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Piper turned to Evie. “And we could read by the fire, and watch lots of movies.”
“That does sound kind of fun,” Evie said.
“And we’ll do some hiking, too. There are some beautiful trails with wonderful views,” Piper added. “Stelli, what do you think?”
“Okay, I guess, if you let me pick out the games to buy. But I don’t want to go hiking! What if I fall?”
“Well,” Piper said, “I will keep you safe. It’ll be fun, and we’ll all be together.”
“I fell at the playground. Rebecca said you should have been watching me better.”
Piper felt her cheeks burn. What else had Rebecca been filling his head with? She would deal with her later. “You did know that you weren’t supposed to go on that slide, right? You won’t do something silly like that on the trails, will you?” She was sick and tired of being blamed for something that wasn’t her fault.
“I guess,” Stelli replied slowly.
Piper smiled at him. “Good. It’s going to be so much fun. We can even build a fire in the pit outside and make s’mores.”
“We used to make s’mores with Mommy,” Stelli said.
Why did he have to keep bringing her up? Piper thought. But before she could steer the conversation in another direction, Evie piped in. “Mommy used to like Maine until the last few times. She was sad there.”
Piper frowned. This was news to her. “Do you know why she was sad?”
“I think because they had a lot of fights that time.”
“You mean the last time you were all there?”
“Yes.”
Piper tried not to sound too curious. “What did they fight about?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I could only hear how loud their voices were. It made me cry. Daddy was yelling at her, and she was crying.”
They both became quiet, and Piper stood. “Finish up your snacks, and then you can bundle up and go outside to play.”
Stelli slurped down the rest of his smoothie, then picked up the tangerine Piper had peeled for him and put a slice in his mouth. “If we go to Maine, maybe Mommy will come and make s’mores with us again.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Piper said. “Mommy won’t be there, but she will be watching you from heaven. She sees you all the time and knows what you’re doing. She’s happy for you.”
“I don’t want her in heaven. I want her here.” His shoulders began heaving as he sobbed. Piper wrapped her arms around him and held him until he was cried out.
48
Joanna
I woke up early on Christmas morning, thinking of the kids and wondering if they were missing me as much as I was missing them. My phone rang, and I wondered who could be calling me on Christmas Day. I was surprised to see Rebecca’s number on the screen. My pulse quickened. “Rebecca, hi, are the kids okay?”
“Yes, but I’m worried about them.”
“What’s going on?”
She cleared her throat. “After what you told me, I’ve been watching Piper a little more carefully. Stelli’s still having a lot of stomachaches. They may just be due to all this green-smoothie and sprouted-bread stuff—it’s a lot of food he’s not used to...”
“How often is he getting these stomachaches?”
“Every day.”
I felt my blood run cold.