Mindy leaned into the kitchen, checking on her brother.

    Eddie stood hunched over the kitchen sink, a pitcher of tea to one side, his glass still empty next to it. Bent there before the kitchen window, Mindy could feel the burden weighing upon his back. When Shelly left, he had been the eldest child remaining. After their father vanished as well, he had also become the man of the house, helping mom with his younger sisters, the general malaise of day-to-day family life, and all the burdens that came with the household. In many ways, it had aged him, though usually he kept that particular burden hidden.

    Mindy made to retreat back to the sunporch, hoping to leave her brother in peace, yet the threshold creaked beneath her feet, giving her away. As if on cue, Eddie straightened up, the hunch of his back disappearing, as he poured his tea and cast a friendly gaze back over his shoulder.

    "Hey, sis."

    "Hey, Eddie."

    "Got your tea." He scooted one glass to the side, then began filling a second.

    "Thanks." Mindy stepped up, taking her glass, then leaned back against the counter as she took a sip. "I didn't see any of the postcards," she continued. She didn't need to clarify which ones.

    As Eddie's mask fell once more, Mindy felt a tinge of regret. She didn't want to cause her brother any pain, yet she had questions that begged to be answered. In the end, perhaps it couldn't be helped.

    Eddie sipped at his own glass before answering, a long sip. Then he set the glass back down and wiped the wet condensation from his palm on to his forehead and down one cheek, as if seeking any comfort that he could find. At last he spoke.

    "I think he took them with him when he left." He didn't meet her eyes as he spoke, yet even without the tell, Mindy knew he was lying.

    "Eddie."

    "What?"

    "I know there were a few left behind."

    Eddie scratched at his head, still unable to look at her. "Minds, those could be anywhere."

    "Could be, but they aren't are they?"

    "Come on. You know how worked up Lindy always was after looking those over."

    "I'm not Melynda."

    "No, but you were still Shelly's sister. This isn't a path worth going down, you know."

    Mindy craned her neck forward, her eyes burning into Eddie. "Look me in the eyes."

    "Come on."

    "The eyes, Eddie."

    Finally he relented, meeting her gaze. Mindy stared hard at her brother, refusing to flinch. "I choose my path. You don't have to protect me."

    A quiver pulled at the corner of Eddie's lip as he fought to form a proper response. It was the briefest of hesitations, but Mindy knew what to look for. "I don't," he started, "I don't have to, Minds. It's just..."

    "You want to. And I get it. I love you for it, even more than I hate you for it, but it's still my choice."

    "Fine. I'll bring them by next week."

    "Today."

    "End of the week, I promise."

    "Tomorrow. Final offer."

    "Fine." Eddie swallowed back more tea, as if gulping a whiskey. "I still don't see any good coming of this."

    "Maybe, maybe not." Mindy sipped at her own tea, then stopped. This wouldn't cut it.

    She turned to the refrigerator and yanked out two beers. "What do you say, Eddie?"

    "About damn time."

***

    Two beers later and Mindy set beside Eddie back on the sunporch packing up the stacks of photographs, albums, drawings, and other remembrances.

    She'd have another look later that evening, after Eddie had left and she didn't have to feel that little tug of guilt with his every wince or sullen glance. For now though, she might as well put them away before the kids ransacked them.

    "You think you could help me tote these upstairs?"

    Eddie cocked his eyebrow at his sister. "You're keeping them?"

    "For a little while at least."

    "Alright. Just give me another minute to rest the back."

    "Oh hell. This again?"

    Eddie glared at her, but Mindy decided not to respond.

    They sat in silence for a moment, then at last Eddie spoke. "I'll probably head out after. Time to get back to Claire, you know."

    "Sure."

    Eddie twisted his head back, craning to see past the Areca palm. Beyond him, through the screens, stretched the empty yard, all the way back to a small copse of trees on the fringes of small stretch of woods. The yard was completely empty.

    "Have you seen, Charlie?" he asked, not even bothering to turn back towards Mindy. She could hear the concern in his voice, but before she could answer, he yelled out into the yard.

    "Charlie!"

    "Yeah?" The response came from off to the left, towards the drive. A moment later Charlie peered around the corner of the house. "What's up?"

    "Nothing. Just five minutes, okay. Then we're heading home."

    "Sure." With that, Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets and disappeared back toward the driveway, perhaps fidgeting with the James' old basketball hoop - Mindy didn't know. Yet one thing was for certain, Eddie was just as worried about his boys as she was about Tess; which itself raised an important question.

    "What are you going to do about Charlie and Ed tomorrow?" Mindy asked.

    Eddie, the sense of relief beyond clear on his face, turned back to Mindy. "Claire'll pick 'em up. She can get Tess if you want? You know, so she doesn't have to take the bus or something."

    "And that wouldn't be too much Robach drama?"

    "Minds."

    "Yeah, I know. Sorry." Old habits died hard, and even with Eddie, Mindy found it near impossible to keep the acid to a minimum. "Sure. I'd appreciate, that. Thanks."

    "You're welcome." That business settled, Eddie rose with a groan, and Mindy smiled, proud of herself. She didn't make one sarcastic comment, no matter how much she wanted to.

    "So," Eddie continued. "Let's get this over with."

    As he reached for the box, Mindy grabbed the second and nodded to her brother. "Let's. But remember, Eddie. You bring the postcards, tomorrow. Okay?"

    "I got it, I got it," he said, but somehow Mindy didn't fully believe him. She didn't really know what she expected to find sifting through the odd bits her father and sister had left behind, and yet, she knew she needed to look. With Ricky's disappearance, old anxieties had returned, and somehow Tess knew that the Robach family's troubles were not over yet.

Thanks for sticking with me for one more chapter.  Obviously, Mindy has latched on to some ideas regarding her family history, but what do you suspect?

What happened to her father and her sister?

Were these disappearances and deaths natural?

Should Mindy be worried?

And what are the chances that Eddie brings that postcard over?

Thanks for sharing, and see you next chapter as David struggles to make sense of the previous evening's missing dreams.

As always, feel free to vote, comment, and share.  And thanks, again, for reading!