“I don’t hate you, but if I stay here much longer, I might. I don’t want that to happen.”

“Then go,” he said, weary and resigned. “Do what you have to do. I’ll take care of Maggie.”

“Thank you.”

He put his coat on and walked to the front door. “I’m sorry, Clare.”

She wanted to scream. I don’t want you to be sorry. I want you to be mine! But she said nothing as he closed the door behind him.

“Come back,” she whimpered, watching his car pull out of the gravel driveway. “Please come back.” Only then did she allow herself to cry.

Chapter 7

Over the weekend, Clare organized a girls’ night with her daughters, complete with dinner, movies, and manicures.

“Do you like this color on me?” Maggie held up a hand to show off bright red nails.

“It’s a bit much,” Clare said as she reclined on the sofa and watched her girls. They sat around the coffee table painting their nails. “I liked the purple better.”

Maggie reached for the bottle of remover. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Knowing she needed to get this over with, Clare sat up and took a deep breath. “There’s something I want to talk to you guys about.”

Jill blew on her nails and waved her hand around to dry the polish. “What’s that?”

“I’ve been thinking about getting away for a little while.”

Kate looked up. “Getting away to where?”

“Remember Uncle Tony telling us about the house he bought in Vermont?” Clare asked, and the girls nodded. “I’m going to go up there for a bit to help him with some work he wants to have done to the house.”

Maggie’s eyes grew wide. “For how long?”

“Three months, maybe a little longer.”

“But why?” Maggie asked, fighting off tears. “You just got home.”

Clare reached down to smooth her hair. “I know, sweetheart. But here’s the thing: it’s really hard for me to be in this house without Dad. I guess I didn’t realize just how hard it would be until I was here for a while. I need some time away to adjust to everything that’s happened.”

“Time away from us?” Jill asked.

“No, honey, this has nothing to do with you guys. I’m hoping you’ll come to visit me all the time. You can even go skiing this winter. Maggie, I’d love to have you come with me, but your whole life is here, and I know you’d hate to be in a new school even for a little while. So Dad said he’ll bring you to Boston to meet me every couple of weeks, or maybe you can come up with Jill.”

“I liked knowing you’d be here even if I wasn’t going to be,” Kate said sadly.