“I wish I knew. His wife says it’s not unprecedented for him to go off and lick his wounds after a big loss, but it’s starting to be a long time without anyone hearing from him.”

“Do you think he’s dead too?”

“I don’t know what to think.” Sam brushed at a ball of lint on her jeans. “Nick is going on a top-secret trip with the president tomorrow.”

“For real? How cool is that?”

“Pretty cool for him. Not so much for me. Scares the hell out of me.”

“Why? Where’s he going?”

“He can’t tell me, which means it’s dangerous. I get this pain...” She pressed a fist to her breastbone. “Right here. Whenever I think about him being in danger.”

“He lives with that same pain every day.”

“I know, and I wish he didn’t have to.”

“So now it’s your turn.”

“I guess so.”

“You know he’ll be fine. He will be with the president and all his security. It’ll be the safest trip he’s ever been on.”

“Keep telling me that. Maybe by the time he gets back I’ll believe it.”

“Awww, poor baby.” Tracy squeezed Sam’s hand.

“I feel like such a wimp when I say I couldn’t live without him, but there it is.”

“There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way, Sam. Being madly in love with your husband doesn’t make you any less of a badass. I promise.”

“Really? It doesn’t?”

Tracy’s laughter made Sam feel better. “No, it doesn’t. Who wouldn’t love him? He’s amazing.”

“He is that. Things between us have been better than ever lately. Just when I think it can’t get any better, it does.”

“I wondered if having Scotty here would be tough on you guys. You haven’t been married all that long, and it’s a lot to take on a child when you’re still figuring out the married stuff.”

“Somehow it’s all working perfectly. I keep waiting for problems, but we both feel like Scotty has always lived here. It just works.”

“I’m happy for you, Sam. After all you went through with Peter and the miscarriages, no one deserves to be happy more than you do.”

“Thanks. I keep hoping I might get another chance to be pregnant. Despite significant effort, I still get the monthly event.”

“It’ll happen when it’s meant to be.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m your big sister, and I say it is so, thus it is so.”

Snuggled up to her sister, surrounded by her love and understanding, Sam debated something else she wanted to ask her but didn’t know how to say it. “Could I ask you something so personal it defies even the boundaries of sisterhood?”

“Since when does anything defy the bounds of our sisterhood?”