Page 85 of The Summer We Started Over

Bobby blinked and shrugged.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little star.” Dinah recited the short poem.

Bobby didn’t look impressed.

Barrett began to quote, “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea / In a beautiful pea-green boat.”

“But wouldn’t they fight?” Bobby asked.

The sisters laughed and told him that was a very good point. William and Dinah were involved in their own conversation. Dove sat gripping the arms of her chair, struggling to stay upright, but managing to smile.

The buzzer rang. Eddie dressed the salad and set out plates and silverware. Barrett brought the mac and cheese from the oven and went around the table, giving everyone generous helpings.

Dove told her son to eat some lettuce.

Bobby obeyed. “It tastes like toilet paper!”

Dinah leaned toward him, her jewelry glittering, a whisper of her perfume drifting over him. “How do you know? Have you ever eaten toilet paper?”

“No, silly,” Bobby replied, laughing.

He finished eating before everyone else, so Dove said he could watch television again. Bobby shrieked with joy. Eddie took him into the den and settled him in front of cartoons. She returned to the kitchen, took a platter of grapes, plums, and peaches from the refrigerator and set it in the middle of the table. Now Dinah was arguing with William about a poem called “Lamia.” Barrett was telling Dove about her shop.

We’re almost like a real family,Eddie thought. A slight disaster of a family, but still a family.

—

That evening, Eddie gave her bedroom to Dove and Bobby, and Barrett and Eddie made a little parade as Eddie moved her clothes into Barrett’s room and brought Dove and Bobby’s luggage in from the car.

When everything was arranged, Dove said to Eddie and Barrett, “I want to tuck Bobby in. I’ll be down in a while to talk.”

But when half an hour had passed and Dove didn’t appear, Eddie went upstairs to check.

She found Dove deeply asleep next to her son.

She returned to the family room to tell her father, sister, and Dinah that Dove and Bobby were asleep.

“Could we please watch television?” Barrett begged. “I need to zone out.”

Together, they watchedFather Brown,a gentle British mystery set in the 1950s. Barrett was delighted by Mrs. McCarthy’s hats, Dinah was thrilled every time Lady Felicia appeared, Eddie kept hoping that Bunny would fall in love with Inspector Sullivan, and William said they were all delusional.

“Those aren’t real people,” he reminded the others.

“And what a shame that is,” Dinah told him.

After three episodes, they all went to bed, knowing that tomorrow would require clear minds and strong hearts.

—

After breakfast the next morning, Barrett was in her shop, unpacking new inventory, when Eddie called.

“She’s awake. Dad’s taking Bobby to Children’s Beach so we can talk.”

“I’ll come home right away.”

Barrett drove carefully, obeying the stop signs, wanting to keep the edges of the world straight. She found her sister and Dove in the kitchen. Eddie was at the sink, filling the ice cube tray. Barrett kissed Dove on her forehead and then, for no reason at all except that she felt like it, she kissed Eddie on her forehead, too.

“Eddie’s been telling me about your shop,” Dove said. “I’d love to see it.”

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