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“Not the one fromSpace Jam?” My dad looks at me with a twinkle in his eye.
“That’s the one,” I tell him.
“No!” my dad nearly shouts. “I’ve always wanted that jersey, and you told me you’d never give it up.” Before I can remind him that he’s not a basketball fan, he turns to Wyatt and asks, “How much are tickets?”
“A dollar each.”
Pulling out his wallet, my dad asks, “Do you have the tickets on you? I’d like to buy some.”
Clearly excited at the opportunity to boost his team’s chance of winning, Wyatt says, “They’re at home, but I can go get them and come right back if you want.”
“You know what, Wyatt?” I interject. “We’re all going to be at the lodge tonight for supper. Why don’t you bring them then?”
“Okay, I will,” he says. “See you later.” He takes off in an excited dash for the door with the twins following close behind.
My dad grins after them. “Oh, to have that kind of energy again.”
I worry my dad is going to say something about me and Moira in the closet, but instead, he smiles at my mom. “We should get going, Rose. Let our future bestseller get back to work.”
Instead of returning to the closet together, Moira avoids me all afternoon. It isn’t until she heads out for the evening that I manage to talk to her again. Following her out the front door, I ask, “Are you okay? You’ve been kind of quiet.”
“Ethan.” She stands still like she’s been tagged in that childhood game, statue maker. “I don’t think we should go off on our own tonight. I’m worried your parents are going to guess there’s something going on between us.”
“Who cares what they think?” I mean, obviouslyIcare, because I don’t need them pressuring me, but I don’t want Moira to worry about them.
“I don’t want them sharing their suspicions with Digger and Grandpa Jack.”
“Sissy Sinclair’s grandmother already planted that seed.” I explain, “She went right up to the lodge after she saw us kissing by the side of the road.”
“Really? They didn’t say a word to me.”
I nod my head. “Apparently, they didn’t believe her and told her she needed to get her eyeglass prescription updated.”
“So, you’re saying your parents are the only ones we have to fool.”
“Yup.”
That seems to lighten her mood considerably. “Okay then, I’ll just head home and change. I’ll see you up there in a few.” There’s almost a spring in her step as she walks away, which causes a warm feeling to permeate through my body.
This is the Moira I love.
Wait. What? I don’t love Moira. I can’t. It took me five months to tell Paige that I loved her, and clearly that didn’t turn out. What I meant to say is, this is the Moira I … like.
* * *
It’s a beautiful, warm evening, so we decide to have dinner on the deck. There’s a kids’ table and a grown-ups table. Surprise, surprise, my dad winds up sitting with the kids again. Jack occupies the adults with his entertaining and hilarious stories of life in Alaska.
After we’re all so stuffed we can barely move, the kids hit the open space for an impromptu baseball game. Digger and I decide to join them, and we quickly form into two small teams. The evening passes far too quickly, and when Harper announces it's time for showers and bed for her kids, groans are heard from all participants, me included.
“Bedtime?” my mom asks, glancing at her watch. “How on earth can it be so late?”
“Midnight sun,” I tell her.
“That’s just incredible,” she says, truly sounding impressed by such a foreign concept.
Moira stands and brushes imaginary crumbs off her shorts. “Come on, boys. We should get going, too.”
Once again, my dad pulls his wallet out. He tells Wyatt, “I almost forgot about the raffle tickets.”
