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“She didn’t hit , but she wasn’t very nice”

“I’m sorry,” he said lamely He didn’t look away from her eyes, and she didn’t flinch from his In the midst of this intense honesty she wormed her way deeper into his heart

“Yeah, it sucked”

The air in the backyard felt heavy

“Hey” He tried again to joke the soberness away “Is this your way of softening me up for your article or—”

“I told you because I wanted to Because you’re my uncle and I like you You can tell me what happened in the war and I won’t write the article if you don’t want me to We could just… talk, you know?”

He didn’t He had no clue But he nodded anyway

Wain trotted back froe with the board in his rabbed it and tossed it toward the garage Jesse returned to picking up shingles and the h it hadn’t happened Except that he felt a little lighter or cleaner or so He felt closer to his effervescent niece and that, in turn, ood

They worked their way around the corner of the house, past the giant tru the stick for Wain, who fetched with less and less speed until he finally collapsed in a patch of sunlight to gnaw on the stick

In front of the porch, Jesse finally straightened, ready to call it a day Maybe he could convince his niece to run down to the Dairy Drea back a pint of rocky road ice cream He turned, ready to make his pitch to A her screa son out of a stroller that listed precariously to one side

His body turned to stone, while his heart ran to liquid, the way it always did when he saw her

At the sound of the boy’s cries A and ran past him toward the corner, ready to offer her assistance

“You gonna come help her?” she paused to ask