earlier tonight so I don’t have to drag you out of bed again tomorrow,” she answered as I walked away from the dining room.
    I hurried upstairs to my room and took out the bottle I’d purchased from “Secrets” and the note from Rebecca. The instructions said “one droplet only.”
    I carefully opened the bottle and squeezed some into the dropper she’d given me.
    “Bottoms up,” I whispered.
    The potion was really bitter as it went down and I shuddered.
    “What are you doing?” asked my si ster, walking into the bedroom.
    I quickly folded the bag up and stuck it into my nightstand. I grabbed a book about vampires from inside and shut the drawer. “Uh, just reading.”
    She fell onto her bed and began filing her nails. “Can you believe mom? I’m going to die if Mark comes in here. The kids have practically destroyed the inside of our house, and from what I hear, his parents are loaded. I’m sure his house is immaculate.”
    I wanted to scream at her… who the heck cares what he thinks ! But I kept my cool. “So, there’s a little crayon on the walls and some chipped wood,” I said, opening up my book. “It’s better than having to move somewhere smaller.”
    Truthfully, when my dad was still alive, the house had been kept up and in perfect condition. In fact, it had been my parents’ dream home at one time. But that was before he’d died. My dad had owned his own construction company and my parents had designed and built the house exactly the way they’d wanted it. After he’d been diagnosed with cancer and had undergone many months of therapy without success, my mom had used what was left of his life insurance to pay off all the medical bills and then started doing daycare.
    I miss you , daddy …
    I tried to pic ture my father’s face, with his dark hair and warm, loving eyes the same color as mine and Kala’s, but it only made me long for him even more.
    “You okay?” asked Kala.
    I nodded, blinking back tears. “Yeah, just thinking about dad.”
    “I miss him , too,” she said in a soft voice.
    I knew that for the both of us, nights were the hardest, especially since he used to tuck us into bed, telling goofy stories, and using those corny voices of his. It had been a ritual, even as teenagers, and something we’d taken for granted until it was too late. Now, he’d been dead for only a year and a half, but it already seemed like a lifetime ago.
    “I’m t he luckiest man alive,” he used to say. “Three beautiful angels, and they’re all mine.”
    Now my dad was the angel and we were left with only pictures and bittersweet memories of him.
    Life really sucked sometimes.
    “I wish we had our licenses,” mumbled Kala out of the blue. “Then we could just meet everyone at the party and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
    I nodded. “Yeah , but you need money to buy a car and you spend all of yours on clothing.”
    “I’m getting a job,” she said , opening up her hot-pink nail polish.
    I snorted. “Where?”
    She began painting her toenails. “There are a