From the story, Road Trip
As in:
The trio happily downed eggrolls while they prepared Teresa’s tuna casserole. It was nearly seven when they started, and the preparation, plus the cooking would easily propel them into Spanish hour dining, but their giddiness at being reunited, coupled with Jake’s unanticipated recitation of Teresa’s specialty had them all in such high spirits that a late night seemed not only welcome, but nearly unavoidable.? ?At 9:30, they finally pulled the golden onion encrusted casserole out of the oven.
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Allison’s father had long ago excused himself and sat up in his study, reading a copy of Field & Stream. ? ?Bolstered by several glasses of Merlot, Jake happily sauntered up the stairs with a bowl of hot tuna casserole for Mr. Lawson and felt surprised when he felt a fluttering in his stomach as he approached Allison’s sister’s childhood bedroom which had long ago been converted into Mr. Lawson’s study? ?Mr. Lawson sat at a large, oak desk, head bowed, reading glasses perched dangerously close to the edge of his nose.? ?His kitchen bravado and jolly good cheer suddenly reduced to pre-eggroll levels, Jake tapped lightly on the open door.
“Er, Mr. Lawson, I brought you a bit of dinner.”
“Thank you, son,” said Mr. Lawson, a kindly, but slightly patronizing smile on his face. “Come, sit, chat.”? ?Thirty minutes later, Jake returned to the waiting mother and daughter downstairs. He and Mr. Lawson had talked about nothing for the past half hour, but somehow it had been one of the more comforting conversations he’d had in a long time.
Mr. Lawson queried as to his mother’s health, his father’s garden, the family dog, even Jake’s basketball game, which he had only revived perhaps twice since his days of high school athleticism. Jake felt as if he were all ages at once, in the eyes of this man who saw him not only as an adult, but also as an awkward seventeen year old, borrowing the family’s Dodge minivan to take his daughter to a Dave Matthews Band concert in Boise.? ?As he came down the stairs, Allison looked up curiously. ? ?”Got the third degree, eh?” she asked.? ?”I don’t think so,” Jake replied. “but Thomas Wolfe was way off the mark, you can’t help but go home again.
His words hung in the casserole-warmed air for a few moments.
“Hey,” he then asked, “can I get some ketchup with my tuna casserole?”
–Jamie Borgan
