“Has he ever mentioned me?”
“A few times.”
“He mentions you, too.”
That was a nice surprise, but I didn’t react. Just watched her steadily.
She waited, but when I said nothing, she sighed. “I wish I knew why he’s taking so long to decide things.”
“He doesn’t seem like the kind of person you should push.”
“You’re right, but it’s hard to wait.” Her lips pinched. “I miss him.”
“He’s a great guy. I understand.”
“Do you?” She turned toward the door. The bell jingled as she left. I locked it behind her and flipped the sign to CLOSED.
Although I felt sorry for her obvious distress, I wouldn’t tell Scott about this visit. I’d said all I should about her. He didn’t need more advice about Monica.
Grant was waiting on me in the sunroom when I got home. “Shall we begin the review of his photos?”
“Backup everything first, please. Afterward, I’ll skim through them and select the best.”
“What will you do with the best?”
“I’m not sure. It may depend on what they are.” The photos might be too personal or too painful to share. I wasn’t willing to commit yet.
“Are we to complete the project in his room, or would you like to choose another location?”
“How about here in the sunroom?”
“Excellent. Why don’t you retrieve your iPad while I manage his laptop?”
I was soon back with two glasses of lemonade, a plate of my favorite oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies, and my tablet. Grant was frowning at the laptop’s screen but looked up when I set down his drink (extra-weak, ugh). He nodded his thanks and waited for me to sit.
He pointed at the table. “I’ve backed up all images to a thumb drive, a DVD, and the cloud.”
“That was fast.”
His lips twitched. “I coaxed speed from the technology.”
While supernatural speed might be charming, I wasn’t going to risk my brother’s legacy on Grant’scoaxing. I spot-checked the thumb drive and had to admit that everything seemed to be there. “Looks fine.”
He gave an impatient grunt. “What shall we try next?”
“I’ll look at the photos.”
“There are thousands.”
“Then it will take a while, but I’m open to suggestions for making it as painless as possible.”
“I may have an answer. I’ve taken the liberty of installing a free application on both computers that will facilitate the viewing and organizing of your images in tandem. Allow me to show you.”
We sat side by side. As he opened an image on the laptop, it appeared on my iPad. “So how do we handle this?”
“You comment aloud about each photo, and I’ll organize them appropriately.”
“Good plan.”
