Sophie’s words came unevenly after that.

Some days she talked with Eli for an hour. Other days she used her pad and did not speak at all. Dr. Patel told me to follow her lead. I learned to stop counting words.

At the community garden, Sophie helped Marisol plant beans along a fence. Eli showed her the bench where they had once hidden during a game of tag. I remembered Grace coming home with muddy shoes after she spent an afternoon there.

For a little while, I could picture my daughter growing up with both the memory of that day and the life in front of her.

Then Vanessa’s attorney sent me a letter.

Vanessa wanted permission to contact Sophie. She said she had cared for her for months and wanted to apologize for frightening her at the wedding.

I gave the letter to Elena. She spoke with Detective Moreno and Dr. Patel before answering. I did not show it to Sophie. An adult’s wish to apologize did not mean my daughter had to listen.

A few days later, the police arrested Vanessa in connection with the money taken from Grace’s charity. Detective Moreno told me the investigation into Grace’s death was continuing.

The news appeared online before lunch. Rachel turned off the television when Sophie came in.

“Is it Vanessa?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “The police are asking her about the charity money. They’re still looking into what happened to Mom.”

“Will she come here?”

“No. I’ll tell you if anything changes. You can ask me whenever you need to.”

Sophie nodded. Then she asked to go back to the garden.

I went with her.

Marisol was there with Eli, pulling weeds from a row of tomatoes. Sophie joined them. I sat on the bench and watched the children work until they got bored and started making a maze with stones.

Marisol sat beside me.

“Eli had nightmares after the wedding,” she said. “He thought he had caused all this by walking into the ballroom.”

“Has that changed?”

“He’s beginning to understand that the adults made the choices. He only told us what he knew.”

I looked at the children. Eli had taken a year to return because he had been frightened too. He had come anyway.

“I’m grateful he found Sophie,” I said.

“He missed his friend.”

That evening Ruth brought dinner to Rachel’s house. She and Rachel had begun taking turns so I could manage work without leaving Sophie with someone new. I told them I was considering moving us into a smaller place near the garden.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

“You own a perfectly good house.”

“Sophie doesn’t want to go back.”

“That’s reason enough to think about it,” Ruth said.

I asked Sophie the following day. I did not ask her to decide immediately. I told her we could stay with Rachel, find another home, or return to our house only if she ever felt ready.

She wrote GARDEN on her pad.

“A home near it?” I asked.

She nodded.

I found a small house on a quiet street a short walk from Marisol’s apartment and the garden. Sophie came to see it with Rachel. She checked every room and opened each closet. Then she went to the back door and looked at the patch of ground outside.

“Beans could grow here,” she said.

“We can try.”

She chose the bedroom with the window facing the yard. I signed the lease the next day. Ruth helped us pack. I kept Grace’s letter, photographs, and the little stuffed fox together so Sophie knew exactly where they were.

We moved in on a Saturday. Eli brought a paper sign he had drawn for Sophie’s bedroom door. It showed the two foxes from their picture. He asked before taping it up.

Sophie handed him the tape.

That night, after everyone left, I heard her call from the hallway.

“Dad?”

I froze.

She stood in her pajamas holding the fox. She had said the word I had begged to hear in front of an entire ballroom. Now she said it because she wanted me to help find her blanket.

I found the blanket in a box labeled KITCHEN, where Ruth had somehow packed it with the dish towels.

Sophie laughed when I held it up.

I tucked her in and sat on the edge of her bed.

“I’m glad you called me,” I said.

She touched my hand.

“You came.”

“I will.”

The next morning Detective Moreno called. The investigators had found another witness from the night Grace died: a driver who had arrived to collect charity supplies. He saw Vanessa leave the east hall minutes before the ambulance was called.

“He didn’t realize what he saw mattered,” the detective said. “He came forward after the arrest.”

“Did he see Grace fall?”

“No. We’re speaking with him again.”

I thanked her and wrote down what she told me. I had learned to let the investigation take the time it needed.

Then Sophie appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Can we plant the beans today?”

I put the notebook away.

“Yes,” I said. “Let’s call Eli.”