clipped, purposeful. Kaye Holloway Bennett always had a reason for calling. “I’m calling to confirm our summer plans at the shore.”
“We’re coming to visit the first two weeks of August. I’ve marked it on the calendar.”
“Yes, well that’s why I’m calling. Your father has asked me to arrange for a longer visit.”
“Longer?”
“Yes.”
“Two weeks is a long visit, Mom.”
“Your father has asked that you come for longer than two weeks.”
“You mean like for a month?”
“I mean for the whole summer. Memorial Day to Labor Day.”
“But Memorial Day is next weekend.”
“The children’s last day of school is Friday, isn’t it? That’s almost a full week away. You can drive down on Saturday morning if you need an extra day.”
Stacy would need more than an extra day. She pictured the family calendar on the kitchen wall, meticulously kept and updated. Oversized and color-coded, it contained every activity for the entire family—business trips, sports games, parent-teacher conferences, holiday parties, birthdays, and field trips—for the whole year. Summers were as tightly scheduled as the months before. Camps for both kids began next week, with additional activities running all the way through August. She’d booked Sophie’s spot in art camp back in January, because even though the camp had been months away, it filled up quickly. Connor was just as busy as his sister, and Stacy found herself resenting the implication that her summer would be carefree.
“Are you still there?” Kaye asked. Stacy could almost see her mother’s impatience.
Wasn’t Stacy a little old to be summoned by her mother? It certainly felt that way.
“Dad asked for this?”
“Yes.”
“Seems odd, Mom. Dad doesn’t usually care.”
“Well, he does this year and I’ve called to confirm. Can we count on you for the summer?”
“I don’t know, Mom. Can we talk about this later? The traffic light’s about to change and I’m in the car.”
Kaye hesitated and Stacy assumed they’d been disconnected. She was about to hang up when her mother spoke. “You should know that your father asked specifically for this. It’s important to him that you come, especially after what he’s been through.”
Stacy’s father never asked for anything. It was her mother who had arranged everything for the family—birthday parties, lessons, school for Stacy and her brother, social engagements for her father. He had always seemed to be happy to go along with whatever she’d decided.
If he asked for this specifically, something had changed.
“Is Dad okay?” The car behind her beeped, impatient at the gap between Stacy’s car and the one in front of her. She flicked on her blinker and pulled into a crowded grocery parking lot. “What did the cardiologist say?”
“Nothing like that, Stacy. The doctors say he’s fully recovered. They’ve encouraged him to rest this summer and he wants his family around him, that’s all.”
“You can’t scare me like that, Mom.” Stacy let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
“It’s the first thing he’s asked for in months, Stacy. After what he’s suffered, I think he deserves to get it, don’t you?”
“Is Brad coming too?”
“Of course your brother’s coming.”
“You’ve talked to him? I think he’s still traveling,” Stacy pressed. There was no way she could handle her mother, undiluted, for an entire summer; she needed her brother there too. “I haven’t spoken to him in weeks.”
The car behind her beeped its horn and Stacy glanced in her side mirror. She waved the driver away when she realized he wanted her parking spot. He went, but he didn’t look happy about it.
“Three years,” Kaye reported, as if she’d been recording her family’s inattention. “We haven’t been together as a family at the shore house for three summers. We have that chance now and it would mean so much to your father. You know how hard this recovery process has been for him.”
“I haven’t forgotten about Dad’s heart attack, Mom. I came to the ICU and sat with you, remember?” Stacy winced at the sharpness of her reply. If she and her mother were to spend an entire summer together, they needed to find a way to get along. She drew a breath and tried again. “It’s possible, but I’ll have to check with Ryan to see what his work schedule is. I don’t know how much time off he can take.”
“You know, your father worked all week in the city then caught the Friday afternoon train from Grand Central Terminal to spend weekends with us. I’m sure Ryan can do the same.”
“I won’t ask Ryan to do that.” What her mother proposed meant five days