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six months before at a concert in Seattle. But the idea of seeing them now—with T.J.—made her smile.
    Oh, come on, she told herself. Don’t tell me you’re turning into one of those dopey spritz-heads who gets all weird whenever a boy calls. It’s just T.J.
    She got up and looked in the mirror. “Maybe those faeries did more to you than just chase you through the woods,” she said out loud. “Because you are definitely not acting like yourself.”
    It was true; she wasn’t acting like the old Cooper. Something about her was different. It was like everything had been turned upside down and she was suddenly seeing the world in a different way. But she would have to wait until later to sort it all out. Right now she had to decide what she was going to wear when she met T.J.

CHAPTER  4
    Kate looked at her aunt through the viewfinder of the camera, trying to center her exactly. Aunt Netty was standing on the end of the pier, leaning against one of the posts. She was wearing a bright red shirt, and Kate liked how the color contrasted with the clear blue sky and the darker green of the ocean.
    â€œI think you could paint me faster than you’re taking that picture,” Aunt Netty joked.
    â€œJust a second,” Kate said. “I want it to be perfect.” She focused the lens and pressed her finger down on the button. The camera whirred to life, and Kate lowered it. “Okay,” she said. “I think that shot will definitely make the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.”
    â€œI’m glad I went for the thong bikini then,” said her aunt.
    Kate was having another great day. She and her aunt had spent the morning shopping, trying on clothes and behaving like a couple of best friends. That was one of the things Kate liked best about Aunt Netty—she didn’t treat Kate like a kid, the way her parents sometimes did. She treated her like an equal, asking her opinions about things and seeking her advice on what she should wear or what colors of makeup would look best on her. They’d had a wonderful time, and each of them had emerged from the stores with several new items.
    Now they were taking pictures. As always, Aunt Netty had brought her camera with her. For as long as Kate could remember, she’d been asking her aunt to teach her how to take good photographs. But Aunt Netty had always been too busy, or there were other things to do instead. Now, though, she was showing her niece how to use the camera she herself used on many of her assignments.
    â€œYou want to look for interesting juxtapositions,” her aunt said as she came over and stood behind Kate. “Look over there, for instance. See how that cloud swoops down and looks like it’s touching the ocean?”
    Kate looked in the direction in which her aunt was pointing. Sure enough, she saw the cloud Aunt Netty was talking about. It really did look like a hand reaching out of the sky to stroke the surface of the sea. She raised the camera and was going to snap a photo when she felt her aunt tapping her on the shoulder. She turned and saw her pointing silently at something behind them.
    Kate’s eyes followed her aunt’s gaze, and she saw what had caught her attention. A little girl was standing at the side of the wharf, holding an ice-cream cone. But she wasn’t paying attention, and the cone was tilting toward the nose of an interested black Labrador retriever who was sitting beside her. The dog was sniffing the air, and his tongue was perilously close to the girl’s treat.
    Kate quickly lifted the camera. She focused in on the little girl and the dog just as the Lab, unable to wait any longer, reached over and took a big lick of the cone. The little girl turned and shrieked happily just as Kate clicked the shutter. She took several more shots as the dog quickly consumed the ice cream, and the girl’s mother and the dog’s father both