With all this happiness going on, you’d think I’d be happy, too. Or at least not as obsessed with how long the fish is going to last.
Except we all are. Nobody says so, because that would be rude. But today, instead of fish and a quarter can of vegetables each (except for Lisa, who gets double portions of everything), we had fish and a whiff of vegetables.
It’s amazing. I never used to like red cabbage, but now when I get only a teaspoon of it, it’s all I can think about. How lovely. How tasty. How not fish it is.
Pretty soon the fish is going to be not fish also.
Charlie eats the least of us, and I have to admit I thought he was sneaking into the garage and stealing shad until he told us a bit about himself.
“I used to weigh three hundred and seventy pounds,” he told us over a quarter teaspoon of red cabbage. “I was scheduled for weight loss surgery on May twenty-third. Instead I went on a starvation diet, with lots of walking and biking for exercise.” He laughed. “This is the best shape I’ve ever been in.”
“It’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow anybody some good,” Syl said, and we all stared at her.
“My grandmother used to say that,” she said.
That got us laughing, and then we came up with cliches that used to mean something. The early bird catches the worm. Big fish in a small pond.
The best one was half a loaf is better than none at all. I thought we’d never stop laughing after Dad came up with that.
But then Gabriel started yowling, and Lisa nursed him for the 87 th time that day and that quieted all of us.
“I’ve been thinking,” Dad said. “It’s been wonderful staying here, and Laura, you have no idea how grateful we are, but this house was never meant for ten people.”
“I think we all know that,” Mom said.
“Julie and I won’t be staying much longer,” Alex said. “We shouldn’t have stayed as long as we have, but she needed the rest.”
“You did, too,” Julie said. “You’re the one who collapsed last week.”
“Julie,” Alex said.
“We all needed the rest,” Charlie said. “Laura, you—well, all of you have saved our lives.”
“Alex and Julie have places to go to,” Dad said. “But now that I have my children back, including Syl, who I didn’t even know about before, I don’t ever intend to leave you.”
It’s funny how relieved I felt when Dad said that. I’d been trying not to think of his going away again. Even though I’d know he and Lisa and Gabriel were alive, it would still be awful not to have them with me.
“The problem is we can’t be sure you’ll get any food,” Matt said. “It took a fair amount of convincing before they’d give Syl any.”
Dad nodded. “That’s been my concern, too. We can’t keep eating your food, and we can’t be sure they’ll give us some.”
“But you’re our father,” I said. “That should count.”
“Maybe for me,” Dad said. “But there’s Lisa to consider and Charlie, and Alex and Julie for as long as we can get them to stay. I do have an idea, though, that might solve a lot of problems.”
“Go on,” Mom said.
“Mrs. Nesbitt’s house is empty,” Dad said. “But if her son came back, his family should be entitled to food. What was his name again?”
“Bobby,” Mom said. “He lived in San Diego. Mrs. Nesbitt never heard from him…” She didn’t finish the sentence. We never do. Some sentences don’t need to be finished.
“Then no one knows if he’s still alive,” Dad said. “I’ll go into town on Monday and say I’m Bob Nesbitt, that I brought my family back to see how Mom was doing, and we’ll be moving into her house. Which we’ll do anyway, since that way we won’t be underfoot. It’s me and my wife, what was her name?”
“Sally,” Mom said.
“Me and Sally and our two kids, Alex and Julie, and the baby and my brother-in-law, Charlie. Who’s going to know different?”
“Why should they believe you?” Matt asked. “I was there to vouch for Syl.”
“Then I’ll take one of you with me,” Dad said. “Miranda? How would you feel about coming along and swearing I’m Bob Nesbitt?”
“Hal, I didn’t bring up the kids to lie,” Mom said.
“No,” Dad said. “But you didn’t bring them up to starve, either.”
“I don’t mind,” I said, because I hated the thought of Mom and Dad going after each other. “If Syl’s entitled, I don’t see why Dad shouldn’t be. And it would be great having everybody at Mrs. Nesbitt’s.”
“There’s a woodstove in the kitchen,” Matt said. “You’ll need firewood. And some space heaters.”
“We can look for those,” I said. “And toilet paper and everything else they’ll need. Oh, Mom, it’d be so great to have Dad there.”
“Where’s Mrs. Nesbitt’s?” Alex asked, and Julie asked, “Who’s Mrs. Nesbitt?” at the exact same time.
That got us laughing again. “She was our closest neighbor,” Matt said. “Her house is right down the road. You can’t see it from here, but there’s a path through the woods we used to take.”
“Then we’re agreed?” Dad asked, although it wasn’t exactly a question. “Miranda and I will go into town on Monday and see if they’ll give us food. We’ll spend the next few days here, until we can get set up at the Nesbitt house. Maybe if we can get food, we can convince Alex and Julie to stay a little longer.”
“Please, Alex,” Julie said.
“We’ll see,” Alex said.
Julie smiled, and suddenly I understood why Jon likes her so much. Her smile made you forget everything that’s happened in the past year.
“We might as well give it a try,” Mom said. “If Miranda is willing.”
“I am, Mom,” I said. But I don’t think my smile made anyone forget anything.
I was in my bedroom, trying to decide what would be the absolutely safest place to hide my diaries, when I heard a knock on my door and Alex softly saying, “Miranda?”
Even though I hadn’t touched a thing and my diaries were as hidden as they ever are, I instantly decided I needed to find an even better place for them. That was after I finished jumping at the sound of a strange boy’s voice.
“Yeah,” I said, which didn’t come off quite as friendly as it should have. “I mean, hi, Alex. What do you want?”
He stood in the doorway until I gestured for him to come in.
“I hope I’m not bothering you,” he said. “I was wondering if you might have some clothes Julie could borrow. Just for the time we’re here.”
“Oh, sure,” I said. “Julie’s smaller than I am, but we can work something out.” Syl already has half my wardrobe. Julie could have the other half.
“Thank you,” he said. “It’ll mean a lot to her.”
“Do you want me to ask Matt if you could borrow some of his clothes?” I asked. Why should I be the only naked one in the house?
“That would be great, thank you,” Alex said. “It’s just for a few days, until Julie’s rested up enough.”
“There’s no rush,” I said. “I’ll see what I can find.”
Alex looked around my room. “You have a lot of books,” he said.
“Not that many,” I said. “And I’ve read all of them three times by now.”
“I miss reading,” he said, taking my copy of Pride and Prejudice off the shelf. “I miss learning useless things. Latin. Calculus.”
“I miss friends,” I said. “Friends. Family. Food. The three Fs.” I smiled, but Alex didn’t smile back.
“I miss home,” he said. “And the feeling you got in a library carrel, like nothing in the world mattered except the book you were reading.” He put Pride and Prejudice back on the shelf. “I miss pride. The sin of pride.”
“I don’t think it’s a sin to be proud,” I said, looking at my skating trophies. “Not if you’ve worked to achieve
