“Don’t know. Maybe transport him in Milo’s old cage that’s in the storage room. We could cover him with a blanket on the way over, and then find a secluded spot to let him out for a bit.”

Zoe paced around the little bathroom. “That’s a nutty idea. I want nothing to do with it.”

“But your goal is to watch birds in the Ramble. Don’t you want to work on your goal?”

My phone rang. It was Doug requesting a face chat.

I put down the shrimp, and Flames began to devour it. Then I clicked accept.

“Hey, Doug! How’s it goin’, bro?”

Doug was wearing a floppy sun hat. “It’s goin’ awful, Arcade. It doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving is just a week away. It’s hot here, and I’m getting a suntan. It’s weird. What are you doing?”

I flipped the screen to show him our flamingo friend. “We’re feeding Flames, who is going through shrimp like there’s no tomorrow. Thankfully, Mr. Dooley’s brother keeps sending care packages. I think he must suspect something.”

“That’s AWESOME! How’s Gram’s house? Besides the smell?”

I could see the pain in Doug’s eyes.

“It’s good, Doug. Nice, as always. I just wish you were here.”

Doug sighed. “Me too. But hey. I’ll be there next week. It’s my birthday the day before Thanksgiving, and the care facility is going to make an exception and let me stay with Gram for a few days. We have another appointment with the social worker about something.”

“THAT’S DOPE! We gonna hang out, right?”

“We gonna hang out, right?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Yep, that’s what you said.” Doug laughed.

*  *  *

“Something’s goin’ down soon, Zoe, I can feel it!” I was jittery as we dug through the storage room to find Milo’s old cage for Flames. I had to sit down on an old stool to stop my hands from shaking.

“I can’t believe Mom keeps some of this old junk of ours.” Zoe pulled out a photo album from a dusty box and flipped through it. “Huh. This is interesting. People actually printed out photos back in the day.”

I stood up and walked over to look.

“Hey, check this out.” Zoe pulled a white book out of the box and opened it. “Here’s Mom and Dad’s wedding pictures. They look like little kids!”

Zoe pointed to a really nice picture of Mom and Dad coming back down the aisle after their wedding ceremony. “They’re positively glowing! Look at them!”

I took the book from her. “Oh, brother. Quit being so mushy, Zoe.”

“Well, take a look yourself.”

I focused on the picture. Their faces did seem to glow.

I guess love does that to people. But . . . wait a minute . . .