Page 6 of Summer Reading

“We won’t be that old,” she protested.

“Well, we won’t be as young as we are now,” he said.

Feeling awkward about being in the middle of their discussion but not knowing how to excuse myself, I hunkered down in my armchair and tried to blend in with the upholstery.

Stephanie glanced around the living room, as if she was trying to imagine leaving it. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “What if something terrible happens? We’ll be hours and hours away. It’ll be like the movieHome Alone, except instead of Christmas in the suburbs, it will be Tyler scared and alone on the island while we’re off gallivanting around ancient Greek ruins.”

“Steph, Sam will be here,” Dad said. “She can handle anything that could happen.”

I didn’t move. I was half hoping they’d forgotten I was in the room, because when my dad had asked me to watch Tyler, it seemed like a no-brainer, but now I was seeing Stephanie’s very real panic that something bad could happen, and I would be responsible for it. Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I was ready for this, but what choice did I have?

“But is it fair of us to ask this of her?” Stephanie said.

They turned to look at me. This was it. This was my moment. The one thing about not being bookish was that I’d had to develop other skills, such as talking my way into opportunities that might otherwise have been off-limits to me because of my learning issues.

“You’re not asking me, I’m telling you,” I said. “I’m twenty-eight and I’ve lived on my own for ten years. There is nothing that can happen—clogged toilet, power outage, or flat tire—that I can’t handle. Trust me, I can totally watch over him for you.”

Dad and Stephanie exchanged a look. They looked unconvinced, which made me wonder if they questioned my babysitting abilities. Not gonna lie, I was a little offended. So, even though watching over some angsty teenage brainiac for the summer was nowhere near my list of favorite things to do, I now felt compelled to prove myself.

“We just don’t want to take advantage of your kindness, Sam—” Stephanie began, but I interrupted. So rude, I know.

“It’s not kind of me, I assure you,” I said. “I offer my services as a guardian to the teen, simply because this is a two-bedroom house. If you don’t leave on this trip, I’m stuck sleeping on the couch all summer, so shoo. Go. Git. Adios. Have a great time and bring me back something cool.”

The parentals just stared at each other, clearly speechless. I studied them as they pondered my magnanimity.

My dad was a handsome guy. A few fractions of an inch shy of six feet, he was on the tall side of medium in height, his thick head of jet-black hair was just beginning to sprout random silver threads. He had darkbrown eyes that crinkled in the corners when he laughed, which he did often. He was deeply tan from hours spent on the tennis court with Stephanie, and his build was strong and lean from his many hours jogging along the beach.

He carried himself with a sense of purpose, as if he had places to go and things to do. But he was also aware enough of others to always try to put them at ease with a smile or a joke. I felt like I had inherited that from him, just like his black hair and brown eyes, and it had served me well in my life.

Stephanie was his perfect counterpart. She was tall, lithe, and fair, athletic enough to keep up with him but also content to spend hours in front of a fire reading. She was happy to let him have all the limelight while she stood offstage, enjoying his zest for life, supporting but not always participating. They had always seemed a perfect match to me, and there was no question that they deserved this trip of a lifetime together.

“Teenagers can be tricky,” Dad said. He sounded cautious, as if he, too, was rethinking the situation. Unbelievable.

I looked at him with one eyebrow raised. “Seriously? Do you think I’ve forgotten what hell on wheels on an icy road I was?”

Stephanie flinched. So I knew she remembered.

“I’ve got this,” I said. “There is literally nothing that kid can throw at me that I haven’t already done.”

“Not the most reassuring pep talk,” Dad replied.

“You said on the drive over that you wanted me to take the opportunity this summer to get to know Tyler better,” I said. “Well, we’re never going to have a better chance than this.”

“You said that?” Stephanie asked him. She sounded surprised.

“I thought it would be nice,” Dad said.

Stephanie gave him a soft smile that made my dad sit up straighter, as if her approval filled his happiness bucket. I wondered how long it had been since these two had been alone together for an extended period of time. Probably before Tyler was born. They were overdue. Besides, fam is fam, and you do what you must. And not for nothing, but if I had to borrow some money from my dad, I felt that a charitable deed beforehand would definitely put me in his good graces.

“Listen, I know teenagers are awful. They’re loud, rude, and self-involved. Basically, they’re me but with less manners,” I joked. No one laughed. Tough crowd. I rolled my eyes. I put my right hand on my heart and held up my left. “I promise I will take excellent care of your baby boy. I will not let him get into trouble, I will make sure he’s fed three squares every day and that he gets his eight hours of shut-eye every night. I’ll even tuck him in and read him a bedtime story if he wants. Tyler will be safe and sound with me, I promise.”

“For the record, I think it’s pretty clear that they wantmeto keep an eye onyou.”

At the sound of a man’s voice, I spun around and glanced at the stairs in the corner. There stood a very tall, very skinny man-child with his hands thrust in his pockets and a scowl puckering his lips. I blinked.Tyler?What had happened to the gap-toothed, stained-T-shirt-wearing, goofy boy I remembered? I realized that in my mind he was stuck somewhere at age eight even though I’d last seen him at Christmas. I took in his markedly more grown-up appearance and wondered how much he’d heard of my opinion on teens.

“Just so you know, I’m not a baby and I’m definitely old enough to take care of myself. I don’t needyou.” He shrugged with the disdain only a teen could convey with a shift of the shoulders.

Well, that answered that. He’d heard all of it, even the not-nice parts. So this summer was off to a fabulous start.

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