“Ah, there’s Lynn,” Charlotte said as she set down her glass of iced tea. A tiny drop of condensation slid down the glass until it hit the pocket where the base and table met. She pushed back her chair, Cassidy and Abigail followed her lead, and hugged Lynn once she approached the table. “We didn’t think you were going to show up after a bit.”

“You said it was an emergency, and I agree with y’all,” Lynn replied as she sat down in the empty chair at the round table. Around them other patrons of the small café were talking and eating quietly. Lynn placed her napkin in her lap and opened up her menu as the other ladies got settled in their seats. She shook her head slightly; her blond curls bouncing with each turn of her head, and set the menu back down. “What an emergency it is. I assume you all have heard?”

“Cass told me this morning,” Abigail replied with a shake of her head. “It’s a shame. I always thought they’d be friends forever.”

“Well, what d’you expect, Abby? They were wrapped in a protective force field?” Cassidy asked with a lift of her eyebrow. “It was only a matter of time before something drove a wedge between them all. I didn’t think it would be jealousy, though.”

“What makes you say that?” Charlotte asked while tugging at the end of her long brown hair, a habit that she’s never been able to shake from her childhood. “That jealousy is the reason they’re on the outs?”

“What else could be the reason?” Cassidy replied. “There’s always been jealousy between them, a sort of silent competition. Especially between Justin and Trace, I’ve seen it for years. I’ve only paid attention to it recently. I always thought they’d be able to overcome it, maybe even talk about it, but I guess we were wrong.”

“Don’t tell me you’re giving up on them, Cass,” Lynn said slowly while looking her friend deep in the eye. Despite being friends with all of the ladies she was closer with Cassidy simply because their boys were best friends and they organized play dates all of the time when they were younger. Cassidy wouldn’t look her in the eye. Lynn pursed her lips. “I see.”

“I’m just saying…they’re not kids anymore. As much as we wish we could be there for them, hold them, tell them that everything would be okay, and fix things for them we can’t,” Cassidy replied firmly. She reached out for her iced tea but didn’t lift the glass to her mouth; instead she tapped her fingers against it. “And it kills me not being able to do anything but we can’t interfere.”

“I’m not just going to sit back and watch my daughter’s friendships deteriorate,” Charlotte said while shaking her head.

“If anything it’s her fault.”

“Excuse me?” Charlotte asked while blinking.

Cassidy nodded. “If your daughter hadn’t slept with my son and Lynn’s son and messed with their heads, as far as I can tell, none of this would’ve happened.”

“Cassidy!” Abigail scolded, finally speaking up. She was always the quiet one of the group, the sort of mediator. Always sat back and let others talk and spoke up whenever she felt the need to. “That’s uncalled for!”

Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest. “What is it exactly that you’re implying?” Charlotte demanded through clenched teeth, her voice tight and her southern accent coming out stronger as it always did whenever she was in some sort of distress.

Cassidy shrugged. “Maybe that your daughter should keep her legs closed.” Lynn and Abigail both gaped at Cassidy. She shrugged again and took a sip of her iced tea as an uncomfortable silence fell across the table. It seemed as if all the sound in the room had muffled or stopped completely at those words. Lynn had to look around to make sure that that wasn’t the case. Not that it mattered, should the girls get any louder and the whole county would know about their news whether they liked it or not. Charlotte was the one to finally break the silence with a little laugh.

“That’s rich coming from the one who’s having an affair with their lawyer,” Charlotte shot back.

Now it was Cassidy’s turn to become speechless. Her eyes widened and a red blush blossomed across her cheeks. She looked down at her lap as Lynn’s and Abigail’s both turned to her. She didn’t have to look up to know that they were staring and waiting for an explanation. She was seething. It was a low blow from Charlotte, but it was only revenge, right? She just dished a low blow as well and you know what they say about Southern women:

They don’t get mad, they get even.

“Is this true?” Lynn whispered. She reached out and put a hand on Cassidy’s shoulder. The brick wall she had up came crumbling down in an instant from that gesture alone.

“Things aren’t right…between us,” Cassidy uttered, her voice shaking. She played with the hem of her shirt. “We’re not talking like we used to. I don’t feel…I don’t feel loved like I used to. We’re thinking about getting a d-divorce, that’s how I met Boone.”

“Oh, Cass, you should’ve told us,” Abigail sighed.

“I told Char but I didn’t think she’d throw it back in my face,” Cassidy replied.

“You basically called my daughter a slut, I was going to sit around and let you do that,” Charlotte grumbled defensively.

“Now stop it, both of you,” Lynn uncharacteristically snapped. “Our children are already at each other’s throats, we shouldn’t be either.”

“Lynn’s right,” Abigail agreed with a short nod of her head. “We have to be strong, for our children. They’ve been through tough times before; they can get through this now. We just have to believe in them.”

“That’ll be hard when they’ve lost hope in each other,” Charlotte admitted. Her hands were in her lap and she was spinning her wedding ring around her finger. “I wasn’t going to bring this up but…if we’re going to sit back and let them handle this we may not have a lot of time left.”

“What do you mean?” Lynn asked, looking across the table.

Charlotte sighed. “Mack wants to move away.”

Abigail’s eyebrows lowered. “She already moved away to Florida.”

“She wants to move further. She told me this morning; once summer is over she wants to move in with her grandparents in Canada.”

Abigail and Lynn looked at each other before looking at Cassidy who looked deep in thought with her hand over her mouth.

“Do you still want to sit back and do nothing?” Lynn asked.