Sera gasped. Sylvie winced. Harry had lost a leg during his time in the service, and Hallie had indeed been curious.

Hallie shook her head. “You would have asked the same of me if my Johnny had been one leg down.”

“Probably. Also, Sylvie and I talked a lot about how to handle you hormonally when you were pregnant because you were the terror of the town,” Sera replied with a prim look.

“I was glowy and perfect,” Hallie argued.

That made Sylvie laugh. She wasn’t sure how she’d made it through her years away without these two. Maybe it was time to talk to her best friends about the trouble she was having.

She hadn’t been around when Sera had been pregnant with Luc. Sylvie had been in college and she’d stayed for the summer semester that year because she’d heard Rene had come home from Chicago and she hadn’t wanted to see him.

If she had, would they be where they were? Or would they be so much further down the road?

“Have you ever wanted something you don’t know you should have?” Sylvie asked.

“Didn’t I mention Remy’s chicken-fried steaks?” Hallie replied.

Sera’s eyes rolled. “Don’t pay her any mind. Hallie’s the one who always knew what she wanted and got it right away, and do not talk to me about Gracie having Johnny’s thin hair. You are going to give that child a complex. Sylvie’s asking a serious question and yes. Yes, I have. I wanted Harry, and I screwed up things in the beginning. I don’t understand what’s wrong here, because you won’t talk to us.”

“You’re being Super Sylvie,” Hallie said seriously. “That’s what we call you when you’re there for everyone else but won’t let us do the same for you. I know you think it’s a good thing, but it makes us feel like you don’t need us.”

That thought made Sylvie wistful. “You two have families. You shouldn’t have to worry about me.”

“But you are our family,” Sera said. “Just because you won’t talk to us doesn’t mean we won’t worry. It just means you won’t let us carry our part of the burden.”

Tears pierced her eyes. She had been doing this ever since she came home. She’d held them a bit at arm’s length because their lives seemed more complex than hers. They had kids and husbands. Had she been weighing that as more meaningful than her own?

“Self-Sacrificing Sylvie is another name we use,” Hallie explained.