It wasn’t the silliest idea. Russell owned a flock or a pack or whatever of llamas in his awesome new Vermont homesteading life.

“You never invited him!” Tansy accused. “You hate him. You did this.”

In fact, she had called her ex two Saturdays prior, carefully dialing each number as if the right combination would yield a magical code for serenity. She’d forced herself to greet his wife as Samantha, and omit the snarky “Ms.,” and struggle through a minute of polite chitchat, before asking to speak to Russell. Her conversation with Russ mostly consisted of unintelligible stammering and awkward pauses. Despite the fact that it had been nearly two years since the divorce, her even-keeled personality still went adrift whenever they had to speak.

But Russell had promised he’d be at Tansy’s party. He’d insisted he wouldn’t miss it for anything, and even had the nerve to ask what Tansy was “into” right now.

The fact that he hardly knew their own daughter made Renee’s heart hurt in a whole different way. And now this.

What. A. Cold. Bastard.

Despite this, Renee knew what her daughter needed to hear in that moment. And she’d given it to her.

“Uh-oh. You know what? Maybe I did forget to tell him,” she said. “I was so busy getting everything together for the party. Shoot. I’m so sorry, baby. This is all on me.”

The little girl had instantly stopped crying, her entire demeanor changed.

“Really?” she hiccupped, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“Mmmm,” Renee murmured in reply, dancing around offering a full-out lie.

Tansy gave her a hug and hopped off the bed. “That’s okay, Mommy. I forget things, too, sometimes. I’m going to go play with my friends now.”

And that was that. All anger gone. No grudges, no hard feelings.

If only a small fib could fix things now.

She just wanted a chance to explain her side of the situation. Let Tansy know why the Colorado announcement had hurt her feelings. And why she was so worried about her schoolwork, her health, her happiness, and her future for crying out loud. Okay, maybe she was a wee bit angry too.

And what about Bree? She longed to talk it all through with her sister about Tansy, Dan, everything.

But her sister had never called to apologize for her outburst at the Spring Fling Gala, and Renee had learned over the years that sometimes Bree went through moods and the best plan was to let her open up in her own time. It was frustrating but she loved Bree and knew how she operated.