Once Around the Carousel

Chapter Twenty-Three

Getting off the bus after her last day of ninth grade, Sharon felt an immediate flush of apprehension. Parked in the driveway was her brothers' Mustang. With Tim and Jim home from school, she wondered about her father's expectations. Certainly, the new family dynamics would no longer be appropriate. She'd asked him several times, in nervous roundabout ways, what he expected of her during the summer. However, the closest she got to instructions was an open-ended snipe at dinner, "I've taken care of everything. You two don't have to worry your pretty little heads about it."

Sharon knew one thing for sure. Her father's wishes would be abundantly clear, and he'd expect the women to follow his lead precisely. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her father with his suit jacket off and tie loosened. He was sitting at the kitchen table with his sons. All three held Michelobs as he regaled the boys with a story about something he'd done at work. As for Perrin, she was behind the counter, wearing the first sunshine-fresh smile she'd broken out in months.

"Hey guys," Sharon said, dropping the two bags of junk she'd cleaned out of her locker. "When did you get here?"

"My boys just got home," Perrin chirped. "I'm making them snacks. Would you like anything?"

"Nah," Sharon said, worrying her brothers' arrival would ruin her plans. "I was just dropping off some stuff; then I was going to Linda's. We're going to a party tonight. You said it was okay, remember."

"I'm taking everyone to the club for dinner, but if you'd rather see your friends, that's your decision." Bob joked, a tone not within striking distance of his recent demeanor.

"Oh, let her go, Dad. It's their year-end party," Tim said, shocking Sharon by coming to her defense. "They do it every year. We're gonna be here for two weeks; we'll have plenty of time to get on each other's nerves."

"Well, sweetie-pie, what kind of party is this? Are you sure it's such a good idea?" Perrin asked, taking a run at reclaiming her concerned parent role.

"Don't be such a square, Mom," Jim jumped in. "A bunch of kids go to the field behind Roger's Lake. They light a bonfire and drink a couple of beers. We went last year; it's no big deal."

"She'll be fine," Tim said, pointing to Sharon, still in her cheerleader's uniform. "Look at her. Those virgin lips probably never touched anything stronger than a glass of milk."

Perrin looked to Bob for his approval, and when he nodded, she told Sharon she could go.

"Thanks, Mom," Sharon said, bouncing over, giving her mother a smooch, and swiping a two-fingered scoop of cookie dough. Then, remembering what her brother said, she turned back to them. "Where you guy's going? You'll only be here two weeks?"

"They're touring Ireland and Scotland as a graduation present, visiting where the MacCalaster clan comes from. It's about time they picked up a little of the heritage from my side of the family," Bob said. Although, his understanding of which portion of the British Isles he should claim as the MacCalaster ancestral home remained vague at best. "It'll be just you, me, and your aging mother for the rest of the summer while my boys get some culture."

"And drink beer in all the pubs," the boys said in near unison, knocking their bottles together.

The new family roles certainly benefited the boys' travel schedule. To keep his sons away, Bob sent them skiing nearly every weekend in the winter, to Florida on spring break, and now they were off to drink beer and look at castles. Sharon went to her room, tossing aside any hard feelings. On her list of grievances, the Im's going to Europe didn't rank.

"Mom, can you give me a ride to Linda's?" Sharon asked, coming back downstairs.

"I'll take you," Tim said, jumping up and grabbing her bag with the look of a brother who truly wanted to spend time with his sister. Sharon looked around the room for clues on how to respond. Perrin beamed, thrilled that even if just for this short-lived scene, the members of her storybook family appeared to be hitting their marks and cues. However, her father's eyes told a different story. They caught Sharon's and gave a stern look she took as a warning.