That very afternoon they’d plotted that either Colleen must act dumb and be held back a grade or Hallie must be very smart and advance a grade. Neither ever happened, but their plan had given them hope after that first afternoon spent separate from each other.

•   •   •

The next morning, in her brother’s apartment above the Lark, Colleen sorted through a pile of photos on the kitchen table. The pictures afforded an odd variety of time travel back through Gavin Donohue’s life. Some were black-and-white, some color, some torn and faded and others obviously newly printed. Colleen sifted through them and felt a tremor below her chest: her dad’s life in photos.

Shane sat across from her, sipping a cup of coffee. It was ten a.m. and he’d just stumbled from bed, his hair matted on the left side and sheet marks on his cheek.

“Rough night?” she asked him.

“No, just late. There was a tiebreaker in the dart competition and old Mr. Ballew would not forfeit the title without great agony. How was your night after you left the pub?”

After spending the afternoon with her father, she’d driven him to the Lark, where she’d spent the early evening.

“It was great to see so many people—who doesn’t want to run into their prom date and their second grade teacher in a bar?” She grinned. “I got a bit overwhelmed and went back to Dad’s.”

“Overwhelmed?”

She shrugged. “All the times I’ve come home over the years, I haven’t really hung out here. I like the Lark when it’s empty—just us, you know? None of my best friends—like Margy, Sara and Kerry—even live here anymore. I haven’t talked to or contacted anyone in ten years.” Colleen shook her head. “Ten years. My God, how did that go so fast?” She paused and stared at her brother as if he had the answer to the dilemma of time. “Anyway, I just wanted to go home and sit on the dock and catch up on work e-mails and edits until Bob brought Dad home.”

“Do you talk to those girls at all? Your bridesmaids?”

Colleen shook her head. “At first it was too embarrassing. They called and texted and Kerry even tried to visit me in New York, but I guess people can only be shunned for so long. I thought about trying to get us all together last year, but then realized that they hadn’t called in years and might not want to hear from me at this point.” Colleen pressed at her temples and felt the weird light-headedness that signaled embarrassment, a warning sign that she had inched too close to the past. “Let’s stop talking about this.” She tried to smile at her brother but felt the tremble in her lips. Leaning toward the table of photos, she asked, “So, what’s all this for?”