I watch Ruth trace a finger across the wood grain of the table, and I wonder what’s going on behind her tired eyes. I know there have got to be happy memories in there. The Ruth from those pictures is in there somewhere. My plan for the next week—my plan for this trip—will be to remind her. And tomorrow, the plan begins.

Tomorrow, we go on a Treasure Hunt.

CHAPTER TWO

Ellie and Eddie pull up in the RV at 8:37 a.m. Three minutes later, my bags are loaded up and I’m ready to go.

“Somebody’s excited,” Eddie says, grinning.

“Heck yes,” I say, and we high-five. I know he’s just as excited. One of our stops along the way is in Houston, where their daughter, Darcy, is going to college. It’s one of the things that got the idea for this trip started, and we’re all excited to see her again.

This trip developed slowly, like an emerging photograph in a darkroom, and it’s finally about to be displayed in full color.

“Okay, guys,” Ellie says. “I have researched basically every best food stop between here and California, so get ready to eat!”

Ellie and Mom talk together for a minute, quietly. They’ve known each other so long that they share mannerisms, like the way they talk with their hands. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but Mom says something with a worried face and Ellie puts a hand on her shoulder. Ellie’s good at that, knowing what other people need. She’s the one who’s always got extra hair ties, Neosporin, or hand sanitizer in her purse. And she introduced Ruth to the album Love at First Sting by the Scorpions.

I run my hand along a painted stripe on the side of the RV and give it a soft pat.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Eddie says, coming up behind me. He looks up at the RV like it’s a majestic elephant at the zoo. He’s always looking at things and talking about things like they’re utterly wonderful, and it makes it easier for me to look at them that way too. Like I have permission to see things effervescently. He’s the one I picked when I needed to interview someone outside my immediate family for a school project.

“Most spectacular thing I’ve seen today,” I say.

This giant RV is our home for the next little while. Our home away from home until we reach the Pacific Ocean. All the way to relaxing on the beach, scuba diving at pirate ships, and digging up old, happy memories.

The digging-up part is just me and Ruth. A little bit like it used to be.