My dad nods. “And do you want to go?”
“I don’t know.”
He nods again. “Well, it’s your decision. You can do whatever you want, and I’ll support you, as always. But if you do decide to go, I’ll go with you if you want.”
“To meet Mom?”
“Yeah.” He must know what I’m thinking—that it would be awkward for him to be there while I’m having dinner with my mom—because he quickly adds, “I wouldn’t go in or anything. But I could drive you, and then I could wait outside.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“Of course,” he says. “Whatever you need from me, Kendall, I’m here.”
I think about it. “Okay,” I say. “I think I’ll go.” I twist my hands. “But that doesn’t mean I want to see her all the time or anything.”
“Of course not,” my dad says. “You’ll take it one step at a time.”
I text my mom a quick reply, accepting her invite and telling her the name of a restaurant on Main Street. That way, while we’re eating, my dad can have stuff to do. He can hang out in the bookstore or browse around the hardware store.
A couple of hours later, when I’m done with my homework, my dad asks if I’m ready.
“I guess.”
We drive to the restaurant, and on the way there we don’t talk about anything serious. Instead, we talk about TV shows and joke around about how my dad likes a song by this new boy band. The ride is actually kind of nice. I’m still not sure I want to get into how I’m feeling or what it means that I’m doing this. I kind of just want to feel my feelings, instead of analyzing them. Which is totally weird, especially for me. Usually, I love to analyze.
When we pull up outside the restaurant, I can see my mom through the window. She’s sitting at a table, sipping a ginger ale and looking around anxiously.
“I’m nervous,” I say out loud.
“You don’t have to do this,” my dad says. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”
And honestly, it’s him saying that that makes me want to go. It’s like it’s going to be okay no matter what.
“No,” I say, “I want to.”
“Whatever happens in there, it doesn’t change anything. You’re still amazing.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“You’re welcome.” He squeezes my hand. “Call me when you’re done, okay?”
“Okay.”
I hop out of the car, and then I watch as my dad pulls out and disappears down the street toward the shops.
I stand outside the restaurant for a moment, thinking about everything that’s happened these past couple of months. My first boyfriend, my first breakup, my fight with Ellie, my mom coming back into my life . . .
The whole time, I kept thinking about what I could do to fix things, to make things better. What I didn’t realize is that sometimes things don’t always have to be black and white. They can be gray.
Brandon doesn’t have to believe me about the ghosts, and he doesn’t have to not believe me. My mom and I don’t have to have a close relationship right off the bat, but I don’t have to hate her either. I don’t have to convince Mrs. Dunham’s ghost that I’m right for her son—I just have to make sure I’m doing the best I can.
Because that’s all any of us can do, really. Our best. And then hope it works out.
The snow is starting again, and flakes fall onto my fingers as I reach out and open the door to the restaurant.
But the warmth envelops me as soon as I walk in.
I stand there for a moment, just watching my mom, thinking about how much I really do look like her.
And then, after a second, I walk forward, into my future, ready for whatever it holds.
LAUREN BARNHOLDT is the author of Girl Meets Ghost, The Harder the Fall, Fake Me a Match, Rules for Secret Keeping, The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney, Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better, Four Truths and a Lie, and the teen books Two-way Street, Watch Me, One Night That Changes Everything, Sometimes It Happens, The Thing About the Truth, and Right of Way. She spends most of her time reading, writing, and watching reality TV. Visit her website and say hello at www.laurenbarnholdt.com.
Ghostly Secrets + Real-Life Problems = Great Reads
ALADDIN
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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Don’t miss these other great books by Lauren Barnholdt:
Girl Meets Ghost
Book 1: Girl Meets Ghost
Book 2: The Harder the Fall
Fake Me a Match
Rules for Secret Keeping
The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney
Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better
Four Truths and a Lie
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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First Aladdin hardcover edition April 2014
Text copyright © 2014 by Lauren Barnholdt
Jacket illustration copyright © 2014 by Mary Lynn Blasutta
Series design by Lisa Vega
Jacket design by Jeanine Henderson
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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The text of this book was set in Minion.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barnholdt, Lauren.
Ghost of a chance / by Lauren Barnholdt. — First Aladdin hardcover edition.
p. cm. — (Girl meets ghost; #3)
Summary: After learning that she can see ghosts, twelve-year-old Kendall’s disbelieving boyfriend breaks up with her.
ISBN 978-1-4424-4248-1
[1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Psychic ability—Fiction. 3. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction.]
I. Title.
PZ7.B2667Gh 2014
[Fic]—dc23
2013025497
ISBN 978-1-4424-2151-6 (eBook)
Ghost of a Chance Page 16