“Try me.” He marches out the front door, and before I can stop them, my family is up and following after my dad.
And I guess I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If I’m confessing my love, my family may as well be there to witness it. I owe them that much.
forty
SUMMER
“Caleb is not at his house!”I yell to my dad in the driver’s seat. “His mom said he left four hours ago to go skiing by Mountain Village.”
My dad immediately spins the steering wheel, turning the car in the opposite direction. We all go flying, trying to brace ourselves by holding onto the rows of seats.
“Marty!” my mom yells. “This isn’t a car chase, and half of us don’t have seatbelts on.”
“I’m just trying to get Summer to Mountain Village before Caleb leaves.”
“The traffic is going to be terrible,” Jeff says. “Tonight is the Christmas Eve Torchlight Parade, where they ski down the mountain, lighting it with torches.”
Brian seems more excited about that community event than he is about my love life. “I’ve always wanted to go to that.”
“The mountain is going to be closed for skiing.” I bend lower, trying to look out the window. “We’re never going to find him.”
“Try calling him again,” my mom says from the front seat of the van.
I shake my head. “His phone is off.”
“What did his mom say?” Rick asks from the back seat. “Was she mad that you turned her sons against each other?”
“I did not turn her sons against each other,” I say over my shoulder. “Patsy was very sweet and understanding about it.”
“You fell in love with your boyfriend’s twin, and you’re telling me that the mom was sweet and understanding about it?”
“Shut up, Rick!” I snap.
Peter pokes my arm. “Aunt Summer, we don’t say shut up.”
“I’m sorry, buddy.” I ruffle his hair. “You’re right.”
“Mom, you need to wash Summer’s mouth out with soap,” Peter tells Anna.
“Soap? Really?” I look at my sister. “That’s kind of a harsh punishment.”
“Maybe we should wash Summer’s mouth out with soap because she kissed her boyfriend’s twin brother,” Rick snickers from the back row again.
“Shut up, Rick!” Juliet barks at her husband.
“I’m going to park here.” My dad quickly jerks the car to the right, illegally double-parking in front of a red zone.
My mom frowns. “Marty, you’ll get a ticket.”
“I’ll expense it to the company,” Aunt Carma says from the very back of the van where there’s no seats. I almost forgot she came with us.
Everyone seems satisfied with that answer, even though Carma has no authority to expense a parking ticket, and they all shuffle out of the van like one of those clown cars.
“Get in line for a gondola.” Tommy rushes ahead, fighting the crowd. “It looks like they just shut down the mountain for skiing so they can light the torches. If Caleb is here, we might be able to find him at the bottom of the hill.”
We wait our turn, squeezing into one gondola again. It’s standing room only.
