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The kids returned from their ride shortly after three and Alex see everyone in stride DeeDee stuck close and got introduced along with him

It was curious watching the group shift and talk and laugh When her grandparents and Uncle Peter arrived, they joined in comfortably and Kayla relaxed She’d or had provided for Alex and now tried to put faces and naer brother, Josh, looked like their father, and so did his sister, Madison His brother-cousin, Trent, couldn’t come after all, but Trent’s sister, Alaina, had made it Ordinarily Alaina worked in New York, but she said she wasback to Montana soon

With her digital camera Kayla quietly took portraits and entered the names so Alex would have a pictorial directory to use as a reference

She was puzzling over a couple of photos, unsure she’d gotten theht, when a shadow fell across the table It was Sarah McGregor

“Is there so down

“No, I was just trying to attach the right nareat-aunt Sally?”

She showed the picture to Sarah, who nodded “Yes, that’s Sally”

“Then, the other one has to be Great-Aunt Moira” To be sure, she showed that shot to Sarah as well, who agreed

“What a nice idea It’llto know the family so much easier for Alex”

“That’s what I thought”

An aard silence followed as Sarah fiddled with the bracelet on her left wrist “Kayla,” she said finally, “I want to tell you how bad we feel about everything”

Kayla gave her a nonco to say

“We’ve realized we didn’t treat you hen you were dating Jackson,” Sarah continued “They say hindsight is twenty-twenty, but it’s painful to see your mistakes so clearly I just e could have helped You le mother”

“I ed,” Kayla replied firmly

“Froe success of your life But you shouldn’t have had to do it alone, and that’s partly our fault”

With a shrug, Kayla took a photo of Alex and DeeDee with Morgan There weren’t h a cousin had arrived with a couple of toddlers