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“We’re fine,” Morgan said.“Our mom may have screwed up with you, but she was amazing to us.We had everything we needed.”

“Except a father,” Charlie said.

“Except for a father,” Abby conceded.

As the morning turned to afternoon and the clock struck three o’clock, Brian gathered all the pictures back in the envelope and stood up.

“I should get going and let you all relax.”As they walked him to the door, he asked if he could take them to lunch the next day, and they readily agreed.

“He seems like a good person,” Morgan said as the front door closed.“I wonder how different we would be if he’d been a part of our entire life.”

“If I could’ve gone to him for advice, maybe I would’ve had the self-respect to break up with Rick a long time ago,” Charlie said.

“And I would’ve had a dad to walk me down the aisle and dance with me at my wedding,” Abby said.

“I feel for him,” Morgan said.“It must’ve been heart-wrenching for him to know we were out there somewhere, but he couldn’t find us.”

“I judged him too quickly,” Charlie said.“Even though he made mistakes, I need to give him a second chance.”

“I can’t wait for him to meet his grandchildren,” Abby said.

“We just got him back.Maybe you should ease him in slowly,” Morgan said.

“You’re mean,” Abby said.

“Your kids are adorable,” Morgan said.Then, without Abby seeing, she shook her head at Charlie, who covered her mouth, trying but not succeeding in stifling a laugh.

“What?”Abby said.

“Nothing,” Charlie said.“I was agreeing with Morgan about how cute they all are,” Charlie said.

“So cute that I’m getting my tubes tied soon,” Morgan mugged and stuck out her tongue at Abby.

CHAPTER 45

Abby

Abby grabbed a sweater from her suitcase and called to Morgan and Charlie.“We need to go, or we’re going to be late for lunch with Brian.”

As they walked to the front door, Abby’s cell phone rang.“Hello,” she said.“Oh, hi, Jennifer, hold on a sec.”Abby mouthed the words ‘real estate agent’ to her sisters.They hurried over and huddled around her as she put her phone on speaker.

“Okay, we’re all here,” Abby said.

“Good,” Jennifer said.“A great offer just came in on the house.It’s all cash, full asking price, a twenty-day escrow with no contingencies, and the buyer wants to keep all the furniture.”

“Really?”Morgan said.

“I doubt you’ll get a better offer than this one,” Jennifer said.“So, do you want to accept it?”

Abby looked at her sisters to get their reactions, but neither Morgan nor Charlie said anything.“Can we call you back?”Abby asked.

“Sure, but don’t wait too long,” Jennifer said, and Abby hung up.

“What do we think?”Abby asked.

“I thought we’d have a little more time to get used to selling it,” Morgan said.

“Me, too,” Charlie said.“If we take the offer, a new family will live here in less than a month.We won’t be able to come here again.”