Sadie crumpled the paper gown and left it on the exam table. She pulled on her panties and jeans and held her hands against her lower abdomen. Was this her fault? Did she manifest a potential miscarriage? It was no secret she’d been upset to discover she was pregnant once again.

Sadie and Lincoln walked back outside, the warm spring sun burning her skin. She stared at her SUV, the short walk to the expectant mothers space suddenly insurmountable. Why had she even parked there to begin with? She was nothing but a phony, a fraud.

She had never been religious, and yet, Sadie wondered if this was the universe’s way of saying she didn’t deserve a second blessing, that she wouldn’t be able to handle another child.

Now that the new baby’s fate was in jeopardy, she wanted him or her more than anything else she had ever wanted.

Everything felt different. And she wanted her husband very badly.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Whoa. You look different.” Betsy Franklin, the town’s mail carrier commented as she set a stack of envelopes on top of the reception desk.

“Do I?” Renee feigned innocence, taking a sip of her morning coffee.

“Haircut?”

“No.”

“Facial?”

“Ha. Not in this decade. Maybe it’s the scrubs. I watched that Marie Kondo show over the weekend. Tidying Up? Well, I discovered all sorts of things I’d completely forgotten about in the closet.”

Betsy nodded. “My sister was just telling me I should watch that show. She thinks my snow globe collection has gotten out of hand.”

“How many are you up to now?”

“Seventy-five. I officially had to move a few to the guest bathroom.”

That sounds like way too many snow globes.

Betsy shrugged. “Anyway, maybe I’ll check it out. See you tomorrow.”

Renee fingered the hoops in her ears. She was wearing a pair of earrings from Chickadee. Just a little fancification.

Dan came in through the front door and her body tensed, pulling tight as a bow.

Good lord, his eyes looked extra blue today. Had he always looked so gorgeous in his crisp white shirt and tan slacks? And now she knew exactly how good he looked under those clothes.

She smiled a huge smile, her heart swelling at the sign of him.

But for some reason, he looked nervous? He cleared his throat. “Er, good morning. How was…um, how are you doing?”

“Pretty great!” Did she need to say it with the enthusiasm of a cheerleader? “You?”

“Super.” He set the word of the day on her desk.

Gawky: awkward or clumsy.

“Isn’t it ironic,” Renee murmured.

“What’s that?”

“I said the mail’s here.” She reached for the stack and handed it to him with increasing uneasiness. It had been less than two hours. Why was he acting weird? Her happy zing started fizzling.

“Thanks.” He slid the envelopes beneath his left arm. “So, uh, we should—”