Before she left, she asked whether I would object to Archer eventually meeting Jude, Wren, and Oliver.

“They’re siblings through Callum,” I said.

“That’s a relationship worth handling thoughtfully.

But they’ll need preparation, and all of us will need to follow their pace.”

She agreed.

We did not become friends that day.

We did not pretend the red dress on the ivory sofa had never existed.

But we spoke as two women whose children deserved something better than an endless contest over which mother had won.