272 Alone for the Summer

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here alone?" Mom asked, looking at me with sympathetic eyes. I knew this was hard for her. In fact, Mom didn't even leave me after she died. 

"Mom, I'm going to be fine." I pulled her in for a hug and gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise. I have Dakota and the pack, so I'll be fine."

"Yes, but that's not the same as someone living with you," Mom said. 

Dad smirked. "Don't give her any ideas."

"Thanks a lot, Dad!" I laughed as I pulled him in for a hug. "You all just make sure that you take care of yourself. If you need me, I'm just a phone call away."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "Who's the parent and who's the child here?"

I laughed but said nothing. After everything that I had been through over the past year, I felt much older than my seventeen years.

Just then, Herman and Bonnie pulled up in Bonnie's van.