“I do,” he said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t supportive from the moment you told me. I’m embarrassed by how I reacted. I was just so set on this idea that my kids’ childhoods had to mirror my own. And, maybe I was a little insecure about not being able to provide for them the way my dad provided for us.”

“I love your mom, honey, I do,” she said. “But I’m not a carbon copy of her.”

“That would be pretty twisted, wouldn’t it? Very Freudian.” Sadie laughed as Ethan made a grimace. “I think you and Renee make an incredible team, and I know Hester’s is going to be wickedly successful. Plus? I’ll be right here in Maine, so I can help shoulder the load at home. No more fifty-fifty. We’re doing things hundred-hundred from now on.”

“Thank you,” she said, hugging him all over again. “You have no idea how much this all means to me.”

“I think Lincoln is going to love preschool, and I can’t wait to see my incredible wife shine.” He smiled, tucking a strand a hair behind her ear. “I love you, Sadie. And I’m damn lucky you’re mine.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight

On the flat-screen, Russell strode into the shot, Tansy on his broad shoulders, with that old cocky smile.

“How old are you today, baby?”

Why was it always so disconcerting to hear the sound of your own voice? Renee cringed. Did she really sound like that, all high-pitched and perky?

“Tansy, sweetie, wave to the camera!”

“I’m five!” she declared happily, holding up the appropriate number of fingers and then waving toward her mother. “And Daddy’s teaching me how to ride without training wheels! ’Cause now I’m old enough.”

With the camera still rolling, Renee followed her husband and daughter out the front door and into the driveway, where a brand-new bike was waiting in place of Tansy’s trike. There were pink streamers fanning from its handlebars and a matching glittery seat. Renee had tied a giant, white bow to the front of the bike and lime-green balloons to its spokes.

“Is this mine?” Tansy asked, her eyes wide. “Is this my new bike?”

The camera moved up and down as she nodded. “It sure is, sweetie. What do you think?”

Russell gently lowered Tansy to the ground, and she sprinted for the new toy. He helped her remove the decorations, handing them to Renee’s phantom hand.

As Renee continued to film, her ex fastened Tansy’s new helmet beneath her chin—it was as pink as her new bike but complete with a Disney princess design—and balanced her over her new set of wheels.

“Don’t let go, Daddy! Not yet,” she pleaded.

“We’ll go slow. I promise,” he said. “I’ll start off holding on and then slowly let you go. Okay?”

“Ohhh-kay.”