“Miguel is here!” Forey said. She and her husband were second generation from Mexico, living in Kansas. They didn’t have a lot of land and her husband did many outside jobs. They had two grown daughters, both of whom had moved to faraway California.

“Tell him the rest of it,” Nella said.

“I think he and Gabby are in love.” Two years ago, Forey and Rafe had sponsored the daughter of a friend to move to the US to live with them. Gabrielle had recently turned twenty.

“Sure about that?” Robbie kept his head down so they wouldn’t see his eyes.

“Oh, yes,” Forey said. “We’ll build them a house beside ours and we’ll have grandbabies we can see every day.”

Robbie didn’t look up. “So how’s Miguel doing?”

“You won’t remember him, but—”

“Are you kidding?” Robbie said. “I remember him very well. The summers when he was here were the best of my life.”

There was a stool by the end of the counter and Forey put a dish of cold flan there. They knew how much he loved the dessert. Robbie left his empty plate and went to sit closer to them. “That was the summer Adam broke his leg. I used to...” He didn’t finish the sentence.

“You used to what?” they asked.

He felt a warmth creep up inside him as his memories came back. He’d adored his big brother. Seemingly from birth, Adam had been a star athlete. Not clumsy like other kids. First time he picked up a bat, he hit the ball. Hard. Burke had nearly popped the buttons on his shirt in pride.

Robbie, diaper clad, had always followed his brother whenever possible. Adam would ruffle his little brother’s hair now and then but there was too much to do to give him any real attention.

But that summer, Adam had been confined to bed, his leg in a harness suspended from the ceiling. Burke had hired nurses to look after him. The women were bored and glad to let young Robbie hang about to let them know when they were needed.

That summer, Robbie was by his brother’s side often. Adam read to him, told him stories, coached him as he tried to learn to throw a ball in a way that was natural to his big brother.

“I liked all the things Miguel and Vera did.”

“What does that mean?” Nella asked.