“I’m not standing here for this, Mom,” Caroline said.

“Frank said his cousin at the district office saw the intake timestamp on page one.”

“Caroline, get back out here in the hall,” my mother said.

“Frank said if they push this into county court, both of us could be named in a filing,” Caroline said.

She spun on her heel and walked down the long hallway toward the back kitchen without looking back at either one of us.

My mother pulled the folded administrative decision out of the envelope and held it up close to her eyes.