A Sister's Forgiveness (27 page)

“Lemonade is fine,” Joseph replied as he waited for her to set his place and bring his beverage. When Emma sat down and Lars began passing him dishes of the shrimp, rice, vegetables, and rolls that Emma had prepared, Joseph filled his plate. Then he smiled. “It’s been awhile since I enjoyed a true home-cooked meal,” he said. “Thank you.”

When the young attorney started eating without first saying a silent prayer, Emma shot Matt a look that warned him not to make the comment that she could see coming. Matt rolled his eyes and went back to pushing food around his plate.

It occurred to Emma that lately their son had changed. For one thing, ever since he’d heard that Uncle Geoff had been in court to testify against Sadie, he had been quiet at mealtimes, no longer regaling them with sports facts. More often than not, he ate in silence and then excused himself, mumbling something about a quiz or homework. It was understandable, of course, given everything going on with Sadie and the break with Geoff and Jeannie. Still, she and Lars needed to remember that Matt needed them more than ever now. She resolved to speak to Lars about it later after Matt had gone to bed.

“Your friend Hester Steiner stopped by my office earlier today,” Joseph said.

Lars looked at Emma but said nothing.

“She has this college friend—Rachel something-or-other. Anyway, her friend is a trained grief counselor, but more to the point, her husband was killed by a drunk driver a little over a year ago. I got to thinking that if you approved, it might be good to have her visit Sadie. After what happened in court yesterday, it’s pretty clear that Sadie has reached her breaking point.”

“Sadie wasn’t a drunk driver, and besides, I don’t understand why Hester would come to you before talking to us,” Emma said.

Joseph ate another bite of his supper and took his time chewing and swallowing.

“Matt, if you’re finished, you may be excused,” Lars said.

Joseph cleared his throat. “Actually, you might want Matt to hear about this,” he said quietly.

For the first time in days, Matt seemed interested in what was going on around him. He sat up a little straighter and focused his attention on Joseph.

“What is it that you’ve come to tell us, Joseph?” Lars asked. Emma felt the now-familiar tightening of her chest and throat.

“This friend of Mrs. Steiner’s—Kaufmann—that’s the name.”

“She’s Mennonite?”

Joseph nodded. “By her dress, I’d say she’s conservative like you. She apparently has moved here from Ohio to take the chaplaincy at that new hospital just east of here.”

“What’s that?” Matt asked.

“Ministers at the hospital—trained people of various faiths who are there if needed for patients and their families,” Lars explained. Then he turned his attention back to Joseph. “Go on.”

“So, Ms. Kaufmann’s husband died, leaving her to raise their son, Justin, on her own.” Joseph glanced at Matt. “I think the boy is a year or so younger than you are.”

“Why move here?” Matt asked.

“Good question. Apparently she lost her job a few months after her husband died, and Hester suggested she look for work here. But the key thing is that after her husband was killed, she took part in a program that’s had some real success in cases like Sadie’s.”

Emma’s heart beat faster. “She can help keep Sadie from going away?”

Joseph shook his head as he took a long drink of his lemonade. “She can’t influence the court proceedings—at least not directly.”

“So, what can she do?” Lars asked quietly, his disappointment obvious.

“Back in Ohio, she and her son took part in a program called VORP—Victim Offender Reconciliation Program.” Joseph waited a beat to allow that to sink in then continued. “It’s a program where the victim of a crime—or in many cases like yours, it would be victims—and the offender meet directly.”

“How can there be more than one victim?” Matt asked. “Tessa was the only one who died.”

Joseph looked at him for a long moment, and then he said, “You’re a victim in this, Matt. So are Tessa’s parents and your parents and grandparents and even Sadie.”

Matt’s face went nearly purple with anger as he shook his head. “Sadie’s the one that caused this whole mess—she’s the one that—”

“Matt,” Emma scolded. Her son looked at her with such fury, such frustration that it took her breath away.

“I’d like to be excused,” he mumbled already half out of his chair.

“Sich hinsetzen,”
Lars said quietly, pointing to Matt’s chair. “We have a guest.”

“But you said before…,” Matt protested, and then he slumped back into his chair and folded his arms across his chest, refusing to look at either parent.

“Go on, Joseph,” Lars said.

Emma saw that Joseph was decidedly uncomfortable with the dynamics around the table. “Would you like more shrimp, Joseph? Or perhaps a slice of raisin pie?”

Joseph gave her a grateful and relieved smile. “It’s been years since I tasted raisin pie,” he admitted. “But let me help you clear.”

“Matt will do that,” Lars said.

Matt looked at his father and then got up and began clearing the dishes. “This is Sadie’s job,” Emma heard him mutter as he passed her with the stacked plates. She picked up the serving dishes and followed him to the sink.

“Matt? Has something happened at school that you haven’t wanted to tell us?” She kept her voice low, mindful that Joseph was close by, although he and Lars were talking. But company or not, Matt was not himself.

Matt filled the sink with soapy water and laid the plates in it to soak. “I’m okay.”

“Because I want you to understand that Dad and I realize that everything going on these last weeks has been hard on you as well as the rest of us. You can talk to us anytime about anything. It’s just that right now Mr. Cotter is here, and he might be able to help your sister and—”

“And that’s what matters right now,” Matt said. “I get it, Mom.” He shut off the water while she took down plates for the pie.

“Helping Sadie can help us all,” Emma said quietly. Then when Matt made no comment, she handed him the clean plates. “Take these to the table, bitte. Coffee, Joseph?” she called out in what she had intended as a normal tone but realized was too shrill and tight with tension.

“No ma’am. The lemonade is fine,” Joseph said.

At the table, Emma cut slices of the pie and passed the first slice to Joseph. He waited for everyone to be served and for her to be seated before taking a bite. He was a well-mannered young man even if he had started his meal without first thanking God.

“Wow,” he said after tasting the pie. “That is seriously great pie.”

In spite of her faith’s caution when it came to accepting compliments, Emma fought back the first genuine smile she’d managed in days. “Danke, Joseph.”

“I mean, help me out here, Matt. This whipped cream topping tastes more like.…” He frowned as he savored a bite of the topping.

“Marshmallows?” Matt said wearily. It was true that people unfamiliar with their whipped cream often described the flavor that way, but Emma did not like the way Matt was acting.

“That’s it exactly,” Joseph replied. He watched Matt for a minute, and Emma understood that the attorney had somehow realized that Matt was struggling to find his place in everything that had happened to their family. “Hey, Matt, Mrs. Steiner tells me that you’re some kind of statistics genius.”

Matt glanced up from eating his pie, his eyes interested but still wary. “She said that?”

“She did. When Rachel started rattling off the statistics about the VORP program’s success rate, Hester said you were the one with a head for stats. Is that right?”

Matt shrugged. “Sports stats mostly.”

“Stats are stats,” Joseph observed and went on eating his pie. “Marshmallows,” he repeated, nodding as he took another bite of the whipped cream.

Matt fought to hide his smile, clearly beginning to feel a connection to Joseph.

“I’m not a hundred percent clear on the details, but after Mrs. Kaufmann and her son participated in the program, she trained to become a mediator for other cases.”

“She would be there if Sadie sat down with Jeannie and Geoff?” Lars asked, drawing the lawyer’s attention back to the adults.

“Actually, that’s only the first piece.”

“What else?” Emma asked.

“The idea is to personalize the crime for the offender by showing them the human consequences of their actions.”

“I think our Sadie is very aware of the human consequences of her action, Joseph. She grieves every hour for this terrible tragedy.” Emma tried to keep her voice calm. The last thing she wanted to hear about was one more process that would only add to the suffering Sadie was already enduring.

“Well, the idea is to give the victims—those who often never have a chance to speak their piece in the criminal justice system—the opportunity to talk about their feelings directly to the offender.”

“It is not our way to involve ourselves in such things, Joseph,” Lars said, glancing at Emma. His tone reflected his doubt and discomfort. He had already gone well beyond what he believed to be the way to handle Sadie’s troubles by agreeing to hire Joseph. Now this?

“And yet people of your faith are some of the strongest advocates for the program in communities where it has been used,” Joseph said.

Emma saw Matt gauge the mood and decide that once again he needed to break the silence. “You said there were statistics?” Matt prompted, fully engaged now.

Joseph focused his attention back on Matt. “The program in one form or another dates back two decades, and there are now thousands of such programs operating around the world.”

“Around the world—you mean in other countries,” Emma said unable to disguise her skepticism.

“And here as well. There’s more,” Joseph said softly. Emma could see that her husband and son were being drawn into Joseph’s presentation, but she wasn’t interested in what others had done. She was only interested in how she could best protect her daughter. And she had her doubts that some stranger—whether or not she was an old college friend of Hester’s—could ever hope to know Sadie or Jeannie or any of them well enough to make this work.

Joseph had continued to talk, and she forced her attention back to him.

“…about two out of every three cases referred to the program result in a face-to-face mediation meeting.”

Matt shook his head. “So they meet, and Sadie says how sorry she is, and Uncle Geoff and Aunt Jeannie get to say how sad they are. Then what?”

“Like I said—the meeting is only the first piece of it. The meat of the program is both sides sitting down together and drafting what’s called a ‘restitution agreement.’” He anticipated Lars’s question. “The victims lay out terms by which the offender could make restitution for the crime. For example,” he said, turning his attention back to Matt, “if Matt here had spray-painted my garage, I might make repainting the garage a condition of the agreement.”

Matt’s mouth fell open. “But Sadie…”

Emma was on her feet before her son could finish the sentence she saw coming. “How about another piece of pie, Joseph?”

Joseph hesitated then pushed his plate away and dabbed at his mouth with his napkin. “No thank you, and my apologies for monopolizing the conversation.”

“Not at all,” Emma said, relieved that he had given in to her need to change the subject.

“How often does it work?” Matt pressed. “How often does the offender actually repaint the garage or do what the victim wants?”

Joseph focused his attention on Emma, getting her permission to return to the discussion. When she nodded, he kept looking at her as he gave Matt his answer. “In over 90 percent of the cases, the offender completes the terms of the agreement—often within one year. Compare that to court-ordered restitution where there’s only a 20 to 30 percent success rate.”

“That’s impressive,” Lars said.

Emma sat down again and took a deep breath as they all turned their attention to her. “I realize that you have Sadie’s best interests at heart, Joseph, and of course, Hester is a dear friend. She’s also a close friend to Jeannie and Geoff.”

Joseph nodded. “She told me that when the offender takes personal responsibility—instead of being ordered by a court to take responsibility—statistics show that everyone benefits.”

“And in this case? Sadie cannot make this right,” Emma quietly reminded him. Surely she did not need to state the obvious—that what Geoff and Jeannie understandably wanted was Tessa back in their lives.

“I asked the same question. Ms. Kaufmann made the point that the terms of any such agreement must fall within the realm of the possible. Restitution may be only symbolic. The key is to find ways to build a sense of justice between the victim and the offender. In her case, the young man is getting his high school diploma and attending weekly meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, and he’s written several articles on the dangers of drinking and driving that have been reprinted in a variety of newspapers.”

A silence fell over the gathering. Emma looked at Lars while Matt looked from one parent to the other. “It could be over?” he asked Joseph finally.

Joseph cleared his throat. “Everyone needs to understand that this does not replace whatever the outcome of Sadie’s adjudication may be. If the judge orders her to serve time, this won’t change that.”

“Then what good is it?” Matt asked.

“It gives you—all of you—a chance to practice what you have told me is ‘your way.’ It gives you the opportunity to forgive Sadie, and perhaps most of all, it will help Sadie to forgive herself. Of course, Sadie would have to—”

“No,” Emma said. “I know you mean well, Joseph, and I can see where this sounds appealing, but having to face Geoff and Jeannie—” She could not find the words to describe the suffering that her child had already endured.

“Your sister knows about the program. She met with Ms. Kaufmann yesterday,” Joseph said quietly.

“And Geoff?” Lars asked incredulous at this bit of news.

“I’m not sure whether he knows or not.”

“I’ll go tell him. He’ll listen to me. I know just how to explain it,” Matt said. He was up and out the door before anyone could react.