Ava was the first one to reach the front door. It was unusual to have a visitor at this time on a Friday night, ringing the front doorbell. Most people they knew just rapped on the side door leading to the kitchen, and it was too late for a salesperson. Maybe it was Corey again?
By this point Tommy and Alex had joined her. It struck Ava that they must also think this visitor was going to be worth coming out to see. She stood on tiptoe and peered through the peephole. Then she gasped.
“Who is it?” demanded Tommy, moving her firmly to one side so he could have a look himself. “No way,” he said.
By now Alex was struggling to hip-check her brother out of the way so that she could look too, but without success. Tommy simply brushed her away with one of his strong forearms, unlocked the door, and flung it wide open.
A tall, good-looking, somewhat scruffy-faced young man stood on the stoop.
For a split second, Ava didn’t recognize him. Then her jaw dropped.
“Uncle Scott!” shrieked Alex.
Uncle Scott set down the two bags he was carrying and opened his arms wide. The two girls barreled into him for a hug. Tommy gave him a half hug from the side, given that the girls were taking up most of the front stoop. Moxy was still barking, but now it was excited barking, as though she remembered him and just wanted to announce his arrival.
The three kids pulled him inside and closed the door. Moxy ran around them in a circle, showing off her sheepherding skills.
“Uncle Scott, what are you doing here?” asked Ava. “I thought you were backpacking through Asia!”
“That was last year,” said Alex. “Weren’t you just in Alaska, on a fishing boat?”
Tommy, who had been peering through the window next to the front door, spoke up before Scott had a chance to answer. “Where’s that awesome little red sports car you used to drive, Uncle Scott? How did you get here?”
“I took a cab from the bus station, T,” he said. “And that sports car turned out to be overrated.”
By this time Mr. and Mrs. Sackett had emerged from the kitchen. They did not look surprised to see Scott. Ava realized they’d been expecting him. Scott disentangled himself from the girls, stepped forward, and kissed Mrs. Sackett on both cheeks, European-style, and then hugged Coach—somewhat stiffly, Ava noticed.
With a slight shock, she realized it had been at least two years since they’d seen him. They’d gotten the occasional postcard, always from far-flung places. She and Alex had mounted each of his postcards on the bulletin board between their beds in their old house. They’d collected at least two dozen. She wondered where those postcards were now. Alex probably has them filed by date in a box somewhere, she thought.
Uncle Scott was several years younger than Coach—the youngest of Coach’s three siblings. Sometimes he looked more like a teenager than a grown-up. Ava took in his fashionably scruffy face, faded jeans, trendy sneakers, black T-shirt, and close-fitting jacket. Like Coach, he was ruggedly handsome, but more like a guy in an aftershave commercial than, well, a dad. All the Sackett brothers had slightly curly hair, but while Coach had green eyes, Scott’s eyes were dark brown and shiny, like espresso coffee beans.
“Uncle Scott is coming to stay for a while,” Coach said to the kids. “We’ve invited him to spend the holidays with us.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” squealed Alex. “We haven’t seen him—we haven’t seen you in ages, Uncle Scott! Have you been traveling the world?” she asked him eagerly. “Do you have a girlfriend? What happened to that glamorous actress you were dating back when Ava and I were in fifth grade? Remember we went to see her in that movie where she played a dead body?”
Before Scott could answer, Tommy was also firing questions.
“Do you remember when you took me to game four of the World Series when the Sox beat the Rockies?” asked Tommy. “And how Mike Lowell and Bobby Kielty both hit home runs and I almost caught a ball? Maybe we can go to a Mavericks game while you’re here. And did you hear we won State?”
While Tommy was recounting the final few moments of the Tigers’ state championship win, Ava looked from Uncle Scott to her father and back again. Uncle Scott seemed a little ill at ease, and she wondered why. He had always had such an easygoing, relaxed personality. She remembered that Tommy had always looked up to Scott more like an older brother than an uncle, and no wonder. As the youngest of the four Sackett boys, Scott was the only one who’d stayed behind in Texas, even after Ava’s grandparents had moved to Florida. But as far as she knew, that was just a place from which he’d had his mail forwarded. For as long as she could remember, he’d been something of a wanderer, traveling the world, never holding down a job for long. For the first time ever, she wondered if her father and Scott got along. Could it be possible that maybe they had quarreled? Why else would Coach not have mentioned that Scott was coming?
“Have you eaten dinner, Scott?” asked Mrs. Sackett.
“Yep, I just ate,” said Scott. “I didn’t want you to have to worry about my special eating plan on the very first night.”
“Special eating plan?” repeated Mrs. Sackett. Ava thought she sounded way too polite and formal to be talking to her brother-in-law.
“Oh! Ha, yeah,” said Scott with a little chuckle. “I’m Ayurvedic now. Still vegetarian, of course, but nowadays I don’t eat eggs or dairy. Or nightshade vegetables, like tomatoes and peppers. Those toxic alkaloids affect my vibrational and physical channels in negative ways.”
“I see,” said Mrs. Sackett faintly.
“Hey, I’m a vegetarian now too!” said Alex. “Should I stop eating nightshade vegetables like you?”
Mrs. Sackett gave Alex a panicked look. Ava saw Coach slip his hand into her mother’s and give it a little squeeze.
Scott laughed. “Maybe wait until you’ve gotten totally used to being a vegetarian, Alex,” he said. He ran a hand through his already unruly curls. “I’m pretty beat. It’s been a long day.”
“Yes, you do look tired,” said Mrs. Sackett. “We’ll put you in the study. Tommy, you can carry his bags in there. Ava, run and get some clean sheets and a pillow. And don’t forget a towel.”
“Thanks so much, Laura,” said Scott. “And Ava, don’t bother with a pillow. I brought my own. It’s kapok.”
“What the—” Coach stopped and began again. “What is kapok?”
“Oh, it’s made from the seed pods of sustainably harvested kapok trees,” said Scott, with an apologetic smile.
Mrs. Sackett was looking a little worried, but she stepped over to the study and pushed open the door. “Well, there’s a fold-out couch and a small bathroom just for your use. You’ll find it quite a blessing most mornings in this household.” She shot Alex a meaningful look. Alex had been taking such long showers in the morning that she’d used up the hot water on several occasions, so Mrs. Sackett had had to set strict time limits for her. “Oh, and Alex, you need to clean up that craft project that’s all over the floor. What is it, anyway?”
“It’s my Secret Santa gift for the Christmas party,” explained Alex. “I have Rosa, and I’m making her a padded bulletin board.”
“Still our artistic one, huh, Alex?” asked Scott with a smile.
Alex beamed and nodded, but then her expression clouded suddenly. “Although right now the status of this party is in serious jeopardy, because a certain mother has told a certain daughter that she is not allowed to host the party, which is basically resulting in the ruining of that certain daughter’s entire life. But—”
“That’s enough of that talk, Alex,” interrupted Coach.
There was an awkward silence.
“And speaking of presents,” said Alex, barreling through the silence obliviously, “you are the absolute best present giver in the family, Uncle Scott. Remember those metallic markers you gave me for Christmas when I was eight? They were so awesome. Did you bring us anything from—”
“Alex!” said Mrs. Sackett. “That’s enough for tonight. Scott looks like he’s ready to get some rest. You can talk to him tomorrow.”
A few minutes later, the bed was made and Alex had cleared her bulletin board supplies from the floor of the study. Scott thanked Mrs. Sackett and waved good night to the rest of them. Then he went into the study and closed the door.
“How long is he staying?” asked Tommy.
“I’m beat too,” said Coach with an exaggerated yawn, ignoring Tommy’s question. “Think I’ll head to bed.”
“You kids should get to bed early tonight as well,” said Mrs. Sackett, turning and walking quickly toward her and Coach’s bedroom.
As she lay in her own bed that night, Ava couldn’t stop thinking about Uncle Scott’s sudden appearance. Her parents must have known he was coming. Scott’s arrival must have been the reason their Boston trip got canceled. And why her parents had been so secretive recently, with those private phone calls and whispered conversations. But why hadn’t they said anything? Why were they not answering the question about how long he was staying? And why were they being so polite to Scott? In the past, they’d always given him a hard time about his eating habits and crazy lifestyle, and he’d always taken their teasing with a good-natured smile. Now they were acting like he was a complete stranger.
Just before she fell asleep, she thought she heard male voices murmuring somewhere. Her bedroom was directly above the study. Was her dad talking with Uncle Scott? She was too sleepy to decide if she was really hearing it or just dreaming. And then she fell asleep.