She hugged him. “I hate that you had to live like that.”

“We can’t pick our parents. But I had Tru.”

“And he had you. I’m sure it helped that he had you to focus on during the rougher times.”

“I think that’s true. You’ll notice there are no thorns on my roses. I want to carry the good forward, not the bad.”

“I love that you put so much thought into them. What about the tattoo of a woman’s face and a little boy on your arm? Was that based on one of Tru’s drawings, too?”

“Yup. A mother and son seen through the window of a ship. When he gave me that picture, he said if he had the power to give me one thing, he’d put me on a boat to someplace faraway with a new mother. He made up stories about her, too. And you know the wheel in motion that’s tattooed on my upper arm? When I was in rehab he drew that to remind me to keep moving forward.”

“He’s always looking out for you. You’re lucky to have each other and to know you always will. I wish I had a sibling. It would be nice to know someone was always there for me.”

“That’s what I’m for, babe. You want to know about the sunflowers on my chest? You’re always tracing them.”

She nodded eagerly.

“Tru didn’t draw those. I read about them right after I got out of rehab, and it felt like a sign. They symbolize optimism, faith, happiness, and they’re natural soil decontaminators, removing toxins like lead, arsenic, and even uranium. They’ve been used at some of the world’s biggest environmental disaster sites, like Chernobyl. Since I’m living a clean life, that spoke to me, and they always grow toward the sun.”

“Now, that I knew.”

“Did you know the giant ones can grow to twenty feet tall?”

“Whoa. No. One day you should have a garden with them in it.”

“Maybe one day we will,” he said with a wink, making her all fluttery inside. “I’d like to think that I can reach unimaginable heights and reach for the sun, too.”

“You mean with work?”

“Not really. I guess I mean with life, staying out of the darkness of my past. I don’t have lofty goals of owning a business or anything like that. I love working at the bookstore, and they’ve already told me that I can move into their accounting department when I’m ready. Dixie’s also hinting that when she and Jace start a family, she’ll need me to take over the accounting for the auto shop and the bar. But I’ll probably always keep one foot in the store. As you’ve already figured out, books make me feel safe and happy. I can fall into a fantasy world or fill up on facts, and I never want to stop learning. I’ve got a fairly good brain, and I don’t want to waste it ever again.”