Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Sandra let out a long, weary sigh, her heart heavy with worry. In her mind, it all came back to Timothy.

If only Timothy had cared more about Jessica-she was such a gentle, well- mannered girl. Why else would she be so determined to file for divorce?

Women rarely make such choices in marriage as coldly as men do; most will try to stick it out as long as they can. For Jessica to reach this point, she must truly feel she can't go on.

She turned to her husband, her voice thick with concern. "Abell, ever since

Hannah passed, these two kids are all we have left. How could I just stand by and do nothing? We should visit the Zimmerman family later today, try to get a sense of what really happened."

Abell nodded, frowning in thought. "Speaking of the Zimmermans, it struck me— why does that young man from their family seem so close to Jessy lately?"

"How would I know?" Sandra replied, exasperated. "With Timothy being the way he is never saying more than he has to-maybe if we visit the Zimmermans, we'll get some answers. Go pick out some gifts to bring; it'll be a good excuse to check in on them."

Abell went off to prepare the gifts.

The living room was suddenly quiet-no sign of either Sallie or Timothy.

Upstairs, Sallie had wheeled Timothy back to his room and now sat across from him. "Timothy," she said seriously, "if you don't want to go through with this divorce, you need to do something. Try to win Jessy back. And... I'll find time today to apologize to her."

She just couldn't get over the

Timothy remained silent.

voice, almost sheepish. "Are you mad at me because I treated

up, his face unreadable.

attitude toward her is only a small part of the problem. The real issue is between you and Henry.

out of Timothy's room and found Sandra and Abell loading up their arms with wrapped packages, ready

Grandpa, where are

off to visit a friend," Sandra called back, and the two of them

Sheila had been

balcony.

sure

was clear, she finally allowed herself a deep breath. It

have the

deference to her adoptive parents, she'd kept to

the background. Staying wet