The Gathering (Darkness Rising 1)

Exactly what Daniel had said. I nodded, then I asked, "Do you think I'm intolerant?"

She frowned. "In what way?"

"If someone screws up, I won't give him a second chance. I've made up my mind about him and I won't trust him again."

"Is that what Rafe said?"

"Something like that."

She leaned back in her chair and watched me for a moment before she responded. "He wasn't who you thought he was, and you're angry with him for tricking you."

I nodded.

"If I'm right, though, you're even more angry with yourself for not seeing it."

I put down my cracker. "But I did see it. That's the problem. I saw what he was before anyone else did."

"A player."

I nodded. "He knew I wasn't going to fall for that, so he showed me ..." I picked at the cheese on my cracker. "He showed me something else."

"Another part of himself," she said softly. "And you fell for him."

I wanted to deny it. Salvage my pride and say, no, it wasn't that way, I only liked him a little. But it was that way.

So I nodded, and she reached out for my hand.

"That's what you're really upset about. Being tricked. Yes, you set high standards for people. Too high sometimes. But you set higher ones for yourself and that's what worries me more, Maya. I want you to have big dreams, big goals. I want you to strive to achieve them. But I don't want to see you beating yourself up every time you make a mistake."

I nodded.

"I don't know the whole situation with Rafe, and I'm not going to pry," she said. "But if he's trying to talk to you, you should hear him out. Maybe you can forgive him. More important, forgive yourself."

As Mom was cleaning up, I thought about what Rafe said, about the experiments.

I was genetically modified. And I was living in a medical research town. Again I pictured that list of names.

"Does Dad have a relative named Elizabeth Delaney?"

Mom paused. "Isn't that his cousin Greg's wife? No, that's Bethany, I think. You should ask him. God knows he has plenty of relatives. Did you meet someone online?"

I shook my head. After another minute, I asked, "How exactly did Dad get this job?"

"Hmm?"

"Someone at school said the St. Clouds just offered him the job."

She laughed and sat down again. "I wish it'd been that easy. If someone's implying that he had connections and was handed his position, the answer is no. I'm sure that applies to some people here, but not us. The St. Cloud Corporation wanted a new park warden, so they hired a headhunter. Do you know what that is?"

"A company that looks for people matching a job description."

"Right. The St. Clouds wanted a specific kind of person. They preferred a young warden with a young family. And, if not Canadian, then with a Canadian connection, to make the transition easier."

"Someone who'd put down roots and stay. Become part of the community."

"Exac

tly. When we arrived for the interview, there were a half dozen other applicants. We suited the profile better than most. I'm Canadian, with family nearby, and, as much as I loved Oregon, I wanted to come home. You were the same age as a lot of the kids here. And your dad came with glowing recommendations. Still, we almost missed out. A woman got the offer first but ended up turning it down."