Page 113 of For Eva

He ran his hands through his short dark hair and sighed. “You say that like I purposely—”

He stopped himself at the sound of footsteps descending the stairs.

Miles slid into the living room with his duffel bag. Drew followed behind, lifting his hand in a casual wave.

“Hey, Mom,” Miles said, plopping down on the couch beside me.

“Hey, buddy. Get your shoes on, and we’ll head out.”

“Okay. Bye, Dad.” He pushed himself up, gave Aaron a quick hug, and headed for the foyer.

“Drew, go on out to the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Drew muttered a “bye” and shuffled after his brother. Once the door clicked, I stood, slinging my purse over my shoulder. “So you, um…you don’t happen to remember seeing a box around the house with my old things in it, do you?”

Aaron cocked his head and rose to his feet. “Things?”

“Yeah, from when I lived out in LA.”

His forehead wrinkled. “I don’t think so.”

“It was a shoebox. Like, a big one for boots. It had my pictures and—”

“Oh,” he said, tapping his finger against his mouth. “We threw that away when we were cleaning out the garage. When the neighborhood had that yard sale a couple of years ago.”

I grabbed my stomach, as if that could stop the ache from the punch he’d just delivered. “Wewhat?”

“Threw it away. I’m sure I asked you about—”

“You did not, Aaron. I wouldn’t have told you to throw that away.”

“Okay, well, what’s the big deal about it, anyway?”

“The big deal is that it wasmine.”

“That stuff was so old, Eva. Why do you even care?”

“Because that was part of mylife. And you just fucking tossed it.”

“I told you I asked you.”

“You didn’t.”

He scrubbed his hands down his face. “Look, I don’t even remember. Maybe I didn’t ask you, but I don’t understand why you’re freaking out over—”

“Never mind,” I said, pushing past him. “Forget it. You’re right, you don’t understand, just like you never fucking understoodanythingabout me.”

“Eva, come on.”

“You know what? It’s fine.” I held my hands up in front of me, signaling I was done talking. “I’ve gotta get the boys home so they can finish their homework before bed.”

“All right. Tell them I love them.”

I clenched my teeth and gripped the doorknob so hard my knuckles turned white. “Sure, Aaron. Whatever you say.”

He closed the door, and I stood on the porch, taking in several deep breaths. The photographs. The postcards. The unanswered letter. Gone forever.

I pulled my phone from my purse and scrolled back to the photo Eric had sent. My pulse slowed as I took in the tall, thin trunks adorned with thick green fronds lining either side of the street. I held the phone close to my chest, knowing I had at least one picture Aaron couldn’t throw away.

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