Chapter 188: Catching Up, Part 1

Dinner turned into the grand inquisition with as many questions as Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean had asked. I stuck to the story, flawlessly, and embellished where necessary, but there wasn't a single moment when I worried they didn't believe me. Maybe I was getting better at this whole lying thing; though that wasn't something I should be proud of.

It helped that Abby didn't jump in and ask anything that would throw me off or make Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean suspicious.

"Sounds like you had a pretty eventful summer," Uncle Dean said. He pushed his empty plate away and rubbed his belly.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun." I smiled and finished the last bite of spaghetti on my plate.

"I just wish you would have called." Aunt Beth frowned. "We were worried sick."

"I know. I'm sorry. I did tell Abby." I looked at her for a little help, but all she did was shrug. "And Dad said he'd talked to you, so I assumed you knew." I swirled my fork through the leftover sauce on my plate.