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Although it hadn’t snowed much, not many people were out that day, which made sense because McGorlick Park was covered with a thin, treacherous layer of ice.Abby took each step carefully; the last thing she wanted was to fall and end up in a hospital in New York.

A woman being dragged by her Mastiff flew past them, yelling, “Barney, stop.”The dog had found its soulmate in a French Bulldog wearing a green and white polka-dotted sweater.Barney was drawn to her like the magnetic balls in Newton’s Cradle.It was love at first sniff.

The sisters walked farther into the park and found the kids’ play area that Antonio had described.A lone boy swaddled in a puffy down jacket, scarf, mittens, and a beanie that almost covered his eyes slid down the slide.As Abby heard his joyful laughter, her chin dipped toward her chest, and her lips quivered.I wonder what my four are doing right now.I hope they miss me as much as I miss them.

The boy’s au pair, wearing a trench coat and two braids in her hair, stood near him, talking animatedly on the phone in French.Abby’s high school French had mostly vanished to the recesses of her brain, although she did recognize the words boss and cheating.

When Morgan stopped suddenly, Charlie almost crashed into her, and Abby almost crashed into Charlie.Morgan seemed captivated by the swings, even though they were the same as every other swing at any park in the United States.

“What’s wrong?”Abby asked.

“Either I’m having déjà vu, or I’ve been here before,” Morgan said.

“Are you sure?It’s not like we haven’t been to a million parks in our lives,” Charlie said.

Morgan walked over to the swings, put her hand on the rope, and then pulled it off as if electricity had passed through her arm.

“Are you okay?”Abby asked.

“Our father and I came here,” Morgan said as she began pushing the swing back and forth.

“Are you sure?”Charlie asked.

“Yes.He’d lift me onto these swings and sing ‘You Are My Sunshine.’I remember him wearing a Yankees sweatshirt and a Mets baseball hat, although maybe that was in a dream.”Morgan looked like she was having an out-of-body experience as she kept pushing on the swing.“I can still see his smile,” she said.

“That doesn’t add up with what we were told,” Abby said.“Do you think Mom lied, and he wasn’t the bad guy she said he was?”

“Why would she hurt us like that?”Charlie said.

“Is it possible your mind is playing tricks on you, Morgan?Abby asked.

Morgan shook her head back and forth.“No.”

“I wish I had even one memory of him,” Abby said.“You two are lucky.”

How could my father not want to get to know me?Abby thought.Envy that her sisters had memories of him crept inside her and took up residence like a squatter in an abandoned house.Why would he abandon me when I was just a baby?Had he ever thought about me after he left?

“I really missed having a father,” Charlie said.

“Me, too,” Abby said.“My friends got to have their dad walk them down the aisle and do the traditional father/daughter dance.When I hired the DJ for my wedding, I told him to skip it.I remember his pitiful look when I told him why.It was embarrassing.”

“You had nothing to be embarrassed about,” Charlie said.“You didn’t have anything to do with our father abandoning us.”

“Didn’t I?Mom said he left because he couldn’t handle all of us,” Abby said, her eyes misting up.“He stayed until right after I was born.What does that say about how much he loved me?”

“It says he was selfish.You were a cute baby; he would’ve been lucky to have you--- or any of us,” Morgan said.

Abby wanted to respond, but the words got stuck deep inside her.

While Morgan continued to push the empty swing back and forth, the other three swings were now populated by happy kids.A girl with springy blond hair bounced on her toes as she and her mom approached Morgan.

“Excuse me, are you done pushing your friend?”the little girl asked, pointing to the empty swing.

Morgan smiled at her and her mom.“Yes, my friend is tired,” Morgan said, moving away from the swing.The sisters walked over to a nearby bench and sat.

“Did Mom tell either of you where Dad was buried?”Abby asked.

“No,” Morgan and Charlie said.