Aunt Laura’s expression gentled.“You’re a good girl.”
“I’m only doing what needs to be done.There’s nothing special about it.”
She shook her head.“No.You’re going above and beyond.Not even we adults would have thought of this.”
Her compliment sent heat through my face.I had to look away from her, having trouble accepting her acknowledgement.“Justin told me his fear.I think it’s important to remember those gone.”
He had opened up to me, telling me he was scared of forgetting his mother and sister.His dad was the last person who held such intimate memories of his family and with his passing, took those precious moments with him.I understood his fear to a degree.Before meeting my dad again, I had nearly forgotten what he looked like.Sounded like.Smelled like.He had been steadily becoming a hazy existence to me as the years passed without him in it.It only came back when I saw him once more.But Justin wasn’t ever going to have that chance to see his family again.
Aunt Laura rested her hand on my shoulder, making me jump in surprise.I blinked through the tears that had suddenly blurred my vision.She watched me with that gentle, unwavering warmth of hers—so full of love and care—that I didn’t know how to accept it.
“Come on,” she said.“Let’s get these in the car and see what else we can dig out.”
We spent the next half an hour checking contents and wondering what else we could bring back with us.I found a box of drawings, some were made by his sister, others by him.Looking at them, I could tell right away that his sister had adored drawing.
Already, ideas were forming about what I could do with them.
“What do you think about this?”Aunt Laura asked, holding out what looked like a diary.
“Whose is it?”I asked.
“His mom’s.There are a few in here.I forgot she used to write in them so often.”
I swallowed hard.That was a deeply personal gift.One that may not necessarily be welcomed.There was no telling what she wrote, and I wasn’t about to look through them to check.
“I...I’m not sure,” I admitted.
“I agree.”She put them back in the box.“Well, I actually plan to hand the key over to him when he graduates this year.We can leave them here for that moment.I think it’ll be more fitting.”
I could only nod my agreement as she carefully put the diary back in the box she’d found them in and closed it.Instead of putting the box back, she tucked it under the table.It didn’t take much longer before we finished.
“I’ll drop everything off and then go get the boys,” Aunt Laura said.
“Okay.Thank you for letting me use this stuff.”
She leaned over and gave me a tight hug before getting in her car.After she dropped me off at my car, I headed to a craft store.Now that I saw what we had to work with, I knew what I needed to buy.
By the time I made it home, Bryan was already inside, trying to secure a whiteboard to the wall.His black hair was in disarray, something I rarely saw with him.He was always so put together.His glasses slipped down his face, and he pushed them back up quickly.
“Where’s Seth?”I asked.
“Store.”He glanced back at me briefly.“He realized your kitchen is empty again and he needed some stuff for whatever recipe he has in his head.”
“Do you need help?”
“No.Did you get a bunch of photos?I’ll scan them in so we can create the slideshow.”He hopped down and looked at the board.“Yes.Not crooked.”
I snorted.“Are you sure?”
He stepped farther back, staring at it, tilting his head side to side.“Yes.Stop making me second-guess myself, troublemaker.”
Since he’d caught me, I only grinned back as I laid out the photo albums and began sorting them.He joined, also looking at the photos.
Many were of Justin’s little sister being a silly goose.Even in the photos, I could feel her energy.She always held huge, teeth-flashing smiles in her photos along with twinkling eyes.She looked more like her mother with the straighter dark hair and lighter blue eyes, while Justin looked more like his dad.
“Here, add this one,” I said, passing a photo over to Bryan to scan.It was a photo of Justin and his dad.It looked like they had gone hiking and were at the top of a mountain, both of them grinning big and looking so happy.It was obvious this was before everything had happened, when everyone was still happy and loving.
Bryan frowned down at the photo.“I don’t get why we need to do this for that bastard.”He grumbled as he followed my directions.
