Chapter 9 - The Science of Healing
Summer arrived in Ohio like a long-awaited sigh of relief. The green fields stretched out under bright blue skies, and the memory of that cold, fractured Christmas began to dissolve into the warm reality of our new life.
With the settlement money from the restitution and the finalization of my divorce affairs, I was able to buy a beautiful, small farmhouse just three miles down the road from my parents. It had a big wrap-around porch, an old apple orchard in the back, and plenty of space for children to run without fear.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon in July, the backyard was filled with life. My parents were sitting on the porch swing, drinking sweet tea, while Garrett helped Tyler build a massive wooden fort near the apple trees.
Melody was sitting at a picnic table under the shade of a giant oak tree. Spread out across the wood was a brand-new, professional-grade science kit—a gift from Garrett for her upcoming ninth birthday, complete with a real brass microscope and rows of clean glass slides.
I walked over, setting a plate of fresh watermelon down beside her. "How are the experiments going, Professor?"
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Melody looked up, her gray eyes bright and clear, completely free of the shadows she had carried for six months. She adjusted the focus knob on her microscope. "Look, Mom! I’m examining the cellular structure of an apple leaf. It looks like a little map of a city."
I leaned down, looking through the eyepiece at the beautiful, intricate patterns of green life. "It does, sweetie. It looks exactly like a map."
