She squinted, lifting the album closer to her face.The plastic protective sleeve caused a glare from the television.
Baddy's thumb strummed the back of her neck."What's wrong?"
"I..."She frowned, tracing the edge of the photo."All these years I've looked at these pictures, and I never noticed this sign on the house."
He muted the TV and shifted toward her."What sign?"
She pointed."Right there.On the house.There's writing, but I can't make out the name."
Baddy gently took the album from her hands.He held it closer, angling it toward the lamp.
"Sutton."He grunted and tapped the sign with one finger."That's Baker's last name."
Lydia froze.Her breath caught.Her heart stuttered.
"What?"she whispered.
"Sutton," Baddy said quietly."That's Baker's family name.His real name is Frank Sutton."
The album slipped from her hands and landed in her lap with a soft thud.She stared at him, blinking, her mind scrambling to make sense of what she'd just heard.
"Are you saying...these could be Baker's family pictures?"Her voice came out squeaky to her ears.
Baddy didn't answer right away.He continued looking at the photo again.His jaw tightened, and his gaze flicked from the photos to her.
His silence was an answer.Lydia's pulse hammered.If the album belonged to Baker, then...she hadn't been holding strangers all these years.
She'd been holding pieces of her own family.
Pieces of a life she never knew she had.
Pieces of him.
And the realization hit her so hard she couldn't breathe.
Chapter 34
