Home Before Dark by Susan Wiggs Page A

shit.”
    â€œMaybe she didn’t hear.”
    They didn’t speak as they crept along the path. Lila actually held her breath, not wanting to inhale bad luck from the atmosphere. There was one tricky thing about this. To get to the place where Heath parked his Jeep, they had to pass by the row of three cabins. If they were quiet, if they were lucky, she wouldn’t see them. If they were unlucky, they’d have to make up some story about him borrowing a homework paper or textbook.
    A single light burned in the bedroom window of the cabin. Please please please, Lila thought.
    But no. The minute Lila and Heath stepped out of the shadows, there she was, standing in the doorway, shading her eyes.
    â€œLila?” she called softly, “is that you?”
    Lila dropped Heath’s hand. “Be cool,” she said under her breath, then pasted on her best teacher-pleasing smile, even though Jessie wasn’t anything like any teacher she’d ever known. Lila was a good faker, and she knew it. Her acting ability had kept her from flunking out of school, from getting caught shoplifting…but Jessie was a photographer, like Mom. A pang of nervousness rattled Lila, as she wondered, Can a photographer see things other people can’t?
    â€œIt’s me, Aunt Jessie.”
    â€œCome into the light, where I can see you.”
    Lila complied, motioning Heath to her side. Her aunt was wearing silky little shorts printed with moons and stars, and a spaghetti strap tank top. It was something Lila would have picked for herself.
    â€œUm, this is my friend, Heath. He came over to borrow my chemistry book.”
    â€œOh. Hi, Heath. Nice to meet you.” She stuck out her hand, and for a second she aimed it in the wrong direction. She grinned, and her smile was beguiling. Her accent was unusual, as cool as the rest of her.
    â€œGood to meet you, ma’am.” Heath had perfect manners for meeting grown-ups, Lila thought with a surge of pride. The way he looked her in the eye, shook her hand, she’d never guess how toasted he was.
    â€œSo you must be a dedicated scholar, coming out so late to borrow a textbook,” said Jessie.
    â€œHey, Aunt Jessie, give us a break, okay?” Lila sent her a wide-eyed look of appeal. “We’re only going for a walk by the lake, I swear, that’s all.” She tried to sound desperate but not pathetic. But God, she had to get away with this. She had to. If Jessie ratted on them, Heath might drop her. He was a senior, captain of the football team and star quarterback. Hecould have any girl he wanted, and he might not want a girl who couldn’t handle sneaking out on a school night.
    Jessie hesitated, obviously trying to assess the situation.
    â€œWe’re not doing anything bad, I swear it,” Lila assured her.
    Jessie pushed a finger at her lower lip. “Okay,” she said at last. “I’ll give you this one, girlfriend. I don’t want to start our relationship on the wrong foot.”
    It was an odd turn of phrase. Start our relationship. Like this was the beginning of something. Lila would contemplate that later. For now, she wanted to savor her victory. She lit up with a smile and impulsively flung her arms around her aunt. It was weird to be hugging her, this person she’d never met until today. “Thank you,” she said. “You’re the best.”
    Jessie seemed surprised by the hug, then she clung hard for a second before stepping back. “Just don’t screw up,” she said. “And remember, if your mom asks, I can’t lie for you.”
    â€œYou won’t have to, because I won’t screw up, right Heath?”
    â€œYou bet. Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He grinned that awshucks grin that made Lila’s heart speed up, and it seemed to work on Aunt Jessie, too. She gazed at him with a sort of soft, melty look on her face, not with narrow-eyed suspicion like Mom would