Page 102 of The Beach Shack Summer
“He really did.” She took another bite. “Tyler?”
“Yeah?”
“Just the two of us is okay. I mean, it’s weird and the house echoes now and you still can’t cook, but... it’s okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She concentrated on her ice cream. “Maybe we could do this again. The ice cream thing. If you want.”
“I’d like that,” Tyler said carefully, trying not to spook this fragile moment. “Maybe next Sunday?”
“Maybe.” She stood, tossing her empty cup in the trash. “Come on. I want to practice night driving on the way home.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Tyler.”
“Stella.”
“I’ll go five under the speed limit.”
“Ten under.”
“Seven.”
“Deal.”
They walked back to the truck, and Tyler handed over the keys. The drive home was careful and perfect, Stella narrating every turn and signal like a proper new driver.
Just the two of us, Tyler thought as they pulled into the driveway. It wasn’t the family configuration he’d planned or the summer he’d expected. But watching Stella carefully park the truck, seeing the satisfactionon her face, remembering the taste of mint chocolate chip and tradition renewed?—
Maybe just the two of us was exactly what they needed to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“This is a disaster,” Tyler announced, staring into the pan with genuine bewilderment. “How is it both burned and raw?”
“Because you had the heat on nuclear,” Stella said, hip-checking him away from the stove. “Move. I’m staging an intervention.”
“It’s chicken. It’s literally just chicken in a pan.”
“Was chicken. Now it’s a science experiment.” She grabbed a wooden spoon, poking at the mysterious protein. “When did you put it in?”
“Twenty minutes ago?”
“On what temperature?”
“High? Medium-high? The dial goes to eleven.”
“This isn’t Spinal Tap, Tyler.” She turned off the burner, moved the pan to a cold element. “Okay. New plan. We’re starting over.”
“We don’t have more chicken.”
“We have eggs. And that leftover rice.” She openedthe fridge, assessing. “Fried rice. Even you can’t mess up fried rice.”
Tyler watched her move around the kitchen with increasing confidence, then froze as she pulled out an onion and started dicing with practiced precision.
“What are you doing?”
