We kept on going through the photographs, the ones where we rented a trailer and went camping as a family, and when we got to his high-school graduation pictures, he managed a smile. “Christ, I was such a baby. Now I’m an old man.”

“You’re thirty-two, you’re not old.”

“What about you? You’re younger than me, aren’t you?”

“By three years. You always teased me about it, even though the difference doesn’t count.” He’d pulled his chair over and sat so close to me now I could smell the sea salt, sand and sweat. I wanted to touch his cheek, run my fingers over his skin in an attempt to make sure he really was sitting here in the kitchen, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react. Before I had a chance to lift my hand, his stomach let out a piercing squeal, and I raised an eyebrow.

“Why didn’t you say you were hungry?” I said.

“I’m hungry.”

There it was, his wry, quirky sense of humor. I hadn’t understood it when we’d first met, but when he left town, it was one of the things I missed the most. As always, he was trying hard to pretend everything was fine, and I decided I’d let him because it was what he needed right now. “What can I get you?”

“What kind of food do I like?” His shoulders dropped, another smile forming on his lips. “Shit, that’s such a dumb question.”

“No, it isn’t.” I swallowed. “You know, maybe it’s an opportunity.”

“How so?” Ash crossed his arms, both eyebrows raised as he expected more of an explanation. Right then, he looked exactly how I remembered his father and it made my heart swell. Brad had been a good man, fantastic both to Mom and me. He’d never tried to overtly muscle in and assume the role of my dad, but I’d wanted him to anyway. Growing up knowing my biological one hadn’t loved me enough to stay had hurt a lot more than I’d ever wanted to admit.

“It could be a kind of blank slate,” I said, and shrugged. “Maybe you’ll develop a taste for things you didn’t like before.”

“That’s one way of looking at it, I suppose. Are you always this optimistic?”

Pushing my seat back, I said, “You relax, I’ve got frozen lasagna.”

Ash reached over and touched my fingers. “Thank you for helping me...Maya.”