Vanessa smiled faintly.
“Fair.”
Ethan nodded.
“I don’t want your money.”
I raised an eyebrow.
He laughed.
“Okay.”
“Maybe I don’t want to depend on your money.”
“Better.”
That was growth.
Months passed.
My relationship with the children became the center of retirement.
Noah and I went to soccer games.
Emma and I built things.
She wanted to understand engines.
So we rebuilt an old lawn mower together.
Vanessa saw us.
“You know we could buy a new one.”
Emma shouted.
“That’s not the point.”
I grinned.
Good girl.
Ethan started coming over more too.
Sometimes alone.
Sometimes with everyone.
He helped with pie orders.
Badly.
He could not crimp crust.
Mary would have laughed.
One evening, he asked.
“Do you miss Mom?”
Every day.
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Me too.”
Then he looked around my kitchen.
“She would like this.”
“The house?”
“The pies.”
I smiled.
“She taught me some recipes.”
