"It still aches when it's cold and wet outside, but no worse than any ovver old wound. Oh, oh, I know --"

Break reaches out to flip back to almost the beginning of the book -- vacation photos. They're from his first spring at Rainsworth, when the kids had been on break and Shelly had badgered them all into flying down to Florida. The picture Break points out is of he and young Liam and Sharon from behind, the latter two pressed up against a huge window. An airplane is visible just outside of it, making the three of them look tiny in comparison.

"That's one of our flying machines," Break says. "And that's -- that's me when I was your age." He'd hid from the camera as much as possible those days, but in another photo, Shelly had managed to catch him leaning up against the wall in his torn jeans and favorite leather jacket. He's far too skinny, and he's reaching up to brush his bangs self-consciously over his newly unbandaged eye, looking hilariously sullen. The old ponytail is flopped over his left shoulder, as always.

"Piece of work, weren't I?"