they will sit with Catherine in the hallway while you and I talk.”
While her face lay buried against Laura’s neck, Abby asked, “My sister is here? Let her come in too. There are more chairs, and I have so much to thank her for.” She hugged Jake until he squirmed in protest.
“She can’t, Abby. There are limitations. This isn’t a quilting bee, where it’s the more, the merrier.”
He didn’t raise his voice, yet she heard the bitterness in his soft words. “Yes, of course,” she said, keeping her focus on the children. Has Jake grown taller during the past weeks? Is Laura thinner? Hasn’t she been eating properly? For five minutes, however, she asked no questions. Instead she listened to jumbled tales of spilled ice cream, swimming lessons in the neighbor’s pond, loose teeth, and burnt cupcakes. Abby tried to divide her attention equally as both clamored to fill in the details of their lives…lives she was missing.
All too soon their visit was over. “All right, that’s enough. Laura, take your bruder’s hand and go back out to your aunt.”
Abby clung tightly to her children until Daniel pulled them from her grasp. Slumping into her chair, she forced air into her lungs with deep, hard breaths to regain control. They waved their little hands until Daniel nudged them through the doorway. “Danki for bringing them to see me,” she said once he sat down opposite her.
“I thought seeing your kinner might do you some good—and maybe bring you to your senses.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m not sure if it helps me forebear or makes things worse.” She felt her throat turn dry and raw. “It’s good to see you, Daniel. I know it’s a long drive on busy roads to come here.” She reached for his hand. It felt limp against her palm, but at least he didn’t pull back from her.
“It’s not that far. I left early this morning. Good thing your lawyer called me on your cell phone or I wouldn’t have known what to bring.” He clucked his tongue. “I had to find the kinner’s birth certificates or they wouldn’t have been allowed to see you. I had to prove they were my children. What did they think? That I would pick up just anybody’s kids along the route to bring for a jail visit?” His expression reflected utter confusion.
Abby understood his frustration. So many of the English ways were confusing, but dwelling on them wouldn’t help. “Guess who came to visit me?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I would expect your attorney.”
“Besides him.” When Daniel offered no second guess, she continued. “Dr. Weller. I had added him to my initial list on a lark, never thinking he would really come.”
Daniel shrugged. “If he would have shown up that night, then you wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
Abby gripped her trousers beneath the table. “It wasn’t his fault. He had an emergency to attend to that night.”
“Why did he come see you?”
“To tell me that nothing could have saved Mrs. Fisher, and that I did nothing to harm her. He came to set my mind at ease.”
Daniel rubbed the bridge of his nose. “And did he succeed? Is your mind at ease, Abigail? Do you feel better knowing that you’re likely going to prison for helping a woman who would have died anyway?”
“I’m glad I didn’t make matters worse.” Her shirt began to stick to her back. “What would you have had me do? Sit there and do nothing while she bled to death?”
“I think you should have called an ambulance before you left our house, despite what Nathan Fisher said. Then this mess would have fallen to the paramedics instead of you.”
She had often wished the very same thing. “What I chose to do is in the past, and God’s will prevailed with Ruth Fisher.”
He leaned across the scarred tabletop. “You’re right. Nothing can be solved by rehashing the past, but you need to start thinking about the present.” He pulled his hand from hers and grasped her sleeve. “Your children need you. Your sister works hard, but she’s not you. They need their mamm.” Silence spun out between them while the other groups talked quietly. “I need you, Abby. Come home to us. Let’s put this behind us, at least until your trial. You don’t belong here with these other people.”
She scanned the group of inmates and visitors. Some were laughing, some teary eyed, while others appeared as relaxed as though chitchatting over