Daughter's Keeper by Ayelet Waldman

feelings in any way—that wasn’t something she would ever do. Instead, she shut down. Normally cool and even-tempered, she turned frosty and remote. That coldness remained long after Olivia had gotten over whatever had inspired her outburst. Olivia would turn to Elaine as if nothing had happened, only to be rejected. It was as if despite the lifetime they’d spent solely wrapped up in one another, Olivia didn’t know Elaine at all. She never could seem to understand that merely because her mother didn’t express her hurt like she herself did, with loud bursts of rage and bombastic expressions of pain, that didn’t mean she didn’t feel it. It was only with Arthur that Elaine permitted herself the barest expression of her emotions, and even then it was a constricted articulation, invariably more about her insecurity with how she’d handled her daughter than about what Olivia had made her feel. Arthur often wanted to tell this to Olivia, to make her understand that her mother possessed feelings that Olivia was capable of hurting. But of course, he could say nothing. His role was to support Elaine, and above all, to mind his own business.
    â€œCongratulations on the wedding, Arthur,” Olivia said. “Mazel tov.”
    â€œThank you, thank you. So, shall I wear a top hat and tails to the event, do you think? Or biking shorts?”
    Olivia laughed. “How about biking shorts and a top hat.”
    â€œYou know, my dear,” Arthur used the mock British accent he had often adopted to entertain Olivia when she was younger, “I think that would be lov-er-lee.”
    â€œHave you set the date?”
    Arthur and Elaine both shook their heads. “Not yet,” he said. “We want to have a terrific blowout, and neither of us has the cash for that just yet. We’re saving our pennies for the condo in Lake Tahoe and a trip to Morocco this year.”
    â€œMorocco?” Olivia raised her eyebrows. “How mundane. What happened, you couldn’t find a good tour of Kabul or Rwanda?”
    â€œYou should talk,” he said. “Miss Travels-to-Chiapas.” While he certainly never would have said as much to Elaine, Arthur had been secretly impressed when Olivia had packed off to Mexico all on her own. He had admired the girl’s moxie. He had certainly been much more excited about her infrequent postcards and letters than her mother had been. Elaine opened each envelope with dread, sure it contained news of some latest catastrophe, while Arthur approached them with gleeful anticipation. How much would he have loved to divest himself of all his worldly possessions beyond what could fit into a backpack and take off for primitive places and untraveled lands. He was downright jealous of Olivia’s adventures and had been terribly disappointed when she had hung it all up in favor of a job waiting tables at a crappy Oakland restaurant.
    Olivia sighed. “I never made it to Chiapas. I never got past San Miguel. I got distracted.”
    â€œYeah, well, you went pretty far. For a girl.” He punched her lightly on the arm and was pleased when she smiled.
    â€œHey, Olivia, I have to show you this new camera I bought for our next trip,” Arthur said. He went out to the hall and returned carrying a brightly colored cardboard box. He took the camera out of its wrappings and handed it to her. She wiped her hands on her pants and took it, holding it carefully.
    â€œWow. Is this digital?”
    â€œYup. It’s the top of line. You would not believe the clarity of the image. Now I’ll be able to do slide shows on PowerPoint instead of dealing with the slide projector.” Olivia was one of the only people, perhaps the only one, who genuinely enjoyed looking at the slides of his and Elaine’s travels. So many of their friends’ responses to his invitations to a vacation slide show were decidedly lukewarm. Some even begged off entirely. But