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Plummer smiled. They both reached up to straighten their hats. “You’re all blue,” Tyler said. “You should have a red jacket like mine.”
    Dad shook his head at Tyler. “That’s not polite.” He turned to Ms. Morgan. “Thanks, Janna, for telling me about that thrift shop. We went there yesterday.”
    “We found a dog,” I said, suddenly remembering.
    “She’s maybe going to be our dog!” Tyler said. “She knows how to smile!”
    “Wow,” Ms. Morgan said. “A dog that smiles. I can’t wait to see her.”
    “Dogs are messy,” Claire said, rolling her eyes. “And they leave you-know-what all over the place. Dog hair, too.”
    “She’s pretty sweet,” Dad said. “A yellow lab. The trouble is,” but as he started to tell them we might not be able to get the dog, some bells rang and lights went off and on.
    “That means the second half is starting,” Mr. Plummer said. We turned and moved with all the people who were going back to their seats.
    Mr. Plummer pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Dad. “I printed out some photos of our picnic. These are for you.”
    “Thanks,” Dad said. He hustled us down the aisle, and we sat down, ready to hear Mom sing again.
    I looked up at the microphone she would soon hold in her hand and felt excitement bubble again in my stomach. Mom is so wonderful, I thought. Beside me a man began to clap his hands together. “Roxanne,” he yelled.
    I moved closer to Dad. I wasn’t sure I liked sharing Mom with all these people I didn’t know. Maybe that was what Dad meant by bitter and sweet.

Chapter 20
Tyler: Lost!
    I CURLED MY LEGS under me and settled in, but before Mom had finished the first song, Tyler was pulling on my sleeve. “I have to go,” he said, his face wrinkled with worry. “Right now.”
    Dad sighed. “I just took you,” he whispered.
    “I have to go, too,” I said. “I forgot to go at intermission. I’ll take him.”
    “Are you sure you know where?” Dad looked out at the aisle and all the people we would have to crawl past.
    “That building right near the door. It’s easy.” While the audience was clapping for Mom’s song, I led Tyler up the aisle and out the front of the tent. “I’m here, too,” Dad said, coming up behind us. “I’ll wait by the door.”
    “Come on,” I told Tyler as I pulled him toward the women’s end.
    He stopped and twisted the sleeve of his red jacket out of my hand. “I’m going there,” he said, pointing to the men’s door.
    “You can’t. You have to stay with me.” I hustled him into the building and into a stall. I ran into the stall next to his. When I was done, I washed my hands and looked at Tyler’s stall. “I’m going outside so I can hear better. Hurry up.”
    He didn’t answer. A moment later, I leaned against Dad by the door of the big tent and listened to Mom. She was singing the song about the train. From out here, she sounded exactly like her CD.
    “Is Tyler coming?” Dad asked.
    “He’s coming.” I leaned harder against Dad. “What did that mean,” I asked him, “what you said to Ms. Morgan? About bittersweet?”
    He bent close to my ear and spoke softly. “Something that’s bittersweet is happy and sad all at the same time. It means it’s great to see your mom again.” He stopped and then went on. “But we can also see that her life is different now.”
    “She won’t ever come back.” My voice sounded grown up. And sad. He nodded. “That’s the part that is bitter. She’s done very well, and since we love her, we have to be happy for her. That part is sweet.”
    I leaned harder against Dad. “Tyler thinks she’ll come home with us.”
    “I wish he didn’t miss her so much.” Dad shifted his feet and looked toward the restroom. He took my hand and rubbed it against his chest. “The three of us make a good family.”
    Inside the tent, the crowd clapped and cheered again. The bass player was talking now about some place they had traveled