“I worried about that, too,” Flora said. “So I took my favorite photo of my mother, and I had copies made and I carry that photo everywhere with me. So in a way, she is always with me. I like knowing I have her there. There’s one in my purse, one in a frame I keep by my bed, one on my wall in my apartment. So if you have a favorite photo, we could do the same for you.”

“I don’t know which one is my favorite.”

“Maybe you and Izzy can go through all the photos together and choose the one you like best. The one that reminds you most of your mommy. Maybe when she’s dancing or laughing. Does that sound like a good idea? What do you think, Izzy?”

Izzy’s throat was thick. How could she say that she worried about the same thing? Worried that one day she’d forget what her mother looked like. She kept her mother’s perfume in her bedroom and on bad days when the images in her head were blurred, she breathed in the scent and remembered.

She cleared her throat. “Yeah, we can do that.”

“And now about this swimming.” Flora tipped Molly onto the grass and scrambled to her feet. “How about you and Izzy go swimming together and I’ll make us some drinks.”

“Will you watch me?”

Flora hesitated. “Of course I’m going to watch. Try stopping me.”

“Will you sit right on the edge?”

“Absolutely.” Flora’s skin color took on a faint greenish tinge that reminded Izzy of algae.

“Not right by the edge.” Izzy stripped off her T-shirt down to her bathing suit beneath. “We don’t want to splash her.”

When Flora gave her a quiet smile of gratitude, she couldn’t help returning it. She might want Molly to herself, but she was willing to admit that there were times when reinforcements were a good thing.

Molly was wriggling out of her clothes, apparently forgetting her sudden horror of the water.

She grabbed one of the floats Clare kept in the box close to the water and sped down the grass.

“Whoa! Wait up! You’re not allowed in without me,” Izzy yelled after her, and then glanced at Flora, knowing she had to say something. “Thanks. Sorry you had to handle that.”

“Well I seem to have caused it, so you’re not the one who should be apologizing. And you were great. You are so great with her. No one can handle Molly the way you do.”

Izzy felt like a parched plant that had suddenly been watered. She sucked up the life-giving praise through her roots and it spread to every part of her, reviving her wilting confidence.

She was good with Molly, she knew she was.