We rode separate elevators to the parking garage.
I sat in my car for several minutes afterward, feeling neither victorious nor defeated.
The agreement could replace a broken window.
It could not restore the nights Maya had lain awake listening for footsteps.
Still, it was a practical step toward putting the damage behind us.
I drove home and made dinner without checking my phone for an hour.
The prosecutor’s office arranged a meeting for Lena and Sofia before any agreement in Evan’s criminal case was finalized.
A victim services representative explained the proposed resolution and the opportunities for Lena to provide her views.
Lena asked difficult questions about the sentence, restitution, and the conditions that might apply after any period of incarceration.
She did not want to be photographed while entering the courthouse.
She also wanted the court to understand how rehabilitation had changed her education and work plans.
Her concerns were recorded, although the final legal decisions remained with the appropriate officials and court.
I attended only because Lena asked me to accompany them to the building.
I waited outside the meeting room with a book I barely read.
When they emerged, Sofia looked drained but composed.
Lena said the proposed outcome was not exactly what she imagined when she first heard Evan might admit driving.
“I don’t think anything would feel exactly right,” she said.
“I just wanted them to hear me.”
We stopped for lunch at a quiet cafe where the tables were spaced far enough apart for her wheelchair.
Lena ordered soup and a sandwich.
Sofia insisted on paying, then laughed when Lena pointed out that she had been managing her own money since she was sixteen.
For a moment they sounded like any mother and adult daughter arguing over a restaurant bill.
I gave them privacy and stepped outside to answer a call from Ian.
He said the glass company had delivered the final receipt needed for my civil settlement.
I thanked him for picking it up.
Then he asked whether I was all right.
I said I was tired but relieved that the process was moving.
He reminded me I could ask for help even after the court dates ended.
I promised I would.
On the way home Lena asked whether she might volunteer with the library program again, perhaps doing remote tutoring before she could travel easily.
Maya immediately offered to help set up the video calls.
