Chapter 26

I did a crap load of make-up work for school over the next few days, trying to make up for the three weeks I was out. The teachers were really cool, though, mostly giving me worksheets and easy assignments. I also had Morgan's help, which made everything easy.

Dad and Claire were impossible. Dad politely badgered Marcus until he allowed me to return to Claire's, fussing over me even as I fussed over him, which made for some really awkward moments and arguments. But he couldn't stay more than a few days; he wasn't through with his training yet and he still didn't know where he would be assigned when it was over. But he did approve of Connor and his family, which was a huge load off my mind.

It was Claire who really freaked out, which was kind of understandable considering she almost lost her only living relatives, by blood or marriage. She was torn between being upset at me for running off rashly, being grateful to Marcus and his family for going to get me and just plain being grateful that I was okay.

I spent another week on bed rest when I was not in school, which made me grateful for Connor and Morgan; they kept me sane when Claire's nurturing was driving me nuts.

Another side effect of my accident was rules. I now had curfews, check-in times and a few other peace-of-mind features that included never turning my phone off. She also insisted on having all of Connor's information, like address and phone numbers, various ways to contact his parents just in case; he thought he was amusing, I just wanted to die of embarrassment.

April soon passed into early May, the days grew longer and warmer, the sun was out more and school was drawing to a close. Claire began to relax a little bit, though she still wouldn't let me go back to work; Marcus told her I needed a little more recovery time and I just went with it. It was easier that way, it seemed, when dealing with the men in that family.

I knew something was up when the lot of them started having secret conversations just out of my enhanced hearing range or slightly faster than I could catch, even resorting to notes written in languages I couldn't read. It did no good to question them, they were closed-lipped and excited. I quickly grew worried.