We sat at a small table by the window of a bakery.

For the first ten minutes we talked about schedules and homework.

Then Whitney said, “I used to think the point of being a good daughter was never disappointing my mother.”

“And now?”

“Now I think the point of being a good mother is being willing to disappoint anyone if my child needs protection.”

I studied her face.

It was the first time I had heard her speak without waiting for Dolores’s imagined approval.

“I failed Piper too,” I said.