Chapter 13

After he had gotten a charger for me, we headed down to the kitchen. I memorized our journey down, so I could make my way back up when I needed to.

“Why not have sign boards?” I asked in the kitchen.

“The house isn’t that big.” His eyes darted to me, as if he was deciding if he should say more or not.

“When I was old enough to be unsupervised, I would use markers on the bottom of the walls to help me find my way around. Then they would paint over them whenever Grace wanted a new feel of the house and I would have to start over, it was a game of sorts. There’s not a lot of adventure to have when you’re the only kid in a big house.”

I could picture a boyish version of him, walking around alone, trying doors just like I did and marking them up.

“Of course I grew out of it. A year in and I knew most of the house like the back of my hand.” He cleared his throat gruffly. “Do you remember the directions?”

“I think it’s pretty solid in my head, thank you.”

“My pleasure. The kitchen is