The sparkling cider flowed like wine at Theresa Maxwell’s baby shower Saturday. The guests were on time, the weather was beautiful and shower hostess Maria Yanez’s noisy neighbors were out of town. Theresa should have felt her joy increase as she ploughed through the mountain of expensive gifts, but one friend’s unconvincing reaction made her grow increasingly suspicious.
“I just wasn’t really buying it.” Theresa told us, the light fading from her eyes. “I don’t want to name names, but Kathy Dunfee was definitely overcompensating with those “oohs” and “aahs”. She seemed to have almost no genuine interest in sharing my joy.”
“This day should have been about me and my fourth child.” Theresa said while eating a piece of carrot cake. “I want to believe all the ladies here really meant it each time they said ‘cuuuuuuute’, but now I’m skeptical. I worry about bringing another child into a world where friends can’t be supportive of each other’s gift-opening.”
She took a sip of sparking cider and gazed out of Maria’s bay window. “If you can’t trust your friends, who can you trust?”
