In those days, Ruth had talked more about Ivy and wished she’d return home. Dani had considered calling Ivy a few times to tell her, but she never could bring herself to make the call. Now, as she stared at the painting, she wished she had.

“Mom!” Bella shouted.

Dani lifted her glasses, rubbed the bridge of her nose, and turned from the view of the sound’s choppy waters toward the easel holding her own half-finished painting, which she had started three months ago. It should have been finished by now but wasn’t for a variety of valid reasons.

“In here, Bella!” she said.

Her daughter’s feet thundered through their small house, rattling dishes in the cabinet. Bella was tall for an eleven-year-old, and if the pediatrician’s prediction was correct, she would be six feet tall like Dani. She had her father’s blue eyes and his dark hair, always tied back in a ponytail, and his olive skin tones, which didn’t burn in the summer sun. If not for Bella’s height and long limbs, no one would have pegged the kid as Dani’s.

Bella stopped at the sunporch’s threshold. She clutched her smartphone, which she’d held nonstop ever since Matthew had given it to her at Christmas. Dani had asked Matthew to hold off giving their daughter the phone until she was twelve, but once her ex-husband got an idea in his head, he ignored any negative input. He’d listed all the safety reasons supporting why a girl should have a phone, knowing she’d do anything to protect Bella. Now, Dani was left to deal with the daily battles over screen time.

“Can we go see the puppies today?” Bella asked.

Dani had mentioned the puppies to grab Bella’s attention from her phone a few days ago. It had worked. Too well. Since then Bella had not stopped talking about the puppies or analyzing the picture of the trio.

Dani glanced toward the ashen sky. The sun promised to peek out by eleven and brighten the day. As much as she didn’t want to crowd Ivy, she would have no peace until Bella saw the puppies. “Let me call Ivy.”

“Can you call her now?” Bella smiled as sweetly as she had as a toddler.

Dani’s heart melted. She loved those smiles, one of which now had her reaching for her phone. “You’re not playing fair.”

Bella’s smile brightened. “I know.”

Ivy’s reaction to seeing Dani had been relatively good. Dani had not been sure what to expect when she’d shown up with two bottles of wine. She’d been ready to take the bull by the horns, be the bigger person, and prove to one and all that she was doing just fine.