“Why would Roma need a lawyer?” said Jules. He looked straight at Whitney, his jaw tensing, green eyes flashing with anger and pain. Roma had told them she’d been binge-watching television in her room all night.
Whitney had turned off the alarms and the video surveillance system as she always did when she drank wine with her friends, not wanting the piercing beeps as they went in and out of the slide door into the yard, grabbing drinks from the outdoor fridge, not wanting footage of moms sneaking cigarettes and sharing confidences.
No one had been watching Roma. She could have gone out, leaving her Netflix account playing. Both Whitney and Jules knew that if she’d climbed out her ground-floor window, she could have reached the side yard, Barton Hills Drive, and then the greenbelt.
Neither parent had asked how, if she’d been home all night, Roma had lost her phone. Whitney raised her palm and touched her husband’s face. She didn’t have to say a word.
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Barton Hills Mamas
OAKLANDMAMA
Hi, Mamas! My hubby and I are moving from the Bay Area to Austin and I am wondering about your ’hood. Do you feel like it is safe? How is the elementary school? Parks & playgrounds? Is it as perfect as it seems??? I’m in LOVE with a house on Rae Dell Avenue!
CHARDONNAYISMYJAM
Welcome, Oakland Mama! Barton Hills is amazing but not so sure about safety…google “Barton Hills greenbelt dead body” for more. We are all pretty shaken up.
TESLALUVR
Anyone have any more info on this? I want to take the kids to Gus Fruh but not if there’s a murderer around. Joking! Sort of.
OAKLANDMAMA
OMG I am so sorry about this news. I’m sure it is a one-time event. Still, I think we will look at other neighborhoods. Thank you for your candor.
MARYKAYMOM
Harsh! We need to stick together, Barton Hills gang. Hit my web site for details of a neighborhood watch and party!
CHARDONNAYISMYJAM
It is a city, ladies, like it or not. I’m scared, too. Please post anything you hear. Please don’t let my property value go down!!!
QUEENYOGA
Now that we’re on the topic, I have been alarmed by two men sitting in a Cadillac Escalade by the Zilker Elementary tennis courts smoking pot. I called 911 but no one came! Appalling!
ORIGINAL78704
Ha! That could have been my dad—he just retired from his corporate law practice. He and his friends say there’s nothing better than getting high and watching tennis.
-17-
Annette
ANNETTE FELT SQUIRRELLY. SHEchecked her watch—three hours until she would see her friends, and they could talk through what was happening. Thank goodness for Whitney and Liza: Inside their circle of three, she felt invincible. Ever since she had watched a nature documentary calledWild Animals of Yellowstoneone night when she couldn’t sleep, Annette had thought of her friends as a pack of coyotes, keeping each other safe.
In all honesty, though, none of them had ever really been tested the way the coyotes were tested. They had no visible predators, no deprivation or subzero temperatures. And who was the alpha dog in their crew? Who was the beta, the second in command? Was Annette the omega, the weakest coyote, the one who’d be left behind?
Robert was physically the strongest of the boys. But where was Annette in the pecking order of mothers? She was easygoing, and had a wonderful family back at home in Laredo. Whitney seemed like the pack leader, Annette supposed. An outsider might think Annette was the omega, but then again,Liza’s blind adoration of Whitney (and financial instability) might put her below Annette.
Had they always been competitive, jockeying for position? In Annette’s memories, their coming together had been effortless. She could still remember the day she’d first joined Liza and Whitney for decaf lattes and cinnamon buns at Quack’s after prenatal yoga class, the two friends inviting her to come with them. Whitney and Liza looked up and smiled brightly when she entered the café, welcoming her.
“I got you a pastry,” said Whitney.
She could still taste the cinnamon, feel the warmth of being included.
