Without thinking or planning, she put her free hand on his shoulder and parted her lips in a silent invitation. He lightly touched the tip of his tongue to hers, then withdrew.

He stepped back and gave her a rueful smile. “I don’t think we should push it,” he told her. “Good night, Unity.”

He walked to his car and waited until she let herself inside, then he drove away. She stood in the living room, her body painfully awakening, making her uncomfortable, and her lips still tingling from Thaddeus’s kiss.

The bus pulled into Santa Barbara late in the morning. The drive had been quiet, with most of the teens dozing on the way. Ellen appreciated the chance to relax in her seat, enjoying the scenery on the way up from Los Angeles.

As they drove into the city, she moved to sit behind Keith.

“We’re going to be too early to check in to the hotel,” she said. “But I’d like to swing by anyway and make sure the rooms are all blocked to be close together.”

“Sounds like a plan. We can have lunch there, then head down to the beach. There’s a place to buy kites. I thought the guys would enjoy flying them before they have to get dressed up for tonight.”

UC Santa Barbara was hosting an evening for potential freshmen. Over a hundred had been invited, including their eleven. The program began at four and went until eleven. There was a dinner, speakers who would talk about life on campus and a chaperoned party where the students could get to know each other.

Lissa joined Ellen. “Are you talking about this afternoon?”

“We are,” her dad told her. “Want to go fly kites?”

Lissa sighed heavily then turned to Ellen. “Want to go shopping? There are some cute boutiques downtown. I remember them from last year.”

Ellen met Keith’s gaze in the mirror. He gave her a slight nod.

“Sure,” she said easily. “Let’s do that. I can’t remember the last time I shopped in a boutique. I’m sure the prices will make me faint and then you can use your first aid certificate knowledge to revive me.”

Lissa grinned. “We’ll find you some cute clothes. That will make you feel better. Are you two going out to dinner or something while we’re on campus?”

“We haven’t talked about it,” Ellen said. She’d forgotten they had a night off. “We should do something.”

Keith grinned at her. “I promise not to make you starve.”

Two hours later Ellen and Lissa walked along State Street. The sidewalks were busy for a weekday afternoon. The temperature was in the midseventies, the sky was a perfect California blue.

“This is the life,” Ellen said with a sigh.

“Being on a bus with ten teenage guys?”

“I was thinking more of the not having to go to work and visiting new places.”

Lissa grinned. “Not the bus part.”

“No. How are you holding up? Are they starting to get on your nerves?”