Chapter 13 - The Photograph On The Mantel Was Not The Perfect One
The ruined photograph could not be repaired.
A conservator managed to stabilize the surviving piece, but Julia's face remained partly scorched.
Ava decided not to hide that.
Daniel offered to choose another picture for the mantel.
Ava said no.
Vanessa offered nothing.
Smart.
Ava spent an entire Saturday going through boxes.
She rejected the wedding portraits.
Too formal.
The family studio photographs.
Too posed.
One photograph showed Julia beautifully lit on a staircase.
Ava hated it.
Then she found one from a backyard cookout.
Julia wore an ugly baseball cap.
Daniel stood behind a smoking grill.
Vanessa was at the edge of the frame holding a plate.
Rachel was laughing with her mouth full.
Toddler Ava was sitting in a plastic pool with one shoe on.
Ava carried it downstairs.
“This one.”
Daniel stared.
“You have no pants on.”
“I was three.”
“You have one shoe.”
“Art.”
Vanessa stood near the kitchen.
Ava noticed her in the photograph.
“You're in it.”
Vanessa's eyes moved to the frame.
“I can crop myself out.”
Ava stared.
Vanessa corrected herself.
“Sorry.”
Ava looked at the picture again.
“No.”
Vanessa waited.
“You were there.”
That did not mean forgiveness.
It meant history did not improve by removing whichever person made the present uncomfortable.
Daniel put the photograph on the mantel.
Beside it Ava placed the damaged original.
Half Julia.
Half ash.
Vanessa looked away when she saw it.
Ava noticed.
She left it there.
That evening Rachel came for dinner.
Nobody discussed the accident for the first forty minutes.
They discussed Ava's chemistry grade.
Daniel's terrible pasta.
Rachel's new neighbor.
Vanessa's work.
Then Rachel looked at the mantel.
“You kept me in the picture.”
Ava said:
“Don't make it weird.”
Rachel laughed.
After dinner, Daniel washed dishes.
Vanessa dried.
The old routine returned without either of them acknowledging it.
Ava watched from the doorway.
They were still good at ordinary things together.
That did not answer whether they should remain married.
Rachel came beside her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Fair.”
Ava looked at her aunt.
“County fair.”
Rachel's face changed.
“Oh God.”
“Mom said to ask.”
Rachel started laughing.
“Your mother bought a pie from a bakery, put it in her own dish, and entered it under her name.”
“Dad told me.”
“He didn't tell you the best part.”
“What?”
“She lost to the bakery owner.”
Ava stared.
Rachel could barely speak.
“She didn't recognize him.”
Ava laughed.
Across the kitchen, Daniel turned.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Vanessa looked over.
For a moment she smiled too.
Then caught herself.
Ava saw it.
“Vanessa.”
Her stepmother looked at her.
“Did you know about the pie?”
Vanessa laughed.
“I drove her to buy it.”
Ava stared.
“You helped her cheat?”
“I believed in her.”
“Apparently.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That explains so much.”
The room loosened.
Not healed.
Loosened.
Then Rachel's phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Her smile disappeared.
“What?”
Daniel asked.
Rachel stared at the screen.
“Ava's school emailed me.”
Ava frowned.
“Why?”
Rachel looked at her.
“Because I'm listed as your emergency contact.”
Nobody had known that.
Ava certainly hadn't.
Vanessa stopped drying the plate.
Daniel turned.
“Since when?”
Rachel read the date.
“Three years.”
Everyone looked at Vanessa.
She went pale.
But this time her fear was different.
She set the plate down.
“I did that.”
Ava stared.
“Why?”
May you like
Vanessa looked at Rachel.
“Because I knew one day Ava might need somebody in this family who wasn't us.”
