Last Updated on July 28, 2026 by Robin Katra
“This frame has been cracked since the move,” Rick said, his voice carrying that booming, cheerful tone he used when he was trying to sound like a man without a care. He pointed at the silver-plated school portrait of Hannah from the third grade.
“The glass is whole,” I said, keeping my voice very quiet.
“We are ten years down the road, Marlene,” he said, and his voice dropped to that flat, clipped sound that always made me look at the floor. “We have to stop keeping a shrine in the middle of the house. It isn’t healthy for you.”
He reached for the silver frame, his large thumb covering Hannah’s small smile.
“Leave it, Rick,” I said.
He looked down at his wrist, checking the face of his watch twice, then wiped his damp palms on the thighs of his canvas trousers.
“Enough living in the past, Marlene,” he said, setting the frame back down with a sharp click against the wood.
He picked up his empty cardboard box and walked toward the back door, leaving a single grey smudge on the white mantelpiece.
The yellow light from the garage window cut a long diagonal across the dark grass of the backyard. I walked down the three wooden steps of the back porch, my sweater pulled tight against the cool air. The padlock on the workshop door was hanging open, which was rare for a Tuesday night.
I pushed the door open three inches and looked inside.
Rick was sitting at his workbench, a large green contractor ledger open under the desk lamp. He was writing numbers on a yellow legal pad, his pencil moving so fast the lead snapped with a tiny crack.
“Rick,” I said.
He flinched, his elbow knocking the yellow pad to the floor, and he scrambled to kick it under the desk with his boot.
“What are you doing out here?” he shouted, his voice dropping into that harsh, defensive register. He slammed the green ledger shut and stood up, blocking my view of the workbench.
“The padlock was open,” I said, looking at the heavy book now tucked under his arm. “I thought you were building the shelving for the pantry.”
