Page 99 of The Summer of ’98

My chest tightened. Mom and Dad joked about their age a lot, but I hated hearing anything to do with the fact that they wouldn’t be here one day. I knew that they wouldn’t be here forever but that didn’t mean that I wanted to dwell on it.

“You’ll be fine,” I said, meeting Ellie’s eyes, who mirrored my expression. She loved them, too, and couldn’t imagine our lives without them.

“We’ll be in our eighties,” Mom gasped, clutching her chest. “That’s a frightening thought. But who knows, perhaps we’ll still be kicking it.”

“No doubt,” I said just as Noah and Cass came through the back gate hand in hand.

“Who’s up for mini golf?!” Cass hollered. She had shades on, but I could tell the moment that she saw Abby asleep in my arms because her mouth fell open and she came to a standstill. “That is the cutest shit I have ever seen.”

“Mini golf sounds like a wonderful idea,” Mom said. “Leave the twins here and go and have some time out.”

“Are you sure?” Ellie asked. “That does sound fun.”

“Of course,” Dad said. “Go and have a break. We’ll manage with these two.”

“I’ll put them down for their nap first.” Ellie smiled at Cass who had plonked herself down beside Drayton so that she could coo at him. Noah sat and stretched his legs on the grass. “Is it just us four for mini golf?”

“Eric and Amber too,” Cass said, tickling Drayton. Amber and Eric had returned to their homes for the summer as well. From what I knew, they were splitting time together between his parents and hers.

Ellie stood up and hauled our son onto her hip. He was a chonk, lots of rolls and chub, but Els never complained about having to haul him around. As it was, I tried to take that task off her hands as often as possible, especially if we were out at the store or park and we had to put them in the double sling. After Drayton had tried to climb out of the pram while we were on a scenic stroll, we’d decided to retire it and attempt a more secure method.

Mom offered to help Ellie with the twins, and I carefully transferred a dozing Abby into Mom’s arms. She, Cass, and Ellie disappeared inside, leaving me with Noah and Dad out under the hot summer sun. Not a cloud in sight.

“I put the payment through for the campus housing,” Dad said to Noah.

“Thanks, Dad,” he said.

“Not a problem. I’m very proud of how hard you’ve worked to get into this program at college. You applied yourself and it paid off. You’ve done well, son.”

Noah swallowed and I could tell that he wasn’t expecting the praise. It wasn’t the first time Dad had told Noah that he was proud of him, but Noah rarely chose to hear it, instead focusing on the things that he wasn’t being told.

“Thanks,” Noah said, a small nod aimed at Dad.

“Both my boys at Baylor,” Dad grinned. “Wonderful, isn’t it? And you’ll be close together again. That’ll be nice.”

Noah and I shared a brief glance. We’d been getting along better since I’d moved to Waco, but it was hard to know what our relationship would be like when we were living close together again. Ellie told me to be more positive, as she often did. She assured me that we’d be fine considering we weren’t under the same roof and we could still hang out as little or often as we liked. Something told me that college would be what Noah needed. He’d find his people. He’d find groups and clubs, and it might be exactly what he needed.

“Right,” Dad said. “I’m going to go and make a cup of tea. Want one?”

Noah and I both declined and watched our old father move across the lawn much faster than a man his age should be capable. It made me hopeful that he’d be around for a lot longer than he seemed to think.

“Your kids are cool,” Noah said, lying in the grass with an arm across his face. He’d been giving the twins attention here and there since we’d arrived in Castle Rock, but he wasn’t affectionate in any sense of the word. “The little dude is funny. Seems like he’s going to be hard work.”

“For sure,” I laughed. “You gonna babysit for me when you get to Waco? Watch the kids so that Ellie and I can go out once a week.”

“You wish,” Noah scoffed but there was a small smile on his mouth. “You’d trust me to watch the kids?”

I plucked at the grass and laughed. “Probably not. Ellie won’t even let me hire from the babysitter directory.”

“Fair enough. Too many weirdos.”

“Yeah,” I said and looked at the upstairs window to see my girl walking back and forth with Drayton over her shoulder. He was stubborn—he didn’t like to be told when to sleep. “Has Cass decided what to do this semester?”

Noah let out a sound of exasperation. “She wants to come to Waco, but she can’t live with me on campus and she’s not going to college. I don’t know. She’s stressing out all the time. She said she wanted to find a job there and talk to you and Els about boarding with you for a while.”

That was definitely not happening. Our apartment was tiny, we didn’t have a spare bedroom, and Cass was a bit of a whirlwind. Of course, if it was an urgent matter, we’d take her in without question. But her wanting to live in Waco because she doesn’t trust Noah at college didn’t seem urgent to me. Sure, Els could always use the extra hands when I was at classes, but that was what her mom had been popping around a few times a week for. She’d watch the twins while Ellie had a nap or showered or cleaned. She was a great help. Cass would be more like a third child to look after.

“Have you done a lot to convince her that she’s got nothing to stress over?”