Ella’s money belonged to Ella.
Giving it back did not make me generous.
It made one small part of the situation correct.
I told her that after breakfast.
She looked at the envelope.
“All?”
“The money that was taken is being returned.”
“Because I said?”
“Because it is yours.”
She opened the envelope.
Then shut it.
“Do I have to count now?”
“No.”
“Can Mom help later?”
“Of course.”
She placed it inside the wooden box.
For the first time since dinner, she closed the lid without looking at anyone for approval.
I watched her carry it upstairs.
I felt no relief that money could be replaced.
The difficult loss was not in the envelope.
Nadine gave Miriam and me a detailed account of what she had noticed.
Ella had begun asking whether I was having a good day before approaching me.
She sometimes wanted to know whether a meeting had been successful.
She counted coins before weekends at my house.
Nadine thought she was saving for roller skates.
So had I.
We had both heard that plan months earlier.
Then the money started disappearing.
When Nadine asked, Ella said she was buying a surprise.
That answer was technically true.
She had been buying things she believed I wanted to give her.
Nadine looked shaken while describing it.
“I should have asked more.”
Miriam nodded.
“So should we.”
I asked whether Seraphina had ever told her not to bring Ella to my study.
“Sometimes.”
“What did she say?”
“That you needed quiet. That you would come when you were free.”
“And did I?”
Nadine hesitated.
Then she answered honestly.
“Not always.”
There was no accusation in her voice.
There didn’t need to be.
I remembered evenings when Ella appeared during a call and I lifted one finger.
One minute.
Sometimes the minute became fifteen.
Sometimes she left before I looked up again.
