Dad didn’t usually roar. He rarely raised his voice. The fact that he just had was not a good omen.
Gabi meekly released Brennan.
Brennan silently stood up.
Everyone stared at Tom Brennan, waiting for whatever would come next.
“Next one that lets out a peep will be doing laps up and down the driveway for twenty minutes, understand?”
Five heads nodded.
“Now go wash up and settle down.”
“Yes, Grandpa.”
The kids headed toward the house. Sarah’s dad grabbed the basketball and started dribbling and shooting. Sarah opened her mouth to ask if he was okay, but judging from his fierce expression, he wasn’t. He was probably missing Mom. Probably wondering what the hell had happened to his family.
Sarah understood. She was wondering the same thing herself.
The kids lined up in the mud room to wash their hands. Sarah stepped around them, thinking she’d go check on Meg, but Gabi and Brennan were still having words.
“I hate you,” Brennan said under his breath to his cousin.
“Good,” Gabi sneered, “because I hate you, too.”
Gabi sailed out, shoulders back, head high, and Brennan kicked the wall and burst into tears. “I want to go home! I hate it here. I want to see Dad.”
Sarah grabbed him before he could kick the wall again, and wrapped him in her arms. “Easy, bud. This isn’t our house. We don’t want to put dents in the wall.”
“I want to go home!”
“We are going home this weekend.”
“How many days until the weekend?”
“Four. Five.”
“I don’t want to be here for five more days. I want to go home now.”
“But I’ve got to stay for Uncle Jack’s funeral.”
Brennan struggled in her arms. “I don’t want to go to another funeral. I’m sick of them.”
So was she, but that didn’t matter when you were an adult. “Let me talk to Dad,” she said instead. “We’ll see what can be done.”
That evening, after talking it over with Boone, she bought Brennan a ticket back to Tampa in the morning, booking him as an unaccompanied minor.
Brennan had never flown alone and Sarah wasn’t sure how he’d handle a five-hour flight without anyone familiar next to him, but he didn’t seem concerned when she told him he’d be flying out in the morning.
“Good,” he said, snapping some Legos together. “I’m sick of my cousins. They’re stupid and mean.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “They’re not stupid or mean. But I do want to be sure you understand that I’ll drive you to the airport in the morning, and check you in, but when it’s time to board the plane, the gate agent will take you on without me.”
“Will I have my DS?”
“Yes. And the laptop with your movies.”
“So?”
“You’re not scared?”
“Why would I be scared? Dad’s going to come get me. And I’ll have food, right? Goldfish, Oreos, stuff to eat?”
“Yes.”
“Just make sure there are lots of Oreos. That’s all I really need.”
* * *
The next morning Dad and Brianna left as soon as commuter traffic eased, and then Sarah headed out with Brennan while Ella stayed at the house with her cousins.
At the airport, they played cards at the gate while waiting for his name to be called for early boarding.
Brennan jumped to his feet when he heard his name. “That’s me,” he said.
“Yes.” Sarah gave him a big hug. “I love you. And Dad will be there at the gate when you land.”
He looked nervously at the agent who was waiting for him. “You really aren’t coming with me?”
“No. But I’ll be home this weekend.”
Suddenly tears filled his eyes. “I don’t want to go without you.”
“You’ll be home in hours. And you’ve got your DS and movies and Oreos—”
“But I won’t have you.”
Sarah’s eyes burned and her throat ached. “There’s nothing to be sad about. Dad said the Neeleys can’t wait to have you come over, and the day after tomorrow you’ll go to the opening night game with them.”
“Against the Yankees?”
She nodded, and caught the eye of the gate agent, who gestured that it was time.
The lump in her throat grew and Sarah gave Brennan one more quick hug, kiss, and then stepped away, handing him his backpack even as she steered him briskly toward the agent. “Your games are in the front pocket. The DS is in the middle pocket, and the computer and snacks and juice are in the back.”
The agent took him from her.
“Love you, Brennan!” Sarah cried, waving.