Page 24 of The Path To Us

“Shoot. I didn’t think about that.”

“She told me she doesn’t think it will be as much fun without him.”

“Then don’t force it,” I tell her with a shrug. “It’s T-ball. Not anything she can’t just skip.”

“But isn’t that teaching her that she can quit when things are hard?”

I give her a look and set down my cup on the ground before leaning my elbows on my knees and grasping her hand in mine. “She just lost her dad. She gets a free pass, babe. T-ball didn’t get hard, her life just got flipped upside down. She’s also young enough that she’s not going to realize you’re letting her quit something. This is about her mommy understanding what she’s going through. It’s T-ball. If she wants to not do it this year, let her. If she wants to pick it up next year, great. If not, I repeat, it’s T-ball.”

She blows out a shaky breath and blinks away the moisture gathering in her beautiful eyes. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Giving me the answer I needed to hear.”

“You’re welcome.”

I lean over and kiss her forehead. “It’s going to be okay,” I promise, though I don’t believe it myself.

“Liar.”

The way she calls me out makes me laugh lowly. “How about this, then. We’ll eventually get there.”

She nods and leans back in her chair.

We sit quietly for a few minutes, listening to the peace that early morning brings. “It’s going to be a pretty day,” she remarks.

“It is.”

After a little while longer, she asks, “What are your plans?”

“For today?”

She turns to face me and gives me a look that says I know what she meant. “Not just today.”

I settle back in my chair and drum my fingers on the arm rest. “Grant and I are sitting down to talk about it when I go back.”

“Which is when?”

“Probably next week. I’m not in a rush, and Grant understands it will be a bit.”

“It’s good that he’s understanding.”

He’s definitely that. He’s a good guy, which is why I don’t want to just leave his company. His offer of buying into his already established business is humbling beyond measure.

“I think I’ll head to Mom and Dad’s today to spend some time with them.”

“Have you guys discussed what they’re doing with his house yet?”

“Not yet. That’s not something any of us are willing to tackle.”

She nods in understanding. “Later. There’s no rush, right?”

“Right. Max and I are going to keep paying on the mortgage until a decision is made. He had a good life insurance plan that I think will cover what he still owed on the house which is only about half of what we think it’s worth. He left everything to you and Zoey, but had me as executor of his estate. He was prepared.”

“I didn’t even think about that,” she whispers. “There are so many things…”

I can see her wheels turning and the panic setting in. What she doesn’t know, though, is that Chris wasn’t just prepared, he was incredibly responsible when it came to the future. The week after Zoey was born, he met with a financial advisor and got everything set up so that if something were to happen to him, Addy and Zoey would be set for life. I had asked him why it was so important to him and he didn’t have an answer other than wanting to do what was right for his family.

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