Chapter 20
Abby returns to her cottage and finds Pari curled on the couch with Halo. Her home is completely still, but she detects no sadness in the air. She puts her hand on Pari’s shoulder. “Would you like to have more time alone?”
“Thank you. But I am fine. I would like to be with you today.”
“Is your mother okay?” Abby asks, preparing four glasses of tea with lemon.
“She is fine. We had a weighty discussion and it was cumbersome at first. But when I told her I knew what had happened and that I was not angry, she calmed and became very frank with me.”
“Does she think I told you and violated her trust?”
“No, I emphasized you would not tell me anything and that I figured it out on my own,” Pari answers. “I feel like I have emerged from a storm. Mom wishes she was here right
