Page 104 of Summer Reading

Tyler and I both froze. That was Dad’s voice. As one, we crossed into the living room to find Dad and Stephanie, standing there.

“Mom! Dad!” Tyler cried and then he darted across the room and swooped them both into a hug. When he let them go, I took his place.

“Hi!” I cried. “You look amazing.” They both had a post-vacation glow that was impossible to deny.

“Thank you,” Stephanie said. She kissed both of my cheeks just like Dad had. “Although the jet lag is making me feel like I’m an exhumed mummy.”

“We saw those!” Dad chimed in.

“Did you bring me one?” Tyler asked.

Dad laughed and hugged him again. He ruffled Tyler’s hair and said, “Did you grow while we were gone?”

“It’s the vegetables Sam’s been making me eat.”

“You got him to eat vegetables?” Stephanie asked. “I think I’m in shock.”

I laughed. It hit me then how much I’d missed them.

“Big sisters who bribe little brothers with driving lessons can achieve amazing things,” I said.

“Driving?” Dad choked.

“Only in vacant parking lots,” I assured him.

“Let’s table that until I’ve slept for at least six hours straight,” Stephanie said.

Tyler stepped out onto the porch to retrieve their bags in an overt display of helpfulness. I suspected it was a teenage diversionary tactic to distract them from the thought of him behind the wheel.

“We didn’t expect you for a few more days,” I said. “Nothing happened to cut short the trip, did it?”

“No, we just missed you guys,” Dad said. “Europe was...”

“Incredible,” Stephanie breathed. “But we missed home, so we left Athens a couple of days early.”

They exchanged a sheepish glance, and I hugged them both again. It was good to have them here, even though I had really enjoyed getting to know Tyler and spending time with him one-on-one.

“Dad, I left you a couple of voicemails and some texts, but you never responded,” I said. “Did you get them?”

My father shook his head. “I managed to run over my phone with a scooter in Rome. Was it important? Everything okay here? I assumed you’d reach out to Steph if there was a problem.”

“Of course,” I said. I resisted the urge to do a facepalm. Why hadn’t I texted Stephanie, too? Argh. “Everything’s fine here. I was just touching base.”

“Hey, look who I found outside,” Tyler said. He pushed the door open and Ben came in behind him.

“Ben, hi,” I said. In the hullabaloo of my parents’ arrival, I’d forgotten all about dinner. “Come in.”

I saw Dad and Stephanie exchange another glance. Their kids were giving them lots to chat about later. I hurried across the room and took Ben’s hand in mine. He sent me a questioning glance as we wound our way through the luggage Tyler had stacked at the bottom of the steps. I smiled.

“My parents got back early from their trip,” I said. “My dad broke his phone, which is why I haven’t heard from him.”

His eyebrows went up. “So, I’m meeting your dad?”

“Is that all right?”

“More than all right,” he said. “Maybe he can identify the guitar player.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” I said. I did not mention what his mother had said about my dad coming to live with her. I’d deal with that later when it was just me and Dad.

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