“What?”
“What you just said.”
“I was just summing up whatyoujust said.”
“But you’re saying it with a better vocabulary.”
“It’s not about vocabulary. It’s about speaking from the heart. And also setting the record straight. Have a real conversation with her, Dad. She might still leave you, but at least you’ll both know why.”
“I don’t want to seem like a whiner.”
“Wanna know what you seem like to me?” I asked.
My dad met my eyes.
“You seem like a man who loves his family very much. And who’s trying like hell to get it right.”
My dad was fidgeting. Vulnerability was not his favorite emotion.
“That’s your homework,” I said then. “Pull her aside. Tell her everything you just told me. Tell her you can change. And ask her to take you back on a trial basis.”
“A trial basis?”
I nodded. “Once that’s done, we’ll move on to phase two.”
“What’s phase two?”
“I don’t know yet, but we’ll figure it out.”
My mother was almost within earshot.
“More to come on this,” I said, giving him a little salute.
And then, I guess because he also wanted a hug butalsohad no idea how to make that happen… my dad just nodded and saluted me back.
Nineteen
LET’S JUST SKIPthe kayaking, okay?
Did I go?
Yes.
Did Finn wear his helmet?
No. But he was clearly disappointed about that.
And was I so nervous all morning before going that I fully forgot to put on any sunscreen—at all—and came back from that five-hour excursion broiled like a lobster?
I’m sorry to say:Yes.
But sunburns can take a while to set in. I didn’t really notice what I’d done to myself until I got back to the room and Cooper, who was practicing his mini banjo, looked up and said, “That’s a hell of a sunburn.”
“Is it?” I asked, suddenly getting the shivers.
“Didn’t you put on sunscreen?”
I shook my head. “I was so nervous, I forgot.”
