“I worry about you getting overwhelmed or feeling spread too thin. Restaurants are such risky endeavors. And I would hate to see you put so much into it and have it fall apart; since it’s not like you can get the time with the kids back.” He reached for a towel, wringing it in his hands. “I just worry. You know how good I am at that.”

Sadie smiled sadly. “You’d earn gold at the Olympics if it was a sport.”

“Ha, tell me about it.” Annette’s favorite story to tell involved Ethan finding a sickly kitten in their backyard. The vet was closed for the evening, so what did Ethan do? Swaddled the poor thing with an old sweatshirt and bottle fed it every two hours until morning despite uncontrollable sneezing. That’s how they discovered he was allergic.

“Why don’t you go take a nap? Or get some mama time in? I’ll clean this all up and keep an eye on Lincoln.”

“Um, okay. Thank you.” It was a kind offer, but Sadie wasn’t ready for the conversation to end. Not like this, with no solid resolution or understanding between them. “Can we talk about this later then? After you’ve had time to, um, process?”

Ethan gave a distracted nod, suddenly hyper focused on transferring the leftover fruit to Tupperware.

She could do this: juggle being a mom and helping run a business.

But it seemed like Ethan doubted her?

What if he simply thought she wasn’t up to the challenge?

*  *  *

Sadie tried to lie down and rest, but her mind was racing. She stared at the fan spinning above her, at the tiny crack in the otherwise perfect ceiling.

She’d finally gathered the courage to tell Ethan about the pie shop idea, about working again, and his response had been disappointing. He didn’t seem to have confidence in her, and he also didn’t seem to really get what made her tick. His wife.

Was the pie shop a silly idea?

Maybe it was like he had said—fantastic for Renee, not for Sadie.

It was Renee who had this marvelous talent, not Sadie.

Was this the hill she wanted to die on?

Frustrated, she tumbled out of bed. Sadie stood at the top of the stairs and called down, “Honey? I can’t sleep. I’m going to pick up Lincoln’s room instead. You guys doing okay down there?”

“I’m showing Lincoln that documentary my mom sent us!” he shouted in return. “The one about the Cincinnati parks?”

Great. Sadie couldn’t wait to hear Lincoln ask if they could visit some random playground in Southwest Ohio. But now wasn’t the time to argue.

“Wow! Sounds fun!”