Page 37 of The Sky in Summer
Layla locks eyes with me and asks for my opinion on the idea.
“Yeah! You haven’t been to a Fourth of July party until you’ve been to a Lyon’s. Come.”
Every fucking time I say that word aloud to her, we both want to giggle. I haven’t giggled in…well, ever. But I get the concept now. It is exactly what wants to come out of my mouth.
“Yeah!” Teddy adds. “That would be great. Tell David and Tyler, Gia and her sister, and Whitney will be there.”
“The boys have invited their girlfriends. The twins are welcome to invite a friend too. The more the merrier.”
“We’re all just friends.”
Sam tells us what he wants us to believe, although no one pays much attention. We are too focused on the task at hand.
“I’ll talk to the boys. I’m sure they’d love it.”
“There’s going to be fishing for whoever is interested. And lots of good food,” my mother says, pretending to casually weigh in.
In reality, she is thinking her Gaston is brilliant to come up with the idea.
“It’s the perfect spot to watch fireworks. You won’t find a better one,” Aargon says. “Right, Teddy?”
“Yeah. You can see the whole Valley. There are fireworks exploding all over. I’m gonna post on Instagram.”
Nobel seals the deal. “We have everything. Poles, flys, whatever. Fly fishing lessons from a pro. Not me. Dove’s the fisherman in our family. Fisherwoman I should say. My mountain girl can do it all.”
“Yeah,” Teddy laughs. “You fell out of a tree watching her “fish.” He puts air quotes around the word, then does a kind of upper body happy dance.
That starts a whole thing, with every family member putting in their two cents. Nobel tells his nephew to watch what he says out loud. Aargon backs him up. My father thinks it’s funny, and so do Scarlett and Parish. At least it moved the attention away from Layla and I to Nobel and Teddy. Sorry, not sorry, guys. The adults know Dove was swimming naked at the time, not fishing. It’s kind of a funny family story Dove herself shared. I was never sure Teddy or Sam knew the entire story though.
“The Invisible Man lost his superpower and hit the ground,” Teddy announces, using the nickname Nobel got at ten. “And she was skinny dipping!” The teenager just could not leave out the best part of the story. “Seriously awesome!”
Asked and answered.
My first inkling was to pass on the after-game ice cream at The Ice Palace. But then I would be required to have separate conversations with each interested party. Uh uh. Better to get it over en masse. Had Layla accepted the invitation it would have been an entirely different thing. She had scheduled a Zoom call with her friend. It all worked nicely.
“Can I have a taste of that?” Aargon says, considering his own choice of flavors was wrong.
“Why the hell did you getthat?” I ask, looking at the sickening blend of mint and honey flavors.
“This one said it was good,” he says, pitching a thumb at his son.
“I like it!”
Sam laughs at his leader who is never afraid to speak his mind.
I offer my brother a spoonful of my two-scoop cup of Peanut Butter Bliss. After tasting it, he nods.
“So much better.”
We’re jammed around the biggest outdoor table, in front of the downtown business. People stroll by, eyeing our choices. A few second takes from a curly headed toddler, prompts his parents to stop for a treat. Just as I am about to enjoy a heaping spoonful, Scarlett throws the first pitch, and it hits squarely between my eyes.
“So, what’s the story between you and Layla?”
By the fake surprised look on my mother’s face, I would say this is a set up. Somehow between the ball field and the ice cream shop, my sister was nominated for the position of buttinsky.
“We’re friends. That’s it. She isn’t interested in dating anyone. Besides, I’ll be working in Paris in a few months.”
“How do you know she isn’t interested in dating?”
