Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Keane
Day . . . after the last one I wrote, I think.
Every evening, Rayne is like a little duckling. She doesn’t say much—barely a word most days—but she follows me as I walk the trail that runs between her house and mine. Her small feet crunching against the ground are the only sounds she makes, like she’s content to exist in my orbit without fully joining it.
It’s not a bad thing. I think she needs the space, the quiet. Maybe she feels like she doesn’t have to explain herself when it’s just the two of us walking in silence. I don’t push her to talk. Not yet.
Today, though, I tried to encourage her to make new friends at school. She looked at me like I’d suggested she wrestle a grizzly bear. Her little nose wrinkled in that way kids do when they think adults are ridiculous. Still, I hope she’ll listen.
What I didn’t say—what I couldn’t figure out how to say—was that I also hope she’ll be nicer to her aunt. Julianna tries so hard, and I can see how much she cares. Is that something I can even encourage her to do? To let her aunt in? Or is that overstepping?
Maybe I should start yoga with Julianna in the mornings or evenings. It should be a way to show her how change is good, how everyone can change for the better.