Margo gave me her hand, and I gripped it, following her out of the bathroom and into the common area. My eyes took in the room in one sweep—the worn hardwood floors, wrought iron stove in the center, chipped coffee table, and outdated couch, sagging in the middle. Ray sat in one of the wooden chairs from the kitchen table. I scanned the kitchen area, searching for Scott. He wasn’t there either. Was he still outside? Why had Ray left him out there?

Ray rose and moved toward me. “You look so pretty, dear.” He bent to kiss my cheeks, and I pulled away.

“Where’s Scott?” I asked.

“Why don’t you sit?”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to sit.”

I wanted Scott. My insides crumbled. I turned my head so he wouldn’t see the tears sliding down my cheeks.

“He showed up to meet me at our designated spot, but I’m so sorry, Kate. He didn’t want to see you. He is under the impression that we had an affair, and nothing I said could convince him otherwise. He said that he wants nothing to do with you. I’m so sorry.”

“No.” An involuntary sob escaped.

“Let me hold you.” He reached for me, and I slapped his hand.

“Get away from me. I don’t want you to touch me.” This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. They were supposed to come. I was supposed to be able to make things right. “What about Abbi?”

Margo put her hand on my back.

“He said that you are the definition of an unfit mother by abandoning her the way you did, and he doesn’t want you anywhere near her,” Ray said.

“But I didn’t abandon her,” I cried. “Did you tell him that?”

“I tried everything I could think of to make him understand, but he refuses to see things differently.” He shook his head. “Unfortunately the courts will probably agree with him. The world has a hard time understanding our methods and training practices.” I sank to the floor in defeat. Margo knelt next to me, and Ray sat on the other side. He put his arm around me, and this time I didn’t fight him off. “This may be the Lord’s way of doing for you what you couldn’t do for yourself.”

“Losing my husband and daughter?” I could barely speak through my sobs. “What kind of God requires that kind of sacrifice?”

“The same one that sacrificed his own son,” Ray said.

I buried my face in my pillow, trying to stifle my cries, but it was no use. Willow had amazing hearing and was at my cot within seconds. She knelt next to my bed with her face inches from mine.