CHAPTER 59

The McKays gathered around a table piled high with food—laughing, smiling, happy.

Normal pictures of a normal family with fond memories.

Something like jealousy twisted in Macie’s gut. She didn’t have any pictures like that. She had a few happy memories from her childhood, but no documentation.

What would it be like to have that connection? To people? To a single place? To have a history?

Someone like Carter would never understand that even as she craved that kind of bond, the idea of permanence scared her to death.

As she studied the second row of pictures, her face burned like she’d peeked into a forbidden window to the subject’s soul. She knew without a doubt Carter had snapped these photos.

The first one was a close-up of his parents. His mother’s hand rested on his father’s weathered cheek. An intense love was apparent on their faces and they seemed unaware of anything but each other.

The second photo was of a dark-haired brother, wearing the duds of a rodeo cowboy.

He hung on a