Thirteen

“MELLY!” LEXI SAID as she approached us across the hotel lobby. When she released her mother from a hug, Melody went on to the formal-looking man behind Lexi and greeted her father. Who wears a suit on vacation? I thought.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said, smiling at him. He didn’t hug her, but put both hands on her shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. Lexi had moved on to give Lissa a hug and then smiled at me and did the same. She glanced over her shoulder as if to make sure her husband had seen. Melody took her father by the hand and led him to Lissa.

“Daddy, this is my girlfriend, Lissa.” He held out his hand and Lissa shook it but he didn’t say a word. “And this is my boyfriend, Tony.” He repeated the gesture. His handshake was as neutral as any I’d ever had. There was nothing aggressive about it, but certainly nothing friendly, either.

“Mr. Anderson, Lexi,” I said, “this is my mother and father, Deborah and Saul Ames.”

My dad stepped forward to shake first Mr. Anderson’s hand and then Lexi’s. Everything was silent and I had visions of catastrophe playing behind my eyes. Then Mom stepped into the breach.

“Oh, the girls have told me so much about you both!” she said, ignoring Mr. Anderson in all but her comment and immediately hugging Lexi. “I feel like I’m meeting old friends. What an exciting time. Have you checked in? We’ve slated a late dinner so we can all go to the final match of the tournament tonight.”

“I thought he was eliminated,” Mr. Anderson said. I thought he sounded just a little too hopeful about that.

“I’m out of the tournament,” I said, “but a friend is playing in the final game for a repeat Championship. We’re planning to see that.”

“It was so cool, Dad,” Melody jumped in, trying to engage her father in something to break his apparent bad mood. “Tony played Karl in a challenge match before the tournament started and it’s all over YouTube. It was amazing. Tony was ahead when they had to stop playing.”

“But you didn’t make it to the finals?”

“No, sir. I had a great game against Karl before the tournament, but I just didn’t have the experience and stamina to hold it together against the competition for the long haul.”

“That should be a lesson to you,” he said, scowling at me.

“Daddy, stop it. Be nice.”

“Melody, I’m here because you wanted me to meet these people. Fine, I’ve met them. They seem very nice. But you have to face reality, sweetheart. This relationship is doomed from the beginning.”

“Doomed from the beginning?” Oh shit! The last time I heard my mom use that tone of voice it was immediately followed by “Tony, you’re grounded.” But she’d swung her focus fully on Melody’s father. The guy didn’t know what he was in for.

“Doomed from the beginning?” she repeated, advancing on the man. He stepped back a pace, but Mom kept coming. “And exactly how is that worse than when you discovered your relationship was doomed?”

Way to go, Mom!

Have I mentioned how much I love my mom? She’s almost a foot shorter than Mr. Anderson, but I swear he went from six-foot to four-foot in 0.2 seconds. Mom was towering over him and going for the coup de grâce when Dad stepped up beside her and kissed her cheek. He turned her smoothly away from Melody’s dad, but she was replaced immediately by Lexi.

“Oh, Harold. Don’t be such an ass. We came here to meet Melody’s friends and family. Do be civil.” I don’t think that Lexi had ever contradicted her husband based on what Melody had told us. He was still trying to form words when Lexi turned to Lissa. “How are the boys, Lissa? Is Jack coming out this weekend?”

Wow! By the expression on his face, it might have been dawning on Mr. Anderson that he’d lost, but I wasn’t sure if he realized how much he’d lost.

“Oh, the boys are doing fine now,” Lissa answered. “Kids recover from these things so much faster than adults do. Kate and Molly agreed to take turns with them this weekend so I could come out here with Melody and Jack could continue to recover. I think he got hit hardest of the four of us and he’s just getting back to normal. You have his phone number, don’t you? You should call. I know he’d love to hear from you.”

“Why don’t we let these kids go save us seats at the arena,” Dad suggested. “The four of us could have a mid-afternoon cocktail before we join them.” Dad is one of the best peacemakers I’ve ever seen. I’ve never heard him raise his voice, even in his classroom. He had Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in tow with him and Mom and waved the three of us off to the games.

I looked at Melody and Lissa and all three of us heaved a sigh of relief.

“Well, that went better than I expected,” Melody said, rolling her eyes to clue us in on her sarcasm. “What a shit!”

“Mel, honey,” Lissa soothed, “we knew from the phone conversation a few weeks ago that he was going to be a tough sell.”

“At least he didn’t take me hostage and drag me off to the airport,” Melody sighed. “Tony, your mom and dad are so nice. Wanna trade?”

“I don’t think we actually get to trade in this situation,” I said. “I think we have to share. Both.”

“For better, for worse,” Lissa said. Melody and I looked at her expectantly. When Lissa realized what she’d said she blushed and we all started laughing.

“Darling, that almost sounded like a proposal,” I said as we headed off to the arena.

The matches were great. By the time our folks joined us, it was almost time for the men’s final. Dad was in rare good spirits and I wondered how many afternoon cocktails they’d all had. Mr. Anderson seemed a little mellower. He’d lost his tie, at least. Mom and Lexi were gossiping together like they’d known each other a hundred years. They all enjoyed the match, but I was spellbound. Karl was phenomenal, of course. But this guy, Brian Summers from Clarkson University out East, was a demon.

“That’s who you’ll have to beat to win the championship next year,” Lissa said to me. She leaned in close and made sure I was seeing his “isms” as well as the unbelievable plays he was making. Karl fought through to eke out the championship by two points in the last game.