She turned her wrist over and checked her watch again.

“I thought she’d changed,” Mariana whispered.

“I told myself she was just an old-fashioned preschool director who believed in firm rules.”

“You were trying to keep the peace,” I said.

“I put our daughter in her hands, Julian.”

My phone buzzed twice in my front jeans pocket.

The screen lit up with an unknown local number, followed right away by a text.

I took the phone out and unlocked it.