“She loved horses.”
“She slept with a stuffed rabbit named Benny.”
“She sang whenever she was nervous.”
Margaret’s face crumpled.
“And I have spent forty years wondering whether she still remembers me.”
Sophie swallowed.
“Tell me what happened.”
Margaret took another breath.
“It was August.”
“Nathan and Emily had been fighting over a toy.”
“Richard was already angry.”
“He had been drinking.”
“I told him to leave them alone.”
“He turned on me.”
Margaret’s hand moved instinctively toward her back.
“He dragged me into the kitchen.”
“There was a pot on the stove.”
Sophie understood before Margaret finished.
“Boiling water?”
Margaret nodded.
“He threw it.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“I remember the sound I made.”
“I remember falling.”
“I remember Emily screaming.”
“I remember Nathan hiding beneath the table.”
Margaret’s voice became distant.
“Richard told the children it was my fault.”
“He said I had made him angry.”
