Before We Were Yours

Trent and Avery follow the path to the river and there on the bank they come to a house. It is in a remote location, away from all prying eyes. Inside there are bedrooms and a sitting room. All over the room and the walls “there are photographs […] different decades, different locations […] but always these same four women” (291). Grandma Judy is one of them, and she is present in a photo labelled “Sisters’ Day” and signed by “Fern” (291). Avery wonders what is going on as she and Trent examine the small but cozy space.

It is then that they hear a noise from outside, a voice calling to them. “A man in overalls and a straw hat” (292) appears after the sound of his barking dog. He asks, “I help you folks?” (292), and then makes the instant assumption, after looking at Avery, that she is May Crandall’s relative. As “he zeroes in” on her, he asks, “You a niece or granddaughter?” (293). Avery owns up to the truth, that she isn’t sure. At that point, the man, Bart, says he might as well take her to see his mother.