Chapter 34

I supposed the part that struck Mom and Dad was the sheer happiness I radiated in that picture. They would have had to strain their memories going back to my pre-teen years to dredge up a memory of me so unreservedly joyful. That’s what had brought out Mom’s emotional response, and had caught Dad’s attention. Just as Greg had known it would.

Finally, the built-up tension flowed out of me. I put down Greg’s phone and passed mine to Mom. “Theseare boring by comparison, I guess, but still nice pics. You can flip through everything in that folder.”

She latched onto it eagerly and sidled up to Dad so they could look at them together. Dad’s eyebrows had returned to their usual position, although he did appear interested in—as opposed to dreading—seeing the pictures. Helen snuck in behind them, rather than wait her turn.

Greg bounced his eyebrows at me and put on an exaggerated countenance that looked like it should have followed a lame dad-joke. Get it? Huh? Huh?