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hard to believe you’re the same person.”
    “Ha! And when I met you, you were driving a hundred-year-old Toyota. Which reminds me, we put a brand-new X6 in the showroom the other day, white with tan interior. Had your name all over it.”
    “My name? You’re the one who needs a new car.”
    “No way. My Z8’s a classic.”
    “A classic that holds only two people.” She almost laughed at the look of panic on Anna’s face. After her family, Anna loved that car better than anything else on earth. “You can’t put Andy and a baby in a two-seater convertible.”
    “I don’t have to. We have your car for that.”
    “But think of all the times you have to pick up Andy when I get hung up at work. What would you do if I called and said I was stuck in court? There’s no way you could put both Andy and the baby in your car.”
    “But it so happens I own four car dealerships. In an emergency, I’m sure I could find something to drive.”
    She had to admit Anna had a point, but having four dealerships wouldn’t help if she was stranded at home with two children and a Z8. It would take some time to bring Anna around to getting something more practical, a nudge here and there instead of a push all at once.
    Andy had gone well in front but stopped to wait while they caught up. Four miles round trip was a long way for a five-year-old.
    “Let me carry your backpack, pal,” Anna said, looping one of its straps over her shoulder.
    Andy gladly relinquished his pack, which carried only a small canteen, a compass and the less popular remnants of his Halloween candy. Lily estimated it would buy them another half mile before he gave out and asked to be carried. At least by then they would be close to the car.
    “Andy, are you having a good time?” she asked.
    “Uh-huh. I like it when I get to pee outside.”
    Anna looked at her and they rolled their eyes in unison.
    “Don’t get used to it,” Lily said sternly. “You aren’t supposed to do that unless you’re with us and you ask permission.”
    “Not even with Uncle Hal?”
    “I guess you can do it if Uncle Hal gives you permission but no one else.”
    “What about Grandpa?”
    Lily could see they had opened a can of worms and there was no good way to explain to a five-year-old why some situations were okay and others were not. Besides, George never said no to any of his grandchildren. “No one else. Just your mom and me, and Uncle Hal.”
    He made a face before skipping ahead again. If there was one thing about Andy they could count on, it was that he generally accepted the rules they imposed on him about his behavior. That was a blessing, especially considering his background in foster care. Unlike other children his age, he had never really tested the limits of his independence, so they were reluctant to rein him in unless it was absolutely necessary.
    Anna squeezed her hand and bumped their shoulders together affectionately. “Maybe we’ll have a little girl.”
    Lily chuckled. “And what makes you think she’ll be any different? I bet she’ll want to pee in the woods too. And besides, in a few months I’ll probably be running behind a bush with Andy.”
    “I wonder how many more times you’ll feel like doing this,” Anna mused.
    “Beth said I could keep up my normal activities. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even have the baby up here on this mountain.”
    “Don’t even think such a thing.” Anna laced their fingers together as they slowed to a stroll behind Andy. “You have to go into labor in the middle of the night just like everyone else.”
    “Lucky it’s me that’s pregnant, because you’d probably give birth in the service department.”
    “At least she’d be covered under warranty.”
    “We’d have to give her a German name, like Heidi.”
    Anna gave her a sidelong look. “You really think it’s a girl?”
    “No idea, but I read they could probably tell us if we go for a second-trimester sonogram.” They had gone back and forth over