Brad gave a tired smile.
“What was I supposed to say? That I almost became somebody?”
I looked at him.
“You did become somebody.”
“You know what I mean.”
Unfortunately, I did.
Suddenly, I remembered things about Brad I had never connected before.
Half-finished drawings disappearing from the kitchen.
Shelves he would dismantle instead of repairing if they came out crooked.
Recipes thrown away before anyone could taste them because they didn’t look right.
Anything that failed to become what he imagined tended to vanish.
My eyes moved toward his shoulder.
“The circle.”
Brad nodded.
“After everyone else had put something on me, Erin asked what I wanted.”
Erin smiled faintly.
“I asked why he wouldn’t close the circle.”
Brad rubbed his thumb across his palm.
“I told her I guessed I wasn’t finished either.”
Molly frowned.
“But nobody is finished.”
Brad looked down at her.
“I’m eight,” she continued seriously. “And I still have lots of time.”
