(Author's POV)
Charlotte arrived at the Everett house at half past five. She was exactly as Victoria had expected - poised without being stiff, friendly without being eager.
They sat in the living room and talked easily while Victoria waited for Jasper to come home and for Rosalind to return from school.
The front door opened at quarter to six.
Rosalind walked in, dropped her backpack by the stairs, and looked into the living room.
Her eyes landed on Charlotte.
Her expression changed in an instant-a fleeting, calculating look that Charlotte had never seen on any child's face before. Then it was gone, replaced by the flat expression of a child who had already decided she didn't like what she was seeing.
"I must have misread it," Charlotte said to herself in her mind.And she smiled an
