Chapter 6: Please Stop

On Thursday I brought Pippa her lunch.

I packed it the way I always had: turkey on rye, apple slices, and an oatmeal cookie.

Pippa pretends she doesn't want the cookie.

The woman at the front desk looked at my face, and then at a note taped to her monitor.

"Mr. Ellery asked that any visit be arranged through him," she said, not unkindly.

"I'm her mother," I said. "I'll sit for five minutes and I'll leave."

She looked at the note a second time.

"Five minutes," she said, and buzzed me through.

The cafeteria smelled of tater tots and floor cleaner.

Pippa sat at the end of a long table with two girls from her class, a book open beside her tray.

She saw me before I reached her.

Her shoulders came up, and she closed the book.

"Hi, baby," I said, and set the bag down. "Turkey and the cookie."

"I have a school lunch, Mom."

"I know. This is in case it's bad."

She looked at the bag and didn't touch it.

The girl beside her was a small freckled one with a ponytail.

"Hi, Mrs. Ellery," she said. "My mom says your dress was the prettiest she's ever seen."

"Thank you, sweetheart."

"Pippa cried in the bathroom on Tuesday, though," the girl said helpfully. "For a really long time."

"Don't," Pippa said sharply.

"What? You did."

I knelt beside my daughter's chair, which put my face lower than hers.