Page 38

Cass (5:29 p.m.): That’s because I didn’t tell you why I bought the book or what book it was or that I still have that book sitting on my shelf in my bedroom

A picture came through then, and Ash immediately recognized the book as the first book in the Magic Tree House series, a very popular series of early children’s chapter books. He distinctly remembered reading the book, and the entire series, actually, when he was in kindergarten.

Ash (5:31 p.m.): Still waiting on an explanation as to why you’d be embarrassed by this

Cass (5:32 p.m.): I was ten

Ash (5:32 p.m.): And?

No response came right away, and Ash frowned as he pushed himself to sit.

Ash (5:34 p.m.): I read that book too. I loved that series

Ash (5:35 p.m.): My mom hated buying us books, always said we could just check them out of the library. So every week, she’d take me to the library, and I’d get as many books as I could carry

Ash (5:36 p.m.): These ones, though, I insisted on reading them all in order. Had to be exactly in order! But our library never had enough copies, and so I’d have to wait and wait and wait

He waited again, and just as he was starting to worry, a long text came through.

Cass (5:39 p.m.): When I was a kid, my parents read to me every single night, without fail. Usually my mom, but sometimes my dad or sometimes it was a whole family thing, and they both read to me. My mom was just amazing - she’d do voices for each of the characters, and if I asked for her to read me the same story every night of the week, she would. I loved it. And yet, somehow, when it came time for me to learn to read, I really, really struggled. It wasn’t a big deal at first. My mom was a special ed teacher, and she wasn’t worried until I was in second grade and still not really catching on. They had me tested, but I wasn’t dyslexic or anything, and I didn’t have vision problems (which I guess are two of the most common reasons kids have trouble learning to read when everything else lines up?). I had no trouble with anything else in school, and nothing really seemed “wrong,” I just couldn’t figure it out

Cass (5:42 p.m.): I also checked books out of the library, and this particular book, I wanted to read so badly. For years, I mean. I remember my friends talking about reading it, some in kindergarten, some in first or second grade. I checked it out from the library several times, and I tried and tried, but I couldn’t ever finish it by the time it was due. When I got that money for Christmas, I asked my mom to take me to the bookstore, and I bought it, so I could learn to read it without having to worry about turning it back in to the library by the due date

Cass (5:43 p.m.): So, yeah, that’s my story

Ash (5:44 p.m.): I never learned to ride a bike

Ash typed the text without thinking about whether it was a good idea to share that “embarrassing” thing about his own childhood, but it was too late to take it back, and so he continued.

Ash (5:45 p.m.): My sister barely took three seconds to learn, I swear, but I just couldn’t get the hang of it. At all

Ash (5:46 p.m.): So when all the neighborhood kids would ride their bikes down to the park or something, Ashlynn would walk with me

He tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him, but the tightness in his chest started to hurt just enough that he closed his eyes for several long seconds, until the phone vibrated in his hand again.

Cass (5:47 p.m.): I thought you were like, some swim team prodigy?

With a huff of laughter, Ash shook his head, grinning as he typed back another response.

Ash (5:48 p.m.): I’m not sure where you got that information =P Also, apparently athletic ability in the water has absolutely nothing to do with the ability to ride a bike

Cass (5:48 p.m.): You said, and I’m paraphrasing here, “I made varsity my freshman year and beat everyone on the team in (some type of swimming stroke I can’t remember)”

Ash (5:49 p.m.): Oh gosh, you remember that? It was the butterfly, btw

The timer on his phone went off, and Ash grimaced, wondering how the heck the last hour had gone by so quickly. He clicked out of his messages with Cass and shot Shaina a quick text asking if he should start cooking the chicken. Without waiting to see if she responded right away, he clicked back to Cass’s messages, and a rush of warmth immediately hit him.

Cass (5:49 p.m.): Thank you for all of this :)

Ash typed and deleted several responses before settling on just a purple heart emoji. He waited for a response, but when nothing came after a few more minutes, he figured maybe Cass had needed to disappear to help his mom or something for a bit. He ignored the flicker of disappointment that rippled through him, which he sort of always felt now when any of their conversations seemed to come to a natural conclusion, and instead, he pushed himself to his feet. He’d just stepped around the back of the couch when the bedroom door opened quietly and Shaina tiptoed out, leaving it cracked open a few inches.

“Oh my god, she let me put her in the crib,” Shaina whispered when she was close enough. She collapsed into Ash’s chest with a long, dramatic sigh. “Poor girl is so exhausted.”

“You seem like you are too,” Ash said carefully, stuffing his phone in his pocket and then wrapping an arm up around Shaina’s shoulders.

“Mm-hmm.”

“I can finish dinner if you tell me what to do,” he offered, and Shaina nodded into him and then straightened up.