Page 105 of Summer Reading

I realized that everything could still blow up in my face, and I had no idea how to change course. There was no way out of it except through it.

“Stephanie, Dad, this is my...” I paused to glance at Ben. I was not sharing with them that he was my person, not yet. That was entirely too much information. I cleared my throat and said, “My friend Ben Reynolds.”

Ben’s gaze darted to my face, but I kept my focus on my dad. He glanced from me to Ben, then held outhis hand, and with a welcoming smile, said, “Nice to meet you, Ben. Call me Tony.”

“All right.” Ben smiled as they shook.

“A pleasure, Ben,” Stephanie said.

“Likewise,” he said.

I watched my dad’s expression. Did he recognize Ben? Had he put the names together? Was I going to have to spell it out for him? My dad was asking Ben what brought him to the Vineyard, and Ben was talking about his interim run at being the director of the public library. Stephanie perked up at this because she was an avid reader and librarians were her favorite people.

There was no recognition on my dad’s face or on Ben’s either, for that matter. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Dad, Ben is Moira Reynolds’s son.”

Dad blinked twice. He turned from me to Ben. “You don’t say.” He clapped Ben on the shoulder and added, “I see it now. You look just like her.”

“I get that a lot,” Ben said. He looked nervous and he glanced at me. I knew he was checking to see if I thought now was a good time to show my dad the picture. I nodded and pulled out my phone.

“Dad, Tyler and I found this photo at the Grape. This is you and Moira Reynolds, isn’t it?” I asked.

I opened up the photo on my phone and showed it to him. He stared at it for a moment and then he laughed.

“Oh, honey, don’t look at this,” he said to Stephanie.

I felt a beat of panic. Why didn’t he want her to see Moira?

“I have a mullet,” he said. “I’m going to have to make sure all copies of this photo are burned.”

I relaxed. So no big deal about Moira then. Cool.

Stephanie glanced over his shoulder at the picture. “Oh, Tony, that’s...” She burst out laughing.

“Precisely,” he said.

“So, you knew Ben’s mom?” I asked. My voice came out tight and I took a deep breath, trying to loosen the knot in my throat. It didn’t work. Tyler was frowning at me over our dad’s shoulder and I grimaced. I knew I was being a complete freak about all this.

“I sure did.” He turned the phone so Ben could see. “Your mom back in the day.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen the picture,” Ben said. His voice was tight. “Nineteen eighty-nine, right?”

Dad glanced at the photo again. “Indeed. Peak year for the mullet.”

“You don’t happen to remember who the guitar player in the photo is, do you?” I asked.

“Of course, I do,” he said. “Steve Lennon—lead guitar in our band, the Procrastinators.”

“Were he and my mom...?” Ben’s voice trailed off. He looked intensely uncomfortable. Given that I was going to be asking my dad the same thing about Moira and him, I got it.

“He and your mom what?” Dad asked. “A couple?”

“That, yeah.” Ben nodded.

“I’ll say they were,” Dad said. “I mean, your mom was so cool, every guy in the band had a crush on her, but Moira only had eyes for Steve.”

“It’s him.” Ben turned to me. “I know it is. Now that I have his name, I have to go confront her with this.”

“Confront?” Dad asked. His eyebrows rose and he pulled on his chin whiskers. I wondered if this was a new habit. Despite the goatee, he was wearing the usual dad clothes of baggy shorts and a polo shirt. No sign of the skinny jeans anywhere. Maybe the trip had tamed his midlife crisis.

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