Max jumped guiltily, and turned to face their daughter. “Honey, it’s no big deal—”

No, Max. Wrong answer, Max. It’s a big deal to her. But even as Kellen fought to speak, the constriction in her chest and throat grew, strangling her.

Breathe!

Rae’s voice rose. “No big deal? For you! What about me? You want to take me away from Chloe? And from Maverick and Rayleigh? We’re in class together. We play Dragon Spit together. We go everywhere together. They’re my best friends.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Max probably thought he was being conciliatory. But he was doing it wrong. “This is an emergency—”

“Emergency!” Rae’s voice calmed. “What kind of emergency?”

Good. Max was going to explain the situation to Rae.

“We have to go to Italy to visit the relatives and this is the only time they can all get together.” He sounded patient.

Kellen stared in surprise at Max. He had not only lied, he’d thought out his lie ahead of time. He was serious about not letting anyone know where they were going. But he hadn’t thought out how to handle their daughter… Or maybe he had, in his own ham-handed way.

“I don’t care about relatives! I want to stay here and go to camp! Girl Scout camp. Weather camp. Robotics camp.” Rae’s voice hit a high note that had Max viewing her in alarm. “I want to stay here and have fun. With my friends!”

“If you go to camp, you won’t be here having fun with your friends.” Max’s logic was impeccable.

Kellen clapped her hand to her forehead.

Max glanced at her as if confused. “Please. If you have something to say, say it.”

Stop talking. She shook her head, frantic to make him stop talking, frantic at herself for being unable to take command of her voice.

He took her head shake as a sign she didn’t want to speak, and turned back to Rae. “You’ll have the chance to see your friends, I hope really soon, but we’ve got to do this as a family.”

Great, Max. Throw some blame on me. Even if she could speak, Kellen wouldn’t have said that out loud. Kellen had come into Rae’s life when the child was almost seven. Before that, Max and his mother, Verona Di Luca, had raised her. Now, three years later, because of the time Kellen had spent in the hospital and in physical therapy, she still hadn’t assumed the complete role as Rae’s mother.

In a voice rife with tragedy, Rae declared, “You don’t love me anymore.”

Max rose and started toward Rae. “Of course we love you.”

Rae shot Kellen an accusing look. “I notice Mother has nothing to say.” She pointed a finger at Max. “Don’t come near me!” She stomped her foot, whirled and ran up the stairs, wailing loud, dramatic tears.