Amelia sat cross-legged on her living room floor, sorting through photo albums with Diane sprawled comfortably on the couch behind her. A playlist of soft indie tracks played in the background, and every so often, Diane would lean over to laugh at a picture or tease Amelia about some old memory.
It was easy between them. Natural. Like no time had passed since Diane had left for Europe years ago.
But somewhere under that comfortable familiarity, small ripples were beginning to form... The ripples that neither of them fully acknowledged yet.
“Look at this one,” Amelia said, holding up a photo of Diane, Kieran, and herself at sixteen. They were at the beach, all sunburned smiles and tangled hair. “God, we were such babies.”
Diane took the photo, her smile softening. “I remember this day.
