“Smell good!” Lincoln cheered.

“It always smells yummy in here.” Sadie nuzzled Lincoln’s little nose with her own. “Miss Renee is a magical baker. Do you remember what a baker does?”

“Cuppy cake! Bread!”

“Coffee?” Renee held up a French press.

“Please, oh, please, oh, please. I’m allowed one cup a day and could use every ounce.”

Renee filled two ceramic mugs. She transferred the scones to a wicker basket lined with a tea towel that said “Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese” and placed it in the center of the kitchen table. She then spread a classic star-pattern quilt on the floor and handed Lincoln a few plastic bowls and measuring spoons to play with.

“You’re always so prepared.” Sadie sighed, both awed and defeated. Renee was the sort of wife and mother Ethan and Lincoln deserved. If he was smart, Ethan would take Lincoln and move into Renee’s cottage and never look back. “I’m always two steps behind.”

“You’re too hard on yourself.” Renee smothered her scone with butter. “It’s just the stage you’re at. Trust me on this, I’m old and wise.”

“S-sometimes…” Sadie stammered, staring down into her cup of coffee. “Sometimes, I feel like I’m a bad mom. I think about my grandma…and my mother…and how much better they were at this whole mom thing than me.”

There. She’d done it. Spoken the ugly fear out loud.

“Grandma was so great at involving me in fun activities, from having me help her bake to collecting different shells and driftwood during our nature walks on the beach,” Sadie continued. “And Mom always had me signed up for something educational or enlightening. She banned frozen food from the dinner table and never lost her temper. Ever.”

“Okay, that? That just isn’t human.” Renee reached for Sadie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m sure your mom had her moments. I used to be a shower crier myself.”

“A what?”

“A shower crier,” she said, smiling sadly. “I would bottle everything up during the day and then let it all go once I got into the shower at night. Because God forbid I show my daughter that I was a real person with real human feelings.”

“Maybe I should give that a try.”

“Listen, Sadie, you’re not a bad mom. I swear. All of us mothers try our very best, but let’s face it. Kids don’t come with instruction manuals. As much as we love them, they push our buttons and put us through the wringer. We may have the best of intentions, but we’re only human.”

Sadie nodded, trying not to cry yet again. She was becoming quite a waterworks lately.

“I’m feeling like a pretty lousy parent myself these days,” Renee admitted in a confidential tone.

“You?” Sadie’s eyebrows flew into her bangs. “Yeah right. What’s happened? You only sent three care packages this month?”

Renee sighed and took a slow sip of coffee. “Ever since Tansy went away to school, it’s like she’s becoming a different person. I knew college would be a change, but I didn’t anticipate a total transformation. It’s impossible to get ahold of her these days. Just yesterday, when she finally did call, it was to inform me that she didn’t want to come home this summer. She wants to go and live with her new boyfriend and his family in Vail, Colorado.”