‘I was going to show you Chicago, wasn’t I?’ She turns on her tablet and trawls through lots of folders. ‘I finally got all my photographs organised. What a project that was. Here.’ She hands me the iPad and I start scrolling. Picture after picture shows soaring skyscrapers and stunning architecture. Unusual angles and closeups reveal shafts of light piercing the space between buildings and weird details, like an old shoe caught in the branch of an enormous tree, leaves burnt orange by the season—things that no one would normally notice but somehow look like art.

‘These are beautiful!’ I say.

‘Adam’s the photographer.’

‘Adam?’ I’m in shock.

‘Do you call him Adam all the time? Not Dad?’

I shrug. Now it feels awkward.

But my grandmother doesn’t seem to notice. ‘He doesn’t even know I kept them, let alone uploaded them. When he was supposed to be working at the law firm, he spent all his evenings at a photography course, lunchtimes wandering around the city, camera in hand, and all his earnings on fancy equipment. Mike wasn’t impressed, of course. But I can’t believe he didn’t continue with his photography. Isn’t he talented? All my friends think so.’

‘Super talented,’ I say. ‘So he’s not just a hunter, he’s a photographer, too.’

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

‘How are the house payments going?’ I hear my grandfather ask. ‘Are you in the red?’

‘I’m fine,’ my father replies.

I’m padding downstairs in a fresh pair of thermal socks, rubbing my eyes after a twelve-hour sleep. I so needed that. The knots in my shoulders unravelled into the pillow, and I feel ready for the day. There’s a shower going upstairs, which must be Jaxon.

From the stairs, I can hear my father and grandfather talking as dishes clink in the kitchen sink. I stop on the third-last stair, out of sight once again, curious if they will talk about me.

‘If you need a low-interest loan, it’s still on the table.’

‘No, Dad. I’m handling it.’

‘Don’t get huffy. I’m just worried about the debt, that’s all, and the rising rates. The number of foreclosures my firm’s been dealing with lately, it’s a tough time in property. Lots of clients at the moment?’

‘I’m taking a little break, with Sky being here and everything.’

‘Can you afford that?’

‘I’ll make it up later.’

I hear the familiar tone of my father’s phone. It stops after a second.

‘I assume that’s your client again, the one you’re avoiding,’ Mike says, his voice stern.

‘Please.’

‘For Christ’s sake, Adam,’ my grandfather barks. ‘One of your clients is calling; aren’t you going to answer? I simply don’t understand this lackadaisical approach to business. Alaska or not, this certainly isn’t the example I set.’

‘Okay, already, if it will make you happy,’ my father says, accepting the call. ‘Hello, Adam Black here.’ Pause. ‘Ralph. Bud. Sorry I haven’t picked up, been focused on my daughter, and now my parents are in town and …’