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HALF AN HOUR AND TWO more banana muffins later, Kennedy’s body reminded her how exhausted she was from the events of the past twenty-four hours. She hadn’t thought until now about any of the toiletries she’d need, but Sandy always kept extra nightclothes and toothbrushes ready for occasions just like this.
“You sure you don’t want some help cleaning up the dishes?” Kennedy asked.
“Just leave them,” Sandy answered. “I’ll get to them in the morning.”
If she knew anything about Sandy, she was certain those dishes would be clean and dry in the dishwasher well before sunrise.
Sandy got up from the table. “I think I saved your toothbrush from last time. Let me go have a look.” She started to bustle down the hall and stopped. “Oh, I almost forgot! Carl, do you have your note ready? We can ask Kennedy to do the picture tonight.”
He scooted his chair back. “I’ve got it in the den. I’ll go grab it.”
Kennedy watched him hurry out of the dining room. “What note?”
“It’s something we started last week when we first got matched with Woong from the South Korean orphanage. Carl and I made the decision that we’d write him a note each day until he comes home and take a picture of us holding it. It might not be much, but we wanted him to understand how much we loved him even before we met him face to face.”
Kennedy figured that any orphan lucky enough to get paired up with the Lindgrens was one of the most blessed kids alive. “That’s a really sweet idea.”
“So, Carl’s gonna grab his camera, and do you mind taking the picture for us? Otherwise, he’ll have to fiddle with the timer, and half the time it goes off too early. I swear we could make a collection of all the pictures of Carl’s backside to give to Woong.”
Carl scurried in carrying a dry-erase board. “It’s my night to do the message, right, babe?”
“Yeah. I thought you said you already wrote it.” Sandy was repositioning photographs and homemade crafts on the mantle. “Come stand right here, Kennedy. We haven’t gotten a shot by the fireplace in a little while.” She frowned at Carl. “Weren’t you wearing that last night?”
He glanced down at himself. “No, that was my other red shirt. This one’s different.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” He reached into his pocket. “Now here you go. This camera ... Wait, where is it?”
Sandy rolled her eyes. “You lost it again?” She turned to Kennedy. “I swear, if Woong knew how much hassle we go through just to get him ...”
“I’m the one who said a ten-year-old boy ain’t gonna care if he gets a picture every day,” Carl countered. “It’s not like he’s going to pull out a magnifying glass and read each single date ...”
“It’s the principle of the thing. We want him to know ...”
Kennedy grabbed her cell. “How about I take it on my phone and I’ll just send it as an attachment to your email or something? Would that work?”
Carl lifted his eyebrows. “You can do that?”
“Yeah.” She opened her camera app. “Are you guys ready?”
“I think so.”
Sandy nudged Carl again. “You forgot the whiteboard.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Once everything was in place, Kennedy tried to take the shot.
“What was that beep?” Sandy asked. “Was that the picture? Do you want to take another one just to be sure?”
Kennedy frowned at her screen. “No, it’s this phone. It’s gotten low on memory. Hold on. I have to delete a few pictures, and then I’ll try again.” She sighed as she went into her gallery. For five minutes, maybe more, she had gone without thinking about Reuben, about the way her stupid phone’s lousy memory was the reason he was spending the night in jail. She really should take those old lab photos and delete them all. It’s not like ...
She froze.
“What is it, dear?” Sandy asked.
“Just give the girl a minute to do what she’s gotta do.”
Kennedy felt the blood rush from her head down to the finger that stood poised over her screen. Could it really be ...?
“Hold on.”
Sandy hurried and stared over her shoulder. “What’s the matter, sweetie? Is your battery dying?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s ...”
She wouldn’t allow herself to hope. She couldn’t. Her phone had said the memory was full. Why hadn’t she thought to go into her photo album in the first place? Was it right there?
“Precious, is everything all right?”
“Give the girl some space, woman,” Carl boomed without losing his good-natured tone.
Kennedy’s finger was surprisingly calm as she selected the recording. It started to play. She glanced up at the Lindgrens. “I think I found the video that will get Reuben out of jail.”