Page 18 of You, with a View

“How?”

His gaze darts to Paul before he squints off into the distance. “Kathleen wasn’t ever a secret in my family.”

I chew at my lip, wanting to ask more, but sensing I’m somehow pressing up against a bruise of Theo’s. His shoulders are tense, like he’s waiting for my next question. Like it’ll hurt to hear it.

I could push until he gives me answers or tells me to fuck off. God knows I want to know everything. But for reasons I don’t want to examine too closely, I let it go instead. “Let’s see what’s in this box, huh?”

“Dig in, kids,” Paul says, giving me a warm smile, as if I’ve passed a test I didn’t even know I was taking.

I start flipping through the stack of photos Paul handed me as Theo takes another. My attention splits between the images in my hand and the way Theo’s eyes scan each picture before he lays it carefully on the table and moves on. Occasionally his mouth will pick up in a half smile, and he’ll flip the picture so Paul and I can see it. Most of them are goofy photos of Paul, but some of them are gorgeous shots of Los Angeles, the UCLA campus, or the group of friends that start to become familiar as I move through my stack.

Paul notices that I linger over a photo of Gram standing in front of a fraternity house. She has one leg crossed in front of the other at the ankle and wears a mischievous smile. It could be me in the picture; our legs are long and lean, our smiles equally wide, a little crooked. Her bottom lip is even snagged a little on her left canine, like mine does. In this picture, she’s wearingmybest-day smile. I know, deep in my bones, that when this picture was taken, she was happy.

It’s the power of photography. To capture it and let it live past the subject’s lifetime. To allow someone to look at it years later and smile along with them.

I press my thumb against the glossy paper, working against the moisture in my eyes and the lump in my throat.

“You look so much like Kat,” Paul says. I blink over at him, pulled out of my memories and hers. He nods his chin at the picture. “It’s almost uncanny.”

Across the table, Theo’s eyes trace my face.

“You and Theo do, too,” I say. “I actually can’t believe I didn’t notice the resemblance when I found the pictures. I spent so much time looking at them while I made that video.”

At this, Theo’s eyebrow quirks up. Even after years apart, I know hisI’m about to be an assholetell. “Was my face fresh in your memory, Shep? Been staring at my LinkedIn profile picture every night?”

“Please don’t project your fantasies onto me.”

Paul chuckles and even Theo grins, his damn dimple popping.

Ugh. Even when he doesn’t win, he wins.

I half stand and peek into the box, needing a distraction. There are more photos, ticket stubs, and envelopes yellowed with age. But my gaze snags on something even more interesting. It’s a map, folded up carefully and perched on top of a yearbook.

I take it out like it’s a precious artifact. Which, really, all of this is. “What’s this?”

“Take a shot every time Shepard asks a question,” Theo mutters across the table.

I shoot him my most innocent smile. “Oh, I’dloveto see you play that game. We both know your tolerance is laughable.”

I’m immensely gratified by the way his cheeks turn pink. One night we were at a party—not together, but... existing in thesame space at the same time—and he puked Mike’s Hard Lemonade all over his date’s shoes. I had to help her shower it off because they were both too wasted to get the job done.

He recovers quickly, his voice dipping. “My stamina has improved significantly since high school.”

I make a noncommittal sound. I don’t want to think about his stamina now.

God knows Theo and I could go for days like this, but my attention is diverted. As I unfold the map, the writing looped over top of Washington, Idaho, and Montana stops me short.

Paul and Kat’s Honeymoon Road Trip

Six

What is this?”

“Je-sus,” Theo mutters, but I don’t miss the way his gaze lingers on the writing, or how his eyes widen once he reads it. His eyes jump to Paul.

“So youdon’tknow everything,” I say triumphantly.

Theo ignores me, his attention on his granddad. “You two had a honeymoon planned out?”

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