Now I’m even more worried than I was before.

Chapter 35

WHO YOU GONNA BE?

Ronan opens the door when Henry knocks. “Hey there, Ronan. We came by to see how you’re making out with things.”

Ronan glares at me and doesn’t say a word.

“Your dad home?” Henry asks.

Just then, Gusty come out of the kitchen. “Ronan? Where are you going?” he says. Then he sees us. He stares at Henry long and hard, and I am frightened.

“May we come in?” Henry asks, and Ronan glances back at his father.

Gusty looks down at himself, his shoes covered in grass clippings. “You can come in, I s’pose,” he says, “but we’re not really set up for company.”

Henry steps inside. “Nice place,” he says.

“It’s all right. Temporary housing for the position. I’m looking for a permanent place for us to move to after the summer.”

I can tell by the way Ronan’s eyes widen that he didn’t know they were going to have to move.

Henry extends his hand to Ronan’s dad, but Gusty doesn’t reach back—he just locks eyes with Henry and says, “It’s been a long time.”

“It has,” Henry says. “A lot of water under the bridge since then.” Henry looks at Ronan and then back at Gusty. “You have a fine boy here, Sherman. A really good kid. Smart. Tough. A good heart. Just like his father.”

Gusty’s head drops a bit, and he finally reaches for Henry’s hand. And their shake is a long one. They finally let go, and Henry clears his throat as he turns to Ronan. He extends his hand again, and Ronan takes it. “How are you doing, Ronan?”

Ronan shrugs.

“Yeah,” Henry begins. “I know about what happened at the beach. That’s actually why I’m here.”

Wait. What is he doing?

Gusty motions toward the couch to offer us seats. He scrambles to clear the pillows and blankets piled up on it. I look around and notice there is only one bedroom. Ronan must sleep on the couch.

“Thank you, Sherman,” Henry says.

“Please call me Gusty. I haven’t gone by Sherman in years.” He nods at me and smiles. “Delsie there is awfully fond of my name.” Gusty extends his hand to me, and we shake. “How’ve you been, Delsie? I appreciate how good you and your grandmother have been to my Ronan. This whole being-a-dad thing is new to me. Took me a while to find my sea legs. But we’re doing all right now, Ronan and me.”

This makes me smile and makes Ronan look at his father as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing.

“So,” Henry says, turning to Ronan and me, “can you guys give us a few minutes?”

“Sure. C’mon,” Ronan says, walking away. I follow. He pushes open a door off of the kitchen that leads into a bedroom with a New England Patriots poster and two shark posters. Ronan’s jacket is on the bed. A baseball hat is on the side table.