Goodbye, Mr. Regret

It was Herbert.

Jessica had fainted, and Timothy had taken her away-though his attitude was anything but gentle. Worried, Herbert had followed them, never expecting that Timothy would simply abandon Jessica, taking their son and Sheila with him.

Herbert climbed out of his car.

"Little Mute."

Jessica forced a smile and signed, "What are you doing here?"

He took a deep breath, pressed his lips together, and arched an eyebrow. "If you don't want to smile, then don't do it. That smile of yours doesn't suit you at all."

He could see right through her. She was pretending, and he knew it.

Exposed, Jessica's expression faltered. She tried to explain, "It's not what you think, I... he..."

in tangled, uncertain gestures, searching desperately for some excuse to defend Timothy. But

again, cutting through her muddled signs. "You don't have to explain. I

putting yourself through this. I could

hand, signaling

signed: "Herbert, I wanted a divorce because I acted on impulse. There's just a little friction between Timothy and me, but he's really good to me. If you keep coming to see me, you'll only make things worse between us. I love him. I don't really want a divorce. When I asked you to help me find a lawyer, I just wanted to scare him a bit

That's why he left me behind just now. I didn't think things through, and I've caused you trouble and brought a lot of pain on myself.

back, Jessica turned and

his hand frozen in midair. The words "Little Mute" almost escaped his lips, but he swallowed them, letting

one could fool him-least of all her. She was

no family, no one to rely on. And now, if she was even pushing him away, how was she supposed to survive on her

determined line. No matter what

go. But one thing was certain-she wasn't going back

her own. She planned to go to the courthouse and find out about the process herself-only to realize it was Saturday and