Hannah set the phone down. What had she gotten herself into? You either related to teenagers or you didn’t. She never had. Fifteen-year-old Lucy Banks worked on Saturdays at the gardens and they had never gotten chummy, not the way Grace did with young people. Mainly, she gave Lucy instructions or taught her about some aspect of soil or plants. They had talked briefly about Randy’s suicide attempt and how Lucy had been the one who found him. Hannah shuddered. Imagine a teenager finding her brother lying in a bathtub after having slashed his wrists. Listening to Lucy’s troubles had been uncomfortable. It seemed incumbent on her to offer words of wisdom, and she felt guilty not doing so. It never occurred to Hannah that listening was enough. She had never had a meaningful conversation with Tyler. Well, he’d work on his project, she would keep him company, and it would help pass the day.

Tyler arrived with his paraphernalia, which included rip-stop nylon and fiberglass rods that fit into one another for the frame. This was very different from the tissue paper and thin sticks Hannah had used for kite building when she was young.

“We’re going to do a fiery dragon kite. I ordered the kit on sale for twelve ninety-nine. It’s usually sixteen ninety-nine. When it’s done, it’ll be thirty-eight inches by forty-two inches.”

“That’s a little over three feet and a little under four feet. Big,” Hannah said. “I’m impressed.”

“It’s diamond shaped.” He showed her a picture of the design on the kite, a fire-breathing dragon in brilliant red, gold, and black. “It’s an old design, but I like the way these kites handle rather than the more boxy ones. A lot of kids are flying much fancier kites these days. There are different categories of kites, you know. Dragons will fly in six-to ten-mile-an-hour winds.”

She didn’t know about kites, or wind velocity as it applied to kites. “You mean your kite will be competing against other dragon kites?”

“That’s right.” Tyler looked at her and smiled.

“Have you always been interested in kites?”

“Not really. Just since I read The Kite Runner. Have you read it?”

Hannah shook her head. “What was it about?”

“A boy who lived in Afghanistan and his friend, and they entered kite contests. Kites are popular, and winning a kite contest is important in Afghanistan.” He held up the picture of his kite and studied it. He set it down and read from a sheet of paper that had been included in the box.