They finished the pizzas with ease while watching the basketball game. Evie enjoyed listening to them all talk about the players and various stats of both teams and the league in general. Even Lilah got in on the conversation, correcting Jesse and Zach about some guard who had recently been traded. Evie had no idea what the hell they were talking about, but it was nice just to be included. She felt better when Vega admitted she had no clue what was going on either.
“I haven’t watched pro ball since Obama’s first term. My ex-girlfriend was a Clippers superfan.”
“Boooo,” Corie teased.
“Yeah, Vega, you should have disclosed that information before I hired you,” Jesse said. “This is a Lakers household. Get out.”
“I didn’t sayIwas a Clippers fan. They were just my last frame of reference when it comes to pro basketball.”
At halftime Evie and Lilah sat on the floor and started going through the pictures. Corie grabbed an extra box to help Evie sort and keep track of what pictures she wanted to keep handy. She started with the box markedFAMILY PORTRAITS.Inside there were a dozen or so framed pictures.
She pulled out the first one, a picture of a little Black girl with box braids tied back in low pigtails with red polka-dot ribbons. The face was vaguely familiar. Evie saw some of her own features in the child’s face, but there was no connection.
“That’s you,” Zach said. Evie looked up at the warmth in his voice. She could still feel the softness of his lips against hers. Not that she was going to rush into anything, but she really hoped the doctors cleared her for sex. Just in case. He stood, giving her shoulder a light squeeze before he moved around the other side of the coffee table. “Nana Buck had that hanging in your living room for ages. Taking a trip to the fridge. Anyone need a refill?”
Jesse held up a finger as he chugged the rest of the beer in his other hand. “I’ll take some more water, please,” Evie said before she turned to Lilah. “We can put this back in storage. It’s cute, but not exactly something I need to hold on to. Right this minute.”
“’Kay. Back in storage it goes.” Lilah took the frame and carefully placed it in the spare box. Evie pulled out two more of her school pictures as Zach came back with their drinks. He handed off Jesse’s beer and set down her water. She didn’t expect him to take a seat on the couch behind her so his denim-clad muscular thighs were spread wide on either side of her shoulders, but she welcomed it.
“Watch her stitches there, Romeo,” Vega said, pinning Zach with a hard look.
“I’ll be careful. I promise,” Zach replied. When it was clear no one else had thoughts on their new seating arrangements, Evie went back to their photos. There was one more of herself riding a small white pony. She must have been five or six years old. She handed that off to Lilah, then looked back into the box. The next picture was old too, two people standing near an old wooden fence. The man had a baby swaddled against his chest and the woman stood beside him with her arms wrapped around his waist. The woman was laughing.
Zach eased to the edge of the couch and started rubbing her upper arm. “Those are your parents,” he said quietly.
She looked at the picture, not sure what to do or say. She knew their faces now, but if her memory didn’t come back, this picture, and any others like it, would be all she had.
She closed her eyes and forced that thought away. There was no need to make this harder for herself.
“You okay?” Zach asked.
“Yeah. I just—I wish I remembered them. My mom was so pretty.”
“I think we only met them once, but I do remember your mom being extremely kind.”
“I’m sure Miss Leona can tell you more about her,” Lilah said.
“I’ll ask her in the morning.”
“Let’s keep this one handy,” she said as she passed the picture to Lilah. She looked at it too for a few moments.
“I think my dad had a crush on her,” Lilah said. “Her name was Sandy, right? Sandra Buchanan.”
Jesse nodded. “Yeah, that was it.”
“Yeah, my dad had a crush on her before he met my mom, but she moved away.”
“God, I don’t even know where we lived,” Evie realized.
“Just up in LA. Your mom was a studio teacher for the Disney Channel and your dad was a camera guy, I think,” Zach said.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Jesse added. “Your dad was . . . Jim?”
“Yeah, Jim Wright. I remember Nana Buck telling us one time that women in your family don’t give up their maiden names for anything. Your great-grandma came up with the name herself.”
Evie repeated their names in her mind. Jim and Sandra. Those were her parents and from here on out, she wouldn’t forget. The next picture in the box was her parents’ wedding portrait. She definitely could see the resemblance between her and her mom now. She was very beautiful, and on her wedding day, looked very happy and in love. And very eighties. The big hair and the lace headband and veil were a lot to take in. Her dad’s mustache dominated his half of the photo—it was almost funny. She picked up her phone off the coffee table and took a picture of the photo. It was getting late on the East Coast, but she started a new group text with Raquelle and Blaire. She attached the picture before hitting Send. My parents!
The last few pictures were more of Evie, one of a man they believed was her grandfather and a massive black horse, and a professional portrait she’d taken with her mom and her grandmother. She had to be around three years old. Evie decided to hold on to that picture, her parents’ wedding photo, and the picture of her grandfather and the horse. Lilah suggested they clear off the window bench in the guest room, which would give Evie plenty of room to display the framed photos. She liked that idea. They carefully boxed up the rest of the photos to go back into storage, when Blaire responded.