Page 201 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

crooked smile. He pressed it to his chest—an unconscious
routine gesture. Then he jolted back to the present, eyes flit-
ting between them, and placed it roughly on a nearby shelf.
He didn’t look at them, his hands reaching for dirty plates
and spilled fruit.
“Is that your mom?” Greta asked. If she’d been truly kind,
she’d have said nothing. He’d never mentioned her before,
and they’d never seen her come or go. Divorced? Dead too?

“Yeah, that’s her.” His face flushed, knowing he’d been
caught.
“Are your parents divorced?” Nate would have mentioned
if she’d died, right?
“No, they’re still married.” He stopped moving, probably
knowing he’d have to explain now.
Ash and Greta leaned forward, waiting.

“My mom’s in the military, deployed in the Ukraine.
She’s an infantry officer, gone for six months at a time.”
That wasn’t on the list of anything Greta expected. She
didn’t know what to say. How terrible? How wonderful? Still
alive, still married to Nate’s father and could, at any moment,
stand too close to a land mine. No wonder Nate cradled
her picture and probably wished on falling stars. Nate, too,
waiting, waiting for results. Either an embrace at the end of a
long flight home or…

“That must be stressful,” is what she said.
“I worry about her all the time.” Nate crouched to unfold
the game board.
“Why didn’t you say something before?” Ash asked.

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