That Summer Thing

Automatically Beth’s eyes sought the Callahan house next door. Although her father had moved away, Beth knew that Lucy’s parents still lived there. Time was, she would have never dreamed of passing their house without stopping to say hello. They would have scolded her if she had.

A honking horn startled her out of her musings. She wasn’t twelve, she was thirty-one, and Mr. and Mrs. Callahan no longer regarded her as a daughter. There was no point in stopping, so she turned her attention to the street and drove away.

As she reached the heart of town, she saw that, although time had brought some changes to Riverbend, most of the commercial district looked the same. There was Steele’s bookstore and the Sunnyside Café, two of her favorite places. The Strand Theater still showed movies nightly, according to the marquis, and Beck’s was selling shoes right next door.

Beth continued down Hickory Street, suddenly impatient to see her brother and his family. When she reached his home, the excitement bubbling inside her had her hurrying out of the car and up the front steps.

“Omigosh! You’re here!” Grace Pennington’s mouth dropped open when she saw Beth standing on the front step. “Ed didn’t think you’d come.”

“Should I leave?” she joked.

“No, this is wonderful. Come on in.” After a warm welcoming hug, Grace ushered her sister-in-law inside.

As she stepped into the living room, Beth saw Grace’s parents seated on the sofa.

“Mom and Dad are here for the weekend,” her sister-in-law told her. The two seniors smiled and greeted Beth warmly.

“I should have called before I came,” Beth apologized. “I didn’t even think that you might have company.” For once in her life she’d made an impulsive decision and it looked as if it was the wrong one.

“We’re not company,” Grace’s father bellowed. “We’re family.”

“That’s right, and there’s always room for family,” Grace assured her, pulling Beth into the living room with a loving hand.

In their hearts maybe, Beth said to herself, but in her brother’s house there was only one guest bedroom, which was now occupied. Maybe she could bunk in with one of her nieces. She was about to make that suggestion when her niece Kayla came bouncing into the room followed by a set of twins.

“Hi, Auntie Beth,” said Kayla. “Look who Grandma and Grandpa brought with them. My cousins Erin and Jenny. They’re sleeping overnight, too.”

Beth’s eyes met those of her sister-in-law. “The more the merrier, right?” Grace said in her usual calm manner. “I bet you could use a cold drink. Why don’t you come into the kitchen with me. While I put the finishing touches on dinner, you can bring me up-to-date on everything that’s happened.”

“I feel really stupid,” Beth told her as she took a seat at the wooden table. “I should have called before I came.”

“Nonsense. We love surprises—especially ones that bring us our favorite people. Now, don’t even worry about the sleeping arrangements. We’ll figure something out after dinner.” She gave Beth’s arm a squeeze. “I’m so glad you’re here—Ed’s going to be delighted.”

“Where is my brother?”

“Working, but he’ll be home for dinner.” Grace opened the fridge and took out a pitcher of lemonade. She poured a large glass for Beth. “He’s going to be surprised. Now that July’s half gone, he thought you’d keep postponing your visit until the summer was over.”

“It was tempting,” Beth confessed, accepting the cold drink gratefully. “I can’t remember the last time I didn’t work over a summer break.”

“You work too hard, Beth. You and your brother have that in common.”

“Guess it’s in the genes,” she said lightly. “If I didn’t work I’d get bored.” She watched her sister-in-law tend to the pots on the stove. Despite having a houseful of kids and extra guests for dinner, she looked her usual calm self, not a hair out of place on her blond head, her makeup as fresh as if she’d just put it on.

“You won’t have to worry about being bored here. We’ll find plenty of things for you to do. The girls were counting on you coming and they’ve made plans to take you on picnics and a dozen other things.”

The girls were Beth’s nieces—Kayla, who was eight, Allison, five, and little Cierra, who was three. “They’re the real reason I’m here. It’ll be good to spend some time with them.”

Grace grinned. “They love being with you, but I have to warn you. They’ll run you ragged if you let them. No reason you can’t lie around and do nothing if that’s what you want.”

Beth had never been very good at doing nothing, which was why she said, “Ed mentioned that Dr. Julian Bennett might be looking for someone to help out at his clinic.”

“Are you thinking about working while you’re here?” Grace asked.

Beth shrugged. “It would only be part-time.”

Just then her brother walked in through the back door. “Hey! I thought I recognized that car out front.” He spread his arms to welcome his sister, who jumped up to give him a hug. “It’s good to see you, sis. You look great.” He pushed her back at arm’s length and let his eyes take her in.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she told him, returning his gaze with the same affection. “I see you cut your hair.” Ever since she could remember, his dark, wavy hair had reached the edge of his collar.

He rubbed a hand over his closely cropped brown hair. “Thought I should start looking like a thirty-five-year-old attorney instead of an aging rebel,” he said. “Besides, it’s easier this way.”

“I like it,” she stated sincerely.

“Has Grace been bringing you up-to-date with what’s been going on around here?” he asked, giving his wife an affectionate nuzzle on the neck as she stood next to the stove stirring a pot.

Grace replaced the lid on the pan and said, “I’ll let you do that, Ed. I’m going to set the dining-room table and get the kids washed up for dinner.”

“Let me help.” Beth started to rise to her feet, but Grace put a hand on her shoulder.

“You sit and visit with your brother,” she ordered, then grabbed a stack of plates and disappeared into the other room.

“So what’s wrong?” Ed asked as soon as they were alone.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Beth denied indignantly as he sat down across from her. “Have you forgotten that you invited me to come spend the summer with you?” She spread her arms. “So here I am.”

“It’s mid-July.”

“All right, so I missed the first part of summer.”

He smiled slyly. “You cost me a hundred bucks.”

“How’s that?”

“I bet Grace you wouldn’t come at all.”

Beth chuckled. “No wonder she was so happy to see me.”

“I’m happy to see you, too. You haven’t exactly been a regular visitor to Riverbend,” he reminded her.

“I have a very demanding job,” she said, then immediately added, “Or I should say I had a very demanding job.”

“Does that mean you’re still unemployed?”

She could see concern in her brother’s eyes and it touched her. Even though they were separated by distance, they had remained close over the years, and she had confided in him often about the difficulties she’d had getting along with the athletic director at the college for the past year. Ed had been a rock of support when she’d made the decision to quit her job, and he understood her anxiety about her uncertain future.

“Yes. I told them in the spring I wasn’t going to renew my contract,” she said, not wanting to rehash the betrayal she’d felt on not only a professional but a personal level. As an athletic trainer she had always put the well-being and safety of her students first. To have someone question her judgment, then overrule her decision to keep a player out of a game was a breach of professional conduct she couldn’t tolerate.

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried they might have coerced you into returning to your position.”