“I’m so sorry, I was trying to hunt down a spare flashlight and didn’t hear the door! You should have just come in.” She was wearing a pair of tired sweatpants and an oversized Disney sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled into a messy topknot, and her face looked splotchy. Quickly, she pulled them inside. She gave Lincoln a little tickle on his cheek. “There’s the famous Lincoln Landry.”

The toddler giggled. “Me Lincoln!”

Renee nodded toward the little boy. “Can you watch Lincoln while we go and storm-proof the mill? We’ll be as fast as we can.”

“Why do you have to go there?” Bree asked. “Are you going through with the pie shop?”

Sadie and Renee both nodded at the same time. “I can’t wait to tell you more about it when we get back. Maybe over a stiff drink as we ride out this storm?”

Bree smiled weakly. “Yeah, sis. Of course.”

“Are you sure you’re comfortable babysitting Lincoln for just a bit?” Sadie asked.

Bree reached for the boy, taking him into her arms. She was a natural with children. She always had been. “Can you not be longer than a half hour? I just took a Xanax. I should be find but don’t want to risk anything being alone with a little one.”

“Of course, I’ll go quicker than that,” she said, giving her sister’s arm a gentle squeeze. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Bree whispered, making Renee almost cry with relief.

Then Sadie tugged her hand. “Thank you, Bree. I owe you one—big time! Come on, Renee, let’s do this.”

They sprinted down the front steps and leapt back into Dan’s car. Driving twenty miles over the speed limit, Dan kept his eyes on the road ahead while all of their ears were glued to the radio. The warnings were ominous, with phrases that sent goose bumps up Renee’s arms: “estimated time of impact”; “take shelter immediately”; “get off the roads now.”

Renee found herself thinking about Ethan: no matter where he was at this moment, it couldn’t be good. Sadie was naturally thinking the same, as she began to babble. “He might be still in Boston, right?”

“Totally.”

“Oh my God, what if he’s gotten involved with drugs or some seedy pyramid scheme? Maybe he’s been swindled into investing all of our family’s savings, and he thought he could make it back twofold before I ever realized the money had been gone to begin with.”

Renee swiveled in her seat and soothed, “Ethan? Oh, Sadie. He would never.”

“Do you know what scares me the most?” Sadie’s bottom lip trembled. “Ethan could be in real danger right now.”

Renee nodded silently. It was certainly the scariest scenario and it was certainly more likely than any pyramid-scheme fears.