A favor? For a second, I was speechless. I couldn’t imagine one thing I could do for him from almost three thousand miles away. “Oh?”
“It’s kind of a big one. But I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“What is it?”
“What are you doing for the next month? Say, through the end of November?”
I blinked, not sure I understood the question. For the next month I would be working here in the buggy shop, as always. He should know that.
He didn’t wait for an answer before he continued. “The thing is, I need you to come out here to California. I need you to come and stay with Brady.”
“Stay with Brady?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah. It’s kind of complicated. We’ve never had this happen before, but it turns out that Liz and I are both going to be out of the country at the same time.”
“Out of the country?” I asked, starting to feel like a parrot.
“She’s about to leave for Central America for a humanitarian project, which wasn’t going to be an issue. I was all set to handle things here on the home front. But now I’ve had something come up too, important contract work in the Middle East, and I don’t know what else to do.”
“I see,” was all I could manage.
“I’ll be gone for three or four weeks—and Liz for five. Ordinarily, Brady could just stay with a friend, or we could have Liz’s aunt come to the house for a visit, but this is too long a time for either solution. We couldn’t impose like that on a friend, and Liz’s aunt can’t be away from her job for more than a few days.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to sort this out. Liz was going away, my father was going away, and there was no one else on earth left to stay with their son except for me?
“Why don’t you just take Brady with you?” I asked.
Dad let out a half chuckle. “It’s the middle of the semester, son. Just because you didn’t go to high school doesn’t mean he can get out of it.”
He hadn’t meant his words to sound cruel, but they were. I had always been sensitive about what my father perceived as my lack of education, and nothing I had ever said could convince him that my learning had continued even after my years in formal schooling were done.
My silence must have made him realize how his words had sounded, because he switched to a different tact and tried again, his voice softening.
“Actually, Tyler, Brady has been going through a bit of a tough time lately. He could really use his big brother right now. It would be a huge help, and it would mean a lot to Liz and me if you could come spend the month we’ll be gone at our home. I can’t even tell you how much it would mean.”
“What does Brady have to say about this?”
“Are you kidding? He’s the one who thought of asking you.”
Again, his words hurt my feelings, albeit unintentionally. Here they were in a bind, and it had been Brady, not our father, who had first thought to bring me into the mix.
“I think he could benefit from your influence right now,” Dad continued, oblivious. “He made the varsity football team at school. Did I tell you that? As a freshman. He has a bright future ahead of him in sports, but there’s a lot of pressure on him. He’s feeling it. I don’t want him to quit the team while we’re gone. It would kill his chances, and I know he would regret it. I really need you to come and help him stay strong, help him stay on the team.”
I stood there, wordless, my mind racing.
“Tyler?”
“I’m still here.”
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was crucial. He’s always looked up to you.”
“I…uh, I don’t know what to say. I have a job here, Dad. Responsibilities.”
“Surely your grandfather can get along without you for a month. He has all those sons and grandsons working for him. But Brady only has one big brother. You’re it.”
I could hardly believe my father was asking me to drop everything and come to California for a month. Could hardly believe it.
Unless…
Unless God was at work here, and this was part of His answer to my prayer.
This is not what I had in mind, Lord, I prayed inwardly.
“We’re worried about him, Tyler. He seems to be withdrawing from us. I have friends who tell me that’s normal for a fourteen-year-old, but I don’t care if it supposedly is normal. You didn’t do this to your grandparents. You didn’t shut them out when you were this age. You didn’t shut me out, either. You’ve always had your head on straight. I don’t want Brady to blow this opportunity he has to make a name for himself in prep football. It’s pretty important here. If you want to play in college, you can’t mess with your high school years.”