“What struck me most about the picture, though, was how happy they looked. Mom especially. I’d never seen her like this before, I realised – so carefree. It made me ache. She wasn’t someone who was prone to smiling, not naturally. Yes, she’d smile when she met people, just as she would when she was trying to get her own way, batting her eyelashes, tilting her head at just the right angle. That was how she’d attracted Bob. That and her looks, I was certain of it. But spontaneous, genuine smiling? No, not my mom.”
From ‘The Summer She Vanished’– included in the showcase
