Here's your next chapter! Yeah there was a delay… final exams will do that to ya sometimes.
Phil nearly dropped his cell phone. What?
Nobody spoke.
The man outside the door finally removed his hat, a straw cowboy hat. The same sandy colored hair her Uncle Bob had glinted in the porch light. It was shaggy, sun-streaked.
"Well…look at this," Mr. Teslow said finally, looking bewildered. He couldn't have been nearly as much so as Keely was, though, hand still frozen on the doorknob, mouth slightly ajar. "It's really you. Keely Renae." He laughed to himself. "Look at you."
Keely felt the previous morning repeating itself, only now, her mouth had run dry.
"Y-yeah," she said, much more quietly than she'd anticipated. "It's…me." She drew in the first actual breath she'd taken since she had answered the door. "And it's…you."
Keely realized suddenly that he'd been standing on her front porch for nearly a full minute, and she hadn't invited him in. Her brain wasn't exactly working up to its usual standards right now.
"Um, co-come in," she encouraged her father, attempting a smile. It even felt fake.
She looked back over her shoulder at Phil, who stood motionless, his eyes tinged with disbelief. He wanted to help her, she could tell. He wanted to do something. He just couldn't think of what.
She looked back at her dad as he stepped inside, and for the first time, it hit her. This was her first time seeing him in four years.
Now, he was looking at her as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Like she was still supposed to be a skinny twelve-year-old with braces.
In the span of a few short seconds, she was able to take in his appearance, if nothing else. He had some stubble, he looked like he had spent a whole lot of time in the sun, and he was still so tall, over six and a half feet. She knew it was from him that she got her height, putting her even over her mother.
Was it from him that she also got her inability to come up with anything to say right now?
He finally took a deep breath, smiling. "Oh, honey," he said. "You're so pretty."
She felt searing lump of tears fighting its way up in her throat. Oh Keely, not now…
Before she knew what was happening, her father wrapped his strong arms around her and hugged her. He smelled like…something that wasn't familiar.
She didn't like how she felt about it.
She returned the hug, praying that any extreme show of emotion could hold itself off until later. "Thank you," she managed.
"Oh, my…" came another voice from behind them.
Keely pulled away, recognizing the voice instantly with a strange flutter of her heart that she couldn't identify. As soon as she saw her mother's face, though, she recognized it.
She watched as her mom stood in the same room as her dad for the first time in years.
As Mandy stepped forward, Keely moved instinctively over beside Phil. When her eyes met his, he immediately began rubbing her arm gently. He looked back over at her parents, watching them in surprise.
"Mandy," Mr. Teslow said quietly. "I'm…I'm happy to see you again." His eyes fluttered quickly over to his daughter, then back to her mom.
Mandy straightened her shoulders. "Hi, Greg," she greeted him softly.
They didn't hug, but they smiled.
Mandy cleared her throat. "Well, what brings you in…tonight?" she asked, looking puzzled.
"Oh, I just…I figured I'd surprise everyone. I left early today, but I didn't expect my car to break down and to get stuck at the worst mechanic shop in California." He shrugged apologetically, laughing to himself.
Keely looked from her mom to her dad.
"Oh, well," Mandy replied. "It's…it's not a big deal, really. I just wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."
"I'm sorry to just show up like this," he continued. "I know it's a surprise. It's late now…I'll just go check into a hotel until tomorrow morning. Are Robert and Melody here yet?"
"Yes, they're here, but you missed them," Mandy explained. "They both went to bed."
"Oh. Okay." Greg Teslow nodded. "Well, that's okay. I'll catch them in the morning." He paused a moment.
For the first time, he noticed the dark-haired boy in close contact with his daughter. He stood discreetly and quietly beside Keely, their hands gently clasped together. His thoughtful brown eyes were cast towards Keely, who was gazing downwards, until he noticed her dad looking.
"Well, how rude of me," he commented. "I didn't notice someone else was here. Are you a friend?"
Keely squeezed Phil's hand tighter. "Yeah," she replied, before Phil could gather his head together enough to do it for himself. "He's my best friend." She suddenly found it difficult to look at her father.
"Oh." He nodded, extending a hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, uh…"
"Phil," he responded, shaking it. He glanced sideways at Keely, trying to read into her thoughts. Sometimes he was good at this, and sometimes he wasn't. Like…now, for instance.
"Hi, Phil," Greg said politely. His gaze fell downwards, and Phil could feel it right on his and Keely's hands.
Their fingers weren't intertwined, but Phil cupped Keely's fingers gently in his hand, just a light grasp, as if he were going to lead her somewhere. Right at that moment, as a short awkward paused took over them all, he wished he could lead her in a break for the front door.
Her dad saw their hands, and Phil knew he knew.
It didn't bother him, but he couldn't say that Keely felt the same.
"I was just about to give Phil a ride home," Mandy said suddenly. Both teenagers were glad to have something to look towards, rather than awkwardly at the floor. "Keely was going to ride with me. I'll tell you what…why don't you just save the trouble of checking into a hotel and stay here tonight? You could stay in the living room on the pull out couch. I hope that would be okay."
"Oh, well, yeah," Greg said, sounding surprised. "Of course it would. Thanks, Mandy. I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome." Mandy smiled. Finally she looked over at her daughter and Phil. "Are you two ready?"
"Yeah." Their replies came at the same time, and Keely giggled at Phil, trying to rid herself of the strange feeling she couldn't shake.
As she and Phil slipped towards the door, she heard her mom telling her dad to make himself at home. She looked back over her shoulder as Phil held the door open for her, just in time to meet eyes with him. He smiled at his daughter, and she smiled back. She had to look away quickly though, as she was surprised by fresh tears that sprung up before she expected them.
She did her best to keep her face turned downwards as Phil slipped his hand back into hers. She expected him to say something; to lean over and gently, quietly whisper into her ear. He didn't. He just held her hand.
…………………….
Keely kissed her mom goodnight and tiptoed gently down the hall. Her father had fallen asleep downstairs on the pull out bed more quickly than either one of them expected, but it made sense after a hot day of driving, she guessed.
As her mom's bedroom door closed gently behind her, Keely placed her hand on the knob of her own door. Turning it, she prepared to push it open as quietly as possible.
Then she heard the music.
It was a sound she knew very well; the soft, quiet strumming of guitar strings. The tune was even, smooth and well-practiced…a song she wasn't familiar with, but beautiful, enough to make her pause a moment before entering.
Then she heard the voice. It surprised her, blending in just perfectly with the strumming of the guitar.
"Suddenly I'm all alone…pushed away from nothing wrong…"
The voice was like velvet, smooth and soft, but rougher in just the right places. It flowed flawlessly over the notes.
"Don't you have the guts to say how you feel about me?"
Keely paused, wondering if she should go in. Her hand tightened on the knob.
"Out of the blue…"
She decided to knock instead. She felt weird, considering it was her own room, but nonetheless, she tapped gently on the door with one finger.
The strumming stopped, and the velvety voice was now a quiet, near whisper. "Come in."
Keely opened the door, and watched as Melody gently set her guitar down beside her on the air mattress that was serving as her bed for the time being. She smiled humbly, tugging at the end of her blonde ringlets, which had been hastily pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.
"Hey." Keely smiled at her as she shut her bedroom door. "I…didn't think you were still awake."
"Yeah." Melody shrugged. "Funny. As tired as I thought I was after today, I couldn't get to sleep."
Keely laughed. "Yeah. Today was…something else."
"Kinda," Melody agreed, knowing that it was an understatement.
Keely gazed around the room, before finally letting her eyes settle back on Melody's guitar. "You play too?" She smiled.
Melody looked down at it. "Oh, yeah." Her face brightened a little. "You do?"
"Mhm." Keely smiled. "I mean, how good I am depends on your point of view I guess, but I've been at it for about three years." She giggled.
"Really? I've been playing for about three too. That's weird!" Melody gently lowered it into its case, next to the mattress, and closed it. "My parents gave it to me on my tenth birthday. I was so stoked." She latched the case closed. "I don't know how good I am either, but I really love it." She smiled thoughtfully.
"Me too." Keely grinned. "My mom signed me up for lessons, but I only took them for a few months before I decided I had more fun teaching myself. I even tried teaching her." Keely laughed at the memory. "She must not have passed on any musical talents to me."
Melody chuckled. "Must be from your dad, then," she commented.
Keely paused, looking at her cousin. "My dad?"
"Yeah." Melody nodded simply. "Uncle Greg is really into music. He's great on the guitar. Dad says he's really into songwriting, too...and singing. My dad isn't as good on the guitar as your dad is, but he plays the drums pretty well." She looked up at Keely. "He said they used to play together a lot."
Keely felt lost in thought, the colors of her bedspread blending together in front of her. She blinked, shaking herself out of it. "Huh," she muttered ponderingly, more to herself than anyone else. "I guess that's it."
"What?" Melody asked, as she pulled her hair from its ponytail holder and began to braid it.
"Oh. Uh, nothing. I just…that's cool. I…I didn't know." She stood up, grabbing a brush from her dresser and running it through her hair, wavy from the braid.
"So, that song that you were just playing," Keely continued, pulling herself back to reality. "Did you write it?"
Melody pulled her blanket up over her, propping herself up on her elbow. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I just finished it during the car ride here, actually."
"Awesome." Keely smiled. "You know…for the record, what you said about being good or not…you are. You really sounded incredible, from what I heard."
"Really?" Melody brushed a hair out of her eyes, grinning. "Thank you. That's nice to hear."
"No problem," Keely replied, slipping underneath her covers.
Both girls were quiet for a moment.
"Oh, by the way," Keely said quietly, "I thought you were sleeping and figured you would find out in the morning, but…my dad is here. Now. Downstairs. He just showed up tonight."
"Seriously?" Melody asked, looking surprised. "Why'd he come tonight?"
Keely shrugged. "I don't know. He's just…here."
"Oh." Melody eyed her cousin for a moment. "That's…cool." She phrased it almost like a question.
Keely just pulled her covers up over her shoulders, her eyes meeting a framed picture of she and Phil on her nightstand. His arm around her shoulder pulled her close to him, and she was laughing so hard.
"Cool," she repeated, focusing as hard as possible on the warmest brown eyes she knew.
She reached out and switched off her light.
After a few seconds, Melody finally whispered in the dark. "It's so quiet downstairs. Are you sure he's here?"
"Yeah, he is. Mom put him on the pull out couch." It sounded so careless and discourteous the way she said it. It almost made her laugh.
Good. I need to laugh.
"Oh, okay." Melody yawned. "I haven't seen him in almost a month…" Her speech was getting lazier, quieter. She was beginning to doze off.
Almost a month. Keely found that funny. She hadn't seen her dad in, oh, about four years. Her long lost cousin had seen him a month ago.