“If Noah hadn’t panicked and run off on his bicycle, everyone would be sitting quietly at our kitchen table right now.”

“Noah rode three miles through hundred-degree heat to find me,” I said.

“Noah is seven and needs firm boundaries,” Teresa said.

“He acted out to defy my authority.”

Mariana came up behind me.

She didn’t raise her voice, but her knuckles were white where she gripped the strap of her nurse’s bag.

“The paramedics had to put ice packs on her legs, Mother,” Mariana said.

Teresa turned her shoulder slightly, avoiding Mariana’s eyes.