Page 24

A.J. pulled his mom’s mug out from the cupboard and set the kettle next to the frying pan he’d been heating.

“Worth it?” A.J. asked.

Holly had gotten it into her head that they needed to have a family movie night once dinner had ended. There wasn’t much to be done about it considering she’d pitched Fantasia with her request. Whether it was actually her favourite or she knew that dad could never say no to it, the popcorn was made and everyone’s pajamas were on before A.J. knew what had happened.

“Always,” Mom said, fixing him with a watery smile. “Especially since my son might be running off to Ireland again next year.”

A.J. stopped whisking the eggs into the pancake batter now.

“Oh. I mean, maybe.” She was still looking at him like he was an old baby photo, so he turned away from her and popped the butter in the microwave. “Still a ways away. If I even get accepted.”

“Less than a year,” she said, tapping her pen against the grade book. “And I’m sure you’ll get accepted if you decide to apply.”

The microwave beeped and he went to pour in the butter before he remembered he hadn’t finished mixing in the eggs.

“You’re not going to be”—he grabbed the whisk and mixed everything together—“upset if I go to college there?”

“Seeing you and Bren together makes the idea a lot easier.” She dropped a bag of Earl Grey into each mug and filled them up. “Unless you think Bren might want to go to school here.”

A.J. took his mug even though it was way too hot to drink and gave a nod of thanks. “We haven’t really talked about that.”

“You’ve still got time, but that’s probably a conversation worth having soon.”

She took her mug back to the table and turned a page of her gradebook.

“Your dad and I started putting some of our bills on the Air Miles card once we found out how serious you were about Bren. So, if you choose Ireland, I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with your parents stopping by for holidays every now and then.”

In the few times he’d actually let himself think about what might happen after graduation, he hadn’t considered that. His family wasn’t rich, but them going to Ireland would probably be less of a strain than Mrs. O’Shea coming to Canada—especially if winter was involved. A point for Ireland, maybe.

“I don’t want to put you guys out. Flying everyone across an ocean just to see me sounds exhausting.”

“It sounds like a good excuse for a family adventure to me.”

A.J. tilted the first ladleful of batter into the pan and the butter danced around the border. Whichever way you sliced it, either he or Bren would be shuffling their family to a couple-times-a-year status if they wanted to be together. How many movie nights could they squeeze in between now and then?

“Hey, mom?” A.J. asked, flipping the first pancake.

“Yes?”

“If you’ve got some time this week, do you think you could help me teach Bren to sing? I mean, better than he does now.”

Mom looked up from her grades with a smile. “Of course. What brought this on, though?”

“Wha-oh!” He’d been so focused on the idea of Bren up on stage that he’d forgotten to tell his parents about the news. “Mrs. Lovell moved the musical up. Like, way up. Auditions are this Friday!”

He’d expected his mom to match his excitement, but after a flash of surprise flickered across her face, she pursed her lips in a way that proved she was trying not to.

“And Bren’s auditioning?”

“Yeah. I mean, I kind of had to talk him into it, but he seemed up for it in the end.”

Her expression had moved into frown territory despite what looked like a good deal of effort on her part.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

A.J. nearly fumbled the pancake as he flipped it onto the plate. He moved the griddle off the heat in favour of showing off his own frown.

“He’s not that bad of a singer.”