Page 29 of Something New

"These are unbelievable," he said, going to the third one. There were four photos, and he laid them all on the counter, leaving them in their sleeves and being careful not to bend them.

"Sadie told me to hold that dinosaur up, and then I made it roar and it scared her sooo bad," Ethan said, remembering how much fun they had.

"These are professional," Molly said to her brother.

"She is a professional," he agreed. "She's a student, but she's got a photography business. She's good."

"Obviously, she's good. You need to call her and thank her for these. How much did you pay her?"

"Are you leaving right now, or can you stay and hang out for a minute while I go put some things away and make a phone call?"

"You're going to call a woman?"

"To thank her for the photographs," he agreed simply, shutting his sister down.

"Yes, I can stay," she said. "I actually need to run to the grocery store to get your things." She looked at Ethan. "Would you like to come with me?"

John-Michael told her not to worry about replacing groceries, but she wanted to. She insisted that she wanted to help out since he had been so sick. He ended up giving her his credit card, but she had already paid for them. She took the card anyway, in case they wanted fast food.

Molly and Ethan left, and John-Michael went back over to those pictures as soon as they walked out of the door. He stood in the kitchen, staring down at the prints—one of them in particular. It was Ethan with a makeshift cape tied around his neck. It was taken in the house with toys and forts in the foreground and background. He was whizzing through it all with his cape flying behind him. There was motion in the photograph, and it seemed like she had enhanced that aspect of it digitally. It was gorgeous. He wanted to cry from looking at it. It wasn't just the beauty of the photograph, but the comfort level of his son.

His eyes shifted to another one. It was from the neck up in the bathroom and it was all bubbles except for his face. There were even bubbles on his face—in the shape of facial hair—a beard with a handlebar mustache. It was all constructed with bubbles. The whole photo was bubbles, basically, except for his nose, mouth, and big brown eyes.

The third one was on the upstairs couch, wearing pajamas and holding a book in his lap. And the last one was outside with his dinosaur. They were all artistic and beautiful. They were, hands down, the four best pictures he had of Ethan. They had been carefully edited and printed on quality paper and were ready for framing.

There was no way he could accept these without giving her something for them. He looked in the envelope, half-expecting to find an invoice. There was a note. It was written in the same neat handwriting that was on the outside of the envelope. It was the same handwriting from his house that night. He remembered what happened after he read that other note. That kiss. Ethan had gotten sick after that, and it seemed like a dream now.

He stared down at the new note.

Hey,

You can tell by these prints that I had fun with your little man. He's the best, and I'd love to hang out with him again if you ever need help. I loved how these came out, and I wanted you to have them. I hope all is well with y'all!

Sadie Kirkpatrick

He looked at the envelope. It was addressed, but it wasn't postmarked, and he wondered when it had come.

He had her phone number, and he called it right then. He was still in the kitchen, standing there, staring down at the images, when she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Sadie?"

"Yes. Is this JJ Kennedy?"

He wasn't sure if she had ever called him JJ. His initials sounded natural coming from her. He liked her voice, and he smiled at the sound of it.

"Yes, it is JJ Kennedy. I just got home. I've been up in Williamsboro with my parents for over a week. E was sick as a dog a couple of weeks ago, and then I caught it."

"Oh, no."

"Yeah, it was bad. But I'm better now. I did get out a little, and I saw the tunnel. Your brothers did a really great job."

"Aw, thanks."

"But that's not what I'm calling about. I just got home, and I opened this package. I'm looking at these pictures right now."

"What do you think?" she asked. Her voice was sweet and hopeful.