Surrender by Lee Nichols Page A

we going to stop him?”
    â€œI don’t know,” I admitted. “The only thing I can think of is trying to find that ghost I saw. Maybe it wasn’t Rachel, but I know it was connected to Neos.”
    â€œWhat?” my dad said. “You saw Rachel’s ghost?”
    â€œOr a shape-shifter, I guess.”
    Mr. Stern furrowed his brow. “That’s not possible, is it? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
    â€œWhen was this?” Mrs. Stern asked me. “Why didn’t you tell us? You must tell us about any unusual event immediately.”
    â€œAlexandra is right,” my mom said. “We have to know these things if we’re going to help you, Emma. Tell us about this ghost.”
    All four parents gazed at me with impatient parental attention. Well, at least they’d found something to agree on. I drained my teacup and told them. But not about my vision in the field at Thatcher. Because I didn’t want to know what it was trying to tell me about Bennett.
    Late that afternoon, we sat down to Christmas dinner. I worried that Lukas and Natalie would feel left out, but my parents took an interest in Natalie, and for some reason, Lukas was still a hit with the Sterns.
    The food was even more spectacular than last night, and the meal much more comfortable, like yelling at each other had released some of the pressure. Bennett’s mom didn’t correct me when I cleared the dishes with Celeste or when Natalie and Lukas helped her with the dessert plates. Bennett topped off all the parents’ wineglasses and gave each of us underage units half a glass, then sat down next to me and scooted his chair closer, so our legs were pressed together. As he laid his arm across the back of my chair, his fingers lightly caressing my shoulder, I felt something I almost didn’t recognize.
    Happiness.
    I was happy that my parents came, even if I wished my brother Max had come with them. I was happy that Bennett was here, even if he didn’t look entirely himself. I was happy his parents were warming up, chatting and drinking, even smiling. I was happy Lukas and Natalie looked content—like they knew that they weren’t guests at the table, they were family, too. I almost let myself forget everything that was ahead of me: school, finding Rachel’s ghost, and killing Neos.
    There was a billiard room in the museum, which sometimes made me feel like I was living in a game of Clue. Shortly after dinner, my dad headed off to play pool with Bennett, his dad, and Lukas. Having realized the futility of conservative clothing, Natalie sashayed in behind them, wearing a denim mini, tall boots, and a magenta sweaterhanging off one shoulder. She was either going to cheerlead or show them all how it was done—it was always hard to guess with her.
    I don’t know where Bennett’s mom disappeared to, but I found mine on the sofa in the front parlor, leafing through a design book she wasn’t really reading. I loved the pale sea-green walls in the parlor and the simple antique furnishings, but Neos had killed Martha here. She’d been Bennett and Olivia’s nanny, but to me, even though we’d only known each other a short time, she’d been more like the grandmother I’d never had. I hadn’t spent any time in this room since her death.
    I stood in the doorway and let the memories fade, then studied my mom. She looked less haggard than when she’d visited me at the hospital, but still skinnier than before she left San Francisco, and a little fidgety. When she noticed me, she set her book aside and smiled.
    I almost started to tell her about Martha, but instead said, “Hi,” as I entered the room. Everything had been so crazy, I hadn’t had the chance to say that simple word.
    Her smile widened. “I missed you. No one says ‘hi’ like you do.”
    â€œWhat’s so special about it?”
    â€œI don’t know.