Kelly chewed on her lip and looked out the window. Milly sat staring back at her, a frozen tableau of preteen impatience. Kelly turned to Simon. “Could these frames show me what’s going on with my daughter?”

“Why do you need a frame for that?”

Kelly’s voice caught in her throat. “Because she’s closed off to me and won’t talk about anything.”

Simon gave a sad nod.

“She’s withdrawn into herself, but I can see she’s hurting. You don’t have a way I can see what’s going on with her, do you?”

Simon stared over Kelly’s shoulder at Milly. His eyes warmed, and a gentle smile crept across his face. “Truth is something shared, not forced. Sometimes the best way to help others is to help yourself. There are flow-on effects when you face your own truth. Maybe that’s what your daughter needs. You might need to guide her as I am guiding you.”

“But I’ve already dealt with—”

“Come.” Simon took her elbow. Next to the empty frame was a simple mahogany frame holding a photograph of a bright-pink suitcase sitting next to a home’s front door, waiting for its owner.

Kelly stared at it. A suitcase?

“Let me tell you about this truth. The woman is thinking of leaving her partner rather than dealing with their issues so they can mend their relationship and make it stronger.”

Kelly jumped to defend a kindred spirit; a woman with whom she sympathized. “Maybe . . . maybe it’s because her husband won’t listen. Or because they no longer have common ground on which to meet. That happens to a lot of people today, right?”

“It has happened to a lot of people forever. But today more people make this decision as if there are no consequences to their actions, and they won’t be guided any other way.”

Kelly looked out the window. Milly had drawn her knees up under her chin and rested her head on her arms. Her consequence.

“What is this place?”

Simon rose on the balls of his feet. “It’s a film lab. A place the world says it doesn’t need anymore because it can handle things itself. Yet it’s needed more than ever. It’s an anachronism in a modern world. Like truth itself.”

Kelly stared at the empty frame next to the one with the pink suitcase. “We don’t connect. Daniel doesn’t talk about anything, and I feel like he’s holding back from me.” She had to try one last time. “There has to be something in his photos. Perhaps it’s truth. Simon, can’t you at least let me see what’s in them?”

Simon frowned. “Not without the sacred contract I have with Daniel. But I can give you something.”

Kelly’s hopes rose as an answer to the pain of the distance within her family dangled tantalizingly in front of her. “Anything, please.”