THE PHOTO TRAVELER (THE PHOTO TRAVELER SERIES - BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 23

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The next morning, I’m pulled away from my dreams about Alanna by my cell, which rings, goes silent, and moments later rings again. I give up trying to sleep and reach for it. The first message is a text from Dina:

Happy 18th Bday. I miss u. We all do. Even Jet. I hope you are ok & have a gr8 day.

 

      I roll my eyes and delete it, but the next one catches me by surprise. It’s from Melinda:

I know I probably wasn’t the best sister and I’m sorry for that. I hope your life turns out the way it should be. Love ya and miss ya. Xo.

      I’m surprised by how much this means to me, and I decide to lock it. I can’t recall her ever having said anything intimate to me.

      When I open my blinds, the morning sun warms my face and I smile at the families walking their dogs over in the park—until I see one woman walk off without picking up her Great Dane’s great dump. That’s a pet peeve of mine. Does it really take that much effort to get a small bag and toss it out? I leave the blinds open to the sun and head down the hall to shower.

      When I come back to my room, I find a blue envelope on my bed. It’s a card from Estelle and Bud, along with a check for $200 and a $50 iTunes gift card! I can’t remember the last time someone gave me a birthday gift. I didn’t even celebrate my last three. What was the point? My last birthday “party” was when I turned 15 and Jet and Dina took me to some pizza place. Except that Jet got into a fight with our waiter and we were basically thrown out. Not exactly the best birthday memory.

       I tuck the whole envelope in my drawer. I’m not going to deposit the check. I want to keep it—it’s a token of what finally surrounds me. I pull out the photo album Estelle and Bud gave me and flip to the photo of the day I was born. I leave it out to remind me to visit them when I get home from school. When I saw them in the Depression, I may have accepted letting them go to choose their futures, but there’s no reason I can’t still share the memories of the past with them.

      I skip down the steps and into the living room. “Happy Birthday!” Estelle and Bud applaud from the kitchen. Then they hurry over to me and wrap their arms around me.

      “Honey,” Estelle says, “you have no idea what it means to us that we’re celebrating your birthday with you!” She has trouble getting the words out because she’s trying to keep from crying.

      “We’ve dreamed of this for so many years!” Bud adds. He looks as if he’s fighting tears, too. “We never thought it would happen! I tell you, buddy, if I were to die today, I’d die a happy man. We love you!”

      I hug them both, trying my hardest to hold back my own set of waterworks. “I love you too, and I’m exactly where I want to be! For once.”

      Bud and I sit down at the table and Estelle brings out breakfast. “Now, we know how much you love your sweets, so I made you something special. Homemade chocolate chip pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and an egg-white spinach and turkey sausage omelet.”