Page 109 of Summer Reading

I smiled. I appreciated the flattery, but I was on a quest. I pulled out my phone and opened the picture again. I turned it so my dad could see it, and I tapped the screen.

“Dad, this guy Steve Lennon, what’s his story?”

“For starters,” Dad said. “He was the most incredible musician I’ve ever played with. He couldchannel Stevie Ray Vaughan like nobody’s business. And he had the best hair. He was a cool guy, too. Quiet, but wickedly funny when he dropped a one-liner on you.”

I frowned. “What do you mean ‘was’? Did he move away? Quit music?”

“No,” Dad said. His face grew somber and there was a deep sadness in his eyes. “He died. Ten years ago. Steve was killed in a motorcycle accident.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

All of the blood rushed from my head to feet. I felt woozy and rested my forehead in my hand. No, no, no. This was bad, so bad.

“Are you okay, Sam?” Dad asked.

“Dad, this is really important,” I said. “Ben was born in the spring of 1990.”

“So he’s a few years older than you,” he said. He looked like he was processing the age gap.

“Not the important part, Dad,” I said. “Ben doesn’t know who his father is. Moira won’t tell him and there’s no name listed on his birth certificate.”

“Oh.” Dad’s face became serious. “I see.”

“Moira got pregnant with Ben in the summer of 1989. You were there,” I said. “Do you think Steve Lennon is Ben’s father? Did Moira date someone else? Anyone else?”

Dad ran a hand over his eyes while he thought about it. “As I remember it, Moira and Steve were inseparable that summer. If she was pregnant, I’d bet the house on Steve being the father.”

Oh no, poor Ben. Even though the heartbreak wasn’t mine, I felt the pain and despair that was coming for Ben. He was never going to get the chance to meet his father, to hug him, to ask him if he liked peanut butter, bacon, and pickle sandwiches.

I wasn’t aware that tears were coursing down my cheeks until Dad took my hand in his. “Hey, are you all right?”

I shook my head. Then I hugged him hard around the neck. “In case I haven’t told you often enough, I love you, Dad.”

“Thanks, kid,” he said. He hugged me back and patted my back. “What’s going on? Why are you so upset?”

“She’s in love with Ben,” Tyler said. “He reads smutty books to her when they sit on the porch together.”

“Tyler!” I let go of my dad and threw my napkin at him. “How do you even know that?”

“Sophie and I may or may not listen to you from inside the house.” He wagged his eyebrows.

“Sophie?” Dad asked. He turned his head slowly toward Tyler and raised one eyebrow in inquiry.

“Tyler has a girlfriend,” I said. I looked at my brother, who was pink with embarrassment and I added, “Payback’s a bitch.”

Tyler stuck his tongue out at me and I laughed.

“Dad, can I borrow the car? I need to go see Ben,” I explained.

“Take it,” he said. “I’m about to go to bed. I don’t even know what time my body thinks it is.”

“Thanks.” I hopped up from my seat and kissed his cheek. “And thanks for doing the dishes, Tyler!”

“What?” he cried. “But I have a date!”

“About that date,” Dad said. “I think we need to have a talk.”

“Oh god, not again,” Tyler muttered.

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