Along for the Ride

Auden and Eli spend every evening together enjoying activities such as last call for pizza on the boardwalk and fishing on the pier. Their latest adventure is bowling. He can’t believe she never bowled, but Auden reminds him she didn’t have a childhood. They compare pasts—Eli’s rowdy, four-sibling household with activities like sleepovers, pizza parties, and treehouses, and Auden’s quiet, studious and cultured activities. Though Auden is upset she isn’t talented at bowling, Eli encourages her to try again because you don’t get strikes immediately. She doesn’t excel, but she has fun. Eli deems Auden reclaiming her childhood as a “quest.”

Robert finishes his book and excitedly invites Auden to read the last lines that conclude his epic, 10-years-in-the-making work. Robert shares the good news with a disheveled, sleep-deprived Heidi. After discussing a celebratory dinner, Robert volunteers Auden to watch Thisbe, and she agrees. He rocks Thisbe for a while, the first time he’s shown interest in her and assisted with parenting.

Their friend Adam stops by the shop one day and announces he’s throwing the summer’s first hot dog party. The girls say hot dog parties (HDPs) were a summer Saturday tradition started by Abe and Eli.