Dad bent to Colleen and took her in his arms, pulled so closely that she smelled his aftershave and the salty brine of their river that ran through his heart and straight to her own. “You are so like your mother.” He hugged her tightly, rubbed her back before releasing her to look into her eyes.

“Mother doesn’t like to catch them either,” Colleen said and wiped at the tears. “She only likes to cook them. I can’t kill them, Daddy. I just can’t.”

“They were given to us for eatin’. They’re a gift from the river. We aren’t separating anyone. They don’t have families like we do.”

“If anyone ever took me from my family; if I were caught in a net . . .” Colleen threw her arms around him and he lifted her up, carried her back to the house.

“We’ll try again another day because you are very, very good at throwing that net, Lena. It’s a skill that takes some people years to learn.”

Mother waited on the back step in her favorite navy blue sundress, her hair blowing in the breeze, all smiles and warmth. “Are you okay, sweetie?” She rubbed the top of Colleen’s tangled hair.

“I just didn’t want to take the shrimp I caught.” Colleen was placed on the ground and she looked at her mom. “Dad said I’m just like you.”

Mother froze in place, the dish towel in her hand fluttering in the gust of an incoming storm. Her face looked different, Colleen thought. Funny. Then Mother began to cry, not with any noise but with tears that filled her eyes like the rain often did in the pitted spots of their backyard. She used the dish towel to wipe them away and turned back into the house, closing the door behind her.

Colleen looked at her dad. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Lena. No. She doesn’t like to be reminded of their little deaths.”

He hoisted his daughter onto his shoulders and walked around the side of the house.

“She doesn’t love me like she does Hallie.” Colleen stated this with conviction, as though someone had told her the fact and she needed to tell her dad the truth.

Gavin grabbed Colleen by the waist and swung her from his shoulders to place her on the ground. He bent to look directly into her eyes, which were the same color and shape as his own. “That is not true, Lena. Not at all true.”

“Yes, it is.” Colleen shrugged. “But it’s okay because she does love me, just not as much.”

“Why do you say such things?”

“I just know.” Colleen skipped off and called back to her dad, “Are you coming?”