Grace laughed and said sarcastically, “Thanks for clarifying, since I have given this no thought at all.” She looked down at her hands. “Well, things are going well for all of us, it seems. I talked to Troy today,” she said quietly.

I almost dropped the glass in my hand. “Like, Tokyo Troy? Like, your ex-husband?”

“Well, he isn’t technically my ex-husband. We’ve never gotten divorced. But, yes.” She smiled. “He wants me to come with the kids when they visit.” She bit her lip and grinned. “He wants to talk about us and how we can fix things.”

Charlotte gasped. “Grace, that’s amazing!”

She shut her eyes and one perfect tear slid down her gorgeous face. “It is my only prayer and greatest wish,” she said. “And it’s coming true.” She took a deep breath. “I am going to be a wife and mother so perfect for him that he can’t help but want me back.”

Julie put her hand on Grace’s forearm. “Grace, you are one of the most extraordinary humans I have ever met. You don’t need to prove your worth to anyone, husband or no.”

She shook her head. “You just don’t understand.”

“Then help us understand,” I said.

“All of you are brilliant and confident and not afraid of the world. I married Troy because I needed him. I needed him to take care of me. And now that he’s gone, it’s just really hard.”

“Is it?” Charlotte asked. “Because you seem to be killing it. You keep an entire house full of people alive, you’re an incredible mother, you have one of the most successful corners of the internet, and Growing with Grace was a huge bestseller.”

A smile played on her lips. “I just sold a cookbook to my publisher too.”

I put my hands up in the air. “What? And you didn’t tell us! We need to celebrate!”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. None of it feels like that big of a deal.”

“Well, it is,” Julie said. “It’s a huge damn deal.”

Grace smiled at me, this time her eyes lighting up.

“And you are so beautiful on top of all of that,” Charlotte said. “If I didn’t love you, I’d hate you.”

“I hate you, like, twenty percent despite my love for you,” Julie said seriously.

Grace laughed. I wanted to say more, but, in a great cinematic display, the door flung open. “Alice!” Elliott yelled. He turned and saw me and ran, scooping me into his arms and kissing me. Not letting me go, he said, “Thank God you’re okay. I’m never going to let anything bad happen to you ever again.”