"Hey, Josh. Over here." Good grief.
Is this a circus? His mother and grandfather and even old Gran were there waiting
for him. He was surprised—and glad—that they didn't have
balloons and a teddy bear. He'd only been gone two days. It wasn't like
it was a big deal. It wasn't as if he were the only person in his
family that had. . . .
Josh suddenly realized that in his lifetime no one in
his family had been on a plane, ever. In fact, not only was it a big
deal for him to fly across the country, it may be the only time that any
of them had been out of New England, maybe out of New
Hampshire. Maybe he was brave. And crazy. And afraid.
"Oh, Josh. You're back. We've missed you." His
mother smothered him with a kiss and a huge hug. Gran moved in for
a quick swipe. And Gramps smiled broadly. The proud father,
watching his brood.
"Was it exciting, son? Did you find something you
liked?" His mother was just glad he was back. His grandfather wanted
to know the details. Not a surprise. It was the kind of guy he
was. How is this going to make a difference? What's the bottom line?
Is it a go?
"Incredible, Gramps. You wouldn't believe how high
we went. I guess we went fast too, although I couldn't tell. The
guy next to me—there he goes, over there—was real nice. He lives
in Madbury. He's got a kid at Oyster River."
"What about the school? Did you like it? Did they
like you?"
"Dad. Let the boy get settled. Grab his bag and let's
go home. He needs some rest. He's been travelling for ever."
"Only since yesterday, Mom. Only two days. What's
new around here? What's changed?"
The group moved out of the terminal and across the
parking lot. Josh was glad to see that they had come in Gramps' car—it
was big and comfortable, even if the radio was always tuned to
WCRB. It was good to be home.
As Gramps moved the car out of the terminal and on to
the main road, Josh turned to his mother. "It was great, Mom.
The school is super. The kids are nice. Well, one girl wanted to kick
my butt, but even she was kinda good lookin'."
"A thousand miles to go to school because the girls
are good looking? What will Cindy say?" Gramps caught his eye in
the rear view mirror and winked.
"But guess what. Mr. Maloney knows Ms. Parsons.
They used to be friends. Lovers! Good grief. Who would have guessed?"
"Oh, what a surprise." His mother said surprise, but
Josh could tell that she. . . . Oh, no. No one in the car was surprised
by this bombshell. It wasn't fair. Why was he always the last to know?
"She told you. Parsons told you already about Mr.
Maloney. Did she tell you that they should have gotten married?
Whoops. That too. Why doesn't anyone tell me any of these things? It's
my life. It's me all this is happening to."
"Now, Josh." His grandfather, the peace maker. Always
had an explanation. "Now, Josh. We didn't want to get your hopes
up. Or make you expect special treatment. We just wanted you to
have a chance to make your own impressions. Just like anybody else."
"You could have told Maloney that! He was all over
me, trying to make sure I had a good time, sending me out with
his niece to lure me in, telling me all this disgusting
stuff—interesting stuff about him and Holly—Ms. Parsons. He could have been
told to cool it a little bit, treat me like anybody else. They've got
next year's class all set. There shouldn't even be room for me. I
figured that out. But Mr. Maloney—James—said he'd find room.
And who's going to pay for it? I can't even figure out who paid for
this plane ride. You didn't pay for it, I know that."
"You're a special kid, Josh. People like to do things for
you. You've made a difference to Holly and this is a chance for her
to repay you—a little bit. She and I were talking the other day. . . ."
"You're always talking with her. She's my teacher.
You should leave her alone. What am I supposed to think? My
mother and my teacher, having coffee every day. That's not
normal. That's. . . ."
"Shouldn't I have a friend, Josh? Shouldn't she
have friends? I don't see. . . ."
"Look at this intersection, Josh. I think they'll open up
a new piece of this road any day now. Look at the way they're
laying down that roadway. That crushed rock is from the ledge up by
the Newfields road. Imagine that. Recycling rock, right here."
"Gramps!" But despite his mother's protestations,
Gramps had broken the argument, had diverted them from the
important issues and let them have a quiet ride back into Exeter and a
world that Josh would find was not quite the same as it had been when
he had left the day before.
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