Party Summer Read Free

funny, Mom.” Cari made a face, but pulled out a chair and joined them at the kitchen table.
    â€œNow spell this out again,” Mrs. Taylor said, folding her hands in front of her on the yellow Formica table. “Who all is going?”
    â€œWell,” said Cari, taking a deep breath and starting all over again, “Jan is going, and she’s asked me, and Eric Bishop, and Craig Sethridge.”
    â€œHe’s a nice boy,” Mrs. Taylor said quietly. “But isn’t Eric the one with the ponytail?”
    â€œMom!” Cari groaned, rolling her eyes.
    â€œAnd the four of you are going to work at this hotel on some island for the summer?” Mr. Taylor asked, sounding confused.
    â€œIt’s not like we’re going to Jupiter, Dad,” Cari snapped. “And we’re not going alone. Jan’s aunt Rose will be there. She’s a writer and needs someplace quiet to finish her book. And if I get to go and work there, I can use the pool and the beach on my time off.”
    â€œYour mother and I used to go to Cape Cod all the time,” Mr. Taylor said thoughtfully. “But I never heard of this hotel.”
    â€œThe Howling Wolf Inn,” Mrs. Taylor said, shaking her head. “What a name. Sounds like it’s out of an old horror movie or something.”
    â€œIt’s supposed to be really fancy and exclusive,” Cari said defensively. “I guess that’s why you two never heard of it!”
    â€œScore one for Daughter Number One,” said Mr. Taylor, laughing and making an invisible mark in the air.
    â€œThe inn is on a tiny, private island,” Cari continued. “Piney Island. There’s nothing on the island but the hotel. And the only way to reach it is by boat from Provincetown once a day. Jan says her aunt showed her pictures of it, and it’s beautiful. Pine trees grow almost all the way down to the beach.”
    â€œMaybe we’ll all go!” Mrs. Taylor joked.
    Cari made a disgusted face.

    â€œI want to go swimming!” Lauren cried.
    â€œLauren, can’t you go play or something?” Cari snapped.
    â€œNo. I want to argue too,” Lauren insisted, rubbing a dirty finger across the Formica table and studying the smudge she made. “And I want to go swimming.”
    â€œNot tonight,” Mrs. Taylor told Lauren. “It’s almost your bedtime.”
    â€œAnd this is really how you want to spend your summer, working and waiting on tables in a big, drafty old hotel?” Mr. Taylor asked Cari, scratching his head.
    â€œYes. And having fun,” Cari said, seeing that her parents were beginning to weaken. “And meeting new people. And learning new things. And swimming and vegging out on the beach. And being with my friends. And—”
    â€œSounds like that’s what she wants,” Mrs. Taylor said to her husband. “I guess it does sound better than working at the Sizzler and going to the Shadyside Swim Club on weekends.”
    â€œWell, let’s give Jan’s aunt a call and get the details,” Mr. Taylor said. He smiled at Cari. He liked giving in to her. He liked giving her everything she wanted.
    She had counted on that.
    Now here it was, four weeks later. And they were cramming Cari’s bag in the back of Rose’s station wagon. There were hugs all around. And a few tears, mainly from Cari’s mother, who still didn’t like the idea of Cari being away for so many weeks. And then more goodbyes. And finally more assurancesfrom Rose that she’d keep a close eye on them.
    Then they were pulling Lauren out of the backseat of the station wagon. And then the weighted-down car was bumping down the Taylors’ driveway. And Cari was waving to her family, saying a silent goodbye to them, to Fear Street, and to the boring summer she might have had.
    Both boys were waiting at Eric’s house, a rambling ranch-style house in the better section of Shadyside known