It's the 4th

 "Oh, come on," Boone winced with a smile. "What are you gonna do all by your lonesome?" He smiled at Maddie. After all, the library and the coffee shop were closed. So was the bakery. The lake was waiting for them where his parents camped. "My mom will bug me endlessly." Boone was ready to give her a stare-down. They'd just finished egg sandwiches and coffee in the kitchen.

"Endlessly?" She squinted back.

"My mom knows you're my roommate and she wants to meet you, I keep telling her not to show up here." He shrugged and turned away. Maybe he was asking too much.

"Oh, all right," she sighed.

"Really?" He looked over his shoulder. This shouldn't be happening, yet it was the happiest he'd felt in a long time. Boone hoped he didn't act too excited. "OK, so here's the thing." He'd have to tell her about his adopted mom and real dad being together. All Maddie needed to do was to bring her swimsuit and his mom would take care of the rest.

Maddie nodded as if she might be quizzed on this later. Within two hours his brother Alfie and his wife showed up. They would be going with them.

It would be kind of odd without Lily since she was always his date. He just hoped his dad wouldn't say her name. A part of him hesitated, as he saw it didn't take Maddie any time to be ready.

"Are you sure, it's gonna be OK with your family?"

"It'll be fine. They don't do that much for the fourth." She told him. He found that hard to believe. Her younger cousin dropped in ever so often and he knew KC always texted her.

"What? You're not coming?" KC's text put Maddie in a bad mood on her drive to the lake to see Boone's family. "But you said you'd come see us at the talent show."

"Sorry. Next time. OK." 

She wiggled her lips waiting for a reply. She hadn't met this Millie he was sharing the stage with. Actually, she was the singer and he was doing everything else. 

"I bet you'll be really good by then." She found herself texting. She squinted her eyes shut. Why would she say that?

"Is everything OK?" Boone wanted to know as she was scrunched next to him due to the picnic basket of food and drinks in the economy sedan.

"It's nothing." She stayed focused on her phone.

"Did someone want you to come see him?" Boone asked.

"Not exactly. KC is in a new band, Sunday Girl. It's just a talent show out at Shadow Lake." Maddie pressed her lips tight. 

"Did you want to go?"

"No," she told him she would have to go there alone and she didn't like crowds. It would be a long night, and she probably wouldn't see him but for thirty seconds. "I think he likes her a lot more than he admits."

"You sure you're OK with that?" 

She shot him a look that he asked way too many questions. "This is what he needs." She wanted to tell him everything about KC but knew Boone would find it boring.

It wasn't long until they got to the lake shore to the large travel trailer with an area to grill and camp. The sun was bright and the heat was here.  They unpacked. They would be sharing a tent with Alfie and Zoey. Honestly, Maddie found Boone's mom to be easygoing. She didn't know why he was afraid for her to meet her.

And then there was Boone's Dad. "Oh, Lily, you're here," he greeted her as if she was Boone's girl.

"But I'm not Lily," Maddie smiled as she shook his hand. 

Of course, Alfie looked to Boone who then looked to his mother. She could tell they were both afraid he'd been drinking. And perhaps he had, just a little. Alfie went to talk to him.

"It's OK," Maddie said as they quickly found themselves on a walk by the lake while Alfie and his mom talked to him. "It's the Fourth. You're supposed to have fun on the fourth. Who knows. Maybe..maybe..he has something where he doesn't distinguish faces, or..maybe he needs glasses."

She could tell Boone wished it was that. "Drinking was probably why my real mom left him in the first place," Boone said as he bent down to pick up a stick. "Of course, she might have driven him to drink, too."

"Just remember, we all have anxieties," she told him. "It's OK. When's the last time he saw Lily?" 

"Her high school graduation."

Maddie nodded. Thinking of her own. It hadn't been a big deal in her case. Her aunt had to work and KC's dad was out golfing. Junie and KC watched on TV from the High School Commons. She did have a day off from the Coffee shop, but they ended up there for burgers. 

"Don't be upset with him." 

Maddie didn't want to cause trouble. She would hate for there to be some sort of intervention. Was that what was going on now, she wondered as she looked back at the camp. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, but the wind blew it back to the corner of her lip and eyelid. She was beginning to sweat. How was that possible? She hated to admit she did not enjoy nature unless she was looking at flowers and maybe some dancing butterflies.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he told her. "And if you want to see KC play tonight, we can go."

Maddie held in a laugh. Now she did want to see Sunday Girl. She wouldn't be alone.