Read Fix You for Free Online Page B

there they are. They’re fighting about something—I can see that as I pull to the front of the line to pick them up. Both are loaded down with coats and lunch bags and backpacks. I stop, and the door by the curb swings open.
    Maybe they can tell I’ve been behaving like a maniac for the last fifteen minutes or so, because they get quiet as they enter the car.
    “Hi, guys.” I may sound a little out of breath. Good Lord.
    “Mom, tell Hunter the orange thermos is my thermos. He keeps taking it, and then I have to pack the green one with the crack in it, and by the end of the day the bottom of my backpack is soaked.”
    I want to kiss Beau for being so normal. “I will buy you each a new thermos if that would help. Listen, guys, I need your help with something.”
    Hunter looks at me in the rearview mirror. He’s gotten so tall. When did that happen? “With what?”
    “I need you to make a swing through the house and straighten up when we get home. We’re having someone over for dinner tonight.”
    A plan forms in the frenzied recesses of my brain. I can feed Andrew dinner, and then we can find a place for him to stay, or I can hide him in the guesthouse, but it will all be good.
    “Who?” Beau’s curious.
    “A friend of mine from Indio.”
    “Who do you know in Indio? We just see Granddad and Gran.”
    “Well, Mr. Know-It-All, I met a friend down there last time we visited. We met at the coffee shop.”
    Which is partly true.
    Hunter’s already lost interest. “Fine. I’ll help, but I’m not doing laundry. I just did mine on Sunday, and Beau won’t put his in the hamper so I shouldn’t have to handle it.”
    “No laundry. Just straighten up a little. And he flew in early, so he may be there pretty soon after we get home.”
    Or not. Since he’s standing in back of the garage where I ditched him. Andrew’s never going to speak to me again. I’m an idiot of epic proportions.
    We get home, and both boys whine a little more about the unforeseen straightening. I turn in circles, trying to get my bearings. I text Andrew:
    We’re home. Come knock on the front door.
    Then I try to practice breathing like a normal human being.
    There’s a knock. Ditto the dog goes crazy, barking and jumping. The boys materialize from upstairs.
    I take the deepest breath I can. “He’s here. Come and meet my friend, you guys.” I grab Ditto’s collar.
    The boys actually do as I say. They realize there’s a stranger at the door. I swing it open.
    Andrew stands there, smiling. “Hi, Kelly.”
    “Hi. Come on in.” This is odd beyond odd. Andrew has to pretend he came from somewhere when in reality he’s been stuck waiting for me by the garbage cans out back. Good thing he’s an actor.
    He walks in, and Ditto breaks away from me to try to get a lick. Andrew bends down to pet the dog for a minute. I realize he’s not wearing his sunglasses and remember that extra thing here: he’s a new friend of mom’s, but he’s also a movie star.
    “This is my friend Andrew from Los Angeles. I met him in Indio on our last trip.”
    There is quiet. I can feel panic rising in my throat. This is a terrible idea.
    “It’s nice to meet you, boys. You’re Hunter, is that right?” Andrew stands and reaches out to shake Hunter’s hand.
    “You’re Andy Pettigrew! No way!”
    Andrew smiles. “Yep.”
    Beau looks confused. “Why would you want to come to Boise? How did you ever meet my mom?”
    “She and I ran into each other at the coffee shop by your grandma’s house. She told me how great Boise was, so I thought I’d come see for myself.”
    Beau speaks up. “Boise.”
    “What?” Andrew looks confused.
    “Boy-see. You said boy-zee . It’s pronounced boy-see .”
    Andrew smiles at me. “Well, your mom said you two might show me around Boy-see a bit.”
    Beau looks satisfied. He and Hunter elbow each other. Hunter adopts a very hip sound to his voice all of a sudden, kind of SoCal skateboarder by way of eleven-year-old.