By the time TropiSanta was merry again, I calculated we had maybe ten minutes before the girls disintegrated. I got Holly upstairs, teeth brushed, and finally, both of them into bed. Teo joined us for the tuck-in.

As he stood in the doorway and Bismarck reclined at my feet, I said the usual prayer and asked the girls what they were thankful for. The party came out on top, but Noelle said she was thankful for me, as well.

I cleared my throat. Twice. “And I am very, very grateful I have two silly little nieces.”

They asked Teo for a story, and he told them the true story of a dog who tracked a little girl who was lost in the woods.

Twenty questions later, the girls were finally ready to close their eyes. The story was the perfect happy ending for a long, exciting day. I kissed them both and, at their request, so did Teo. Then I turned off the light and we tiptoed downstairs.

Bismarck elected to keep the girls company. He was snoring by the time we left the bedroom.

In the great room I pulled Teo down next to me on the sofa and told him what Noelle had said about Wendy.

To avoid the blinking splendor of my heirloom lights, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “You’ve got your hands full there.”

“Noelle’s no trouble.”

“Hands full trying to keep your sister out of trouble with her daughters.”

“It doesn’t come up often,” I said. “They don’t talk about her, at least not to me. There’s a pact of some sort, like they know they’ll get in trouble if they do, or something bad will happen.”

“You’re going to miss them once you’re out of the picture.”

I turned on my side so I could see him better. His skin was alternately red and green, but I could ignore that. “I’m not planning to be out of the picture. Never again. If they aren’t with me, I’m still going to make sure they’re okay. Nobody’s going to get between me and them.”

“So they’re kind of a package deal for the lucky guy who gets you?”

“I have no idea what’s going to happen with my sister. She might never come back. Bryce might stay submerged and ask me to raise them on my own.”

He didn’t frown, not exactly, but he opened his eyes. “Is that what you want?”

“It’s too early. It’s hypothetical.”

“You seem more and more sure your sister’s not a good mother.”

The largest part of me was still waiting for a miracle. I wanted to learn that every conclusion I’d reached about Wendy was wrong, but even the most optimistic part of me knew better.

“You look at home here,” he said, when I didn’t answer. “You never used to.”

“Here, in the town house? Here, in Seabank with my parents? Here riding herd on two little girls?”

“The journalist with a million questions.”