"Yes," Natalie said. "Yes. I'll be there."
"Nine o'clock."
"Nine o'clock."
"Okay." Claire's voice wavered, for just a moment, and steadied. "Okay. Bye."
The line went dead. Natalie sat in her car with the phone against her ear for a long time after, listening to nothing, until the bell rang inside the school and she saw through the windshield the children pouring out onto the playground in their bright coats, shouting, running in every direction at once, like something released.
* * *