So I did what any mother would do. I called Carol.
I told myself it wasn’t spying.
Carol and I had known each other for years.
If the girls had argued, maybe she’d noticed something I hadn’t.
I did what any mother would do.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Susan! Hey.”
“Hi. Sorry to bother you.”
“You’re not bothering me.”
I stared at the coffee mug in front of me.
“I wanted to ask you something about the girls.”
“Sure.”
“Are Maddie and Frances okay?”
A small pause.
“Okay how?”
“Are Maddie and Frances okay?”
“Maddie’s been coming home upset after their sleepovers. She says everything’s fine, but I wondered if they’d had an argument.”
Carol didn’t answer.
“Carol?”
I heard movement on her end.
Then she said, “Sleepovers?”
A cold little silence opened between us.
“Yes…”
“At my house?”
“Every Friday.”
Silence.
“Maddie’s been coming home upset after their sleepovers.”
