She wore a bright blue dress and insisted on decorating the cake herself.
There was frosting everywhere.
Rebecca laughed so hard she nearly spilled her lemonade.
At one point, Maya ran toward me with chocolate on her cheek.
“Mommy! Come see!”
She led me to the picnic table, where her friends had helped her build a crooked tower from plastic cups.
“It’s a castle!”
“It’s beautiful.”
She grinned.
“And I’m the queen.”
“Of course you are.”
She placed a paper crown on her head and ran back to her friends.
I watched her laugh.
Really laugh.
The sound carried through the warm afternoon.
I thought about that terrible night when I’d sat alone with a recorder and discovered that my husband was involved in something horrifying.
I remembered how frightened I’d been.
How badly I’d wanted someone else to make the decision for me.
How close I’d come to believing Adrian one more time.
