Page 39 (1/2)

He traced the picture of the two of them with his niece Kaya at the zoo Kaya had been five at the time With her dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, hter It was then they’d realized they liked the sound of it and decided to start trying for one of their own Hannah stopped taking her pill, and three weeks later she’d been killed He pulled the plastic cover away and pulled out the picture If any memory would still move her, this would be one of them

He took a deep breath and snuck a glance over at the couch where Juni still slept She’d taken to living with him since they left Madeline’s, afraid that Hannah would return andshe couldn’t take back to one of her farateful she’d fallen asleep If she saw hiht take it personally He wiped away the drops of liquid that seeped out the corner of his eyes and moved on with his search It would take more than just this to break the icebox that existed where her heart had once been

A few hours later he’d skih all the albums, chosen a few more pictures and sentimental ite game All contact from Hannah had ceased His dreams had been peaceful, and Juni ell rested Hannah was either exhausted fro up for soe He heard movement in the other room, and turned to see Juni stir beneath the blanket that covered her Oliver tensed as he waited for her to surface

“Are you awake, Juni?” He held his breath as her head appeared from beneath the blanket

“Yeah How long was I asleep?”

“A couple of hours”

“I guess I was ht”

He relaxed It was Juniper

“We’ve been burning the wick at both ends ork and research”

“Very true”

&nbs

p; “How about we order in tonight, and relax?” Oliver asked

He pushed himself to his feet, and walked over to sit on the couch beside her He wanted to wrap an ars between them had been strained to say the least

“Sounds good to o to the bathroom to freshen up All I can smell is coffee”

He laughed, and nodded his agreeuest room