Something changed in Miller's face.

Arthur continued.

“My wife said the schedule was full.”

“It was.”

“Then—”

“One appointment was canceled.”

Arthur looked up.

Miller's expression remained carefully neutral.

“It may be possible to reassign the slot.”

Arthur did not move.

“May?”

“Yes.”

Arthur's hands began shaking.

He put them beneath the table.

“Are you saying my family might come?”

“I am saying that Officer Davis is contacting your wife.”

Arthur stared at him.

The room blurred slightly.

He swallowed.

“Sarah?”

“Yes.”

“She's at work.”

“Officer Davis knows.”

Arthur looked at the wall.

Then back at Miller.

“Are my children coming?”

Miller hesitated.

“That depends on your wife.”

Arthur's eyes filled.

He immediately looked away.

“I understand.”

The officer cleared his throat.

“Nothing is guaranteed.”

Arthur nodded.

“I know.”

“You should return to work.”

Arthur stood.

Then he stopped at the door.

“Officer Miller?”

“Yes?”

Arthur struggled to speak.

“Thank you.”

Miller looked down at the folder.

“Don't thank me yet.”

Arthur left.

Marcus Miller remained alone.

A few minutes later, Elena Davis entered.

“She answered.”

Miller looked up.

“And?”

Davis smiled.

Then the smile faded.

“She's crying.”

Sarah Pendelton nearly dropped the phone when Elena Davis called.

She was sitting in the employee break room at the medical clinic, halfway through a sandwich she had forgotten she was eating.

“Mrs. Pendelton?”

“Yes?”

“This is Officer Elena Davis from the North River Correctional Facility.”

Sarah immediately stood.

Her heart began racing.

“Is Arthur all right?”

“Yes. He's fine.”

Sarah sat down again.

Then she realized she was trembling.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.”

“Then why are you calling?”

Elena explained.

A canceled appointment.

A possible opening.

A special approval.

A chance for a visit.

Sarah covered her mouth.

“Today?”

“Yes.”

“Today?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Sarah began crying.

“I can come.”

“Mrs. Pendelton—”

“I can come.”

“You may need to arrange transportation for the children.”

“I'll figure it out.”

“Please understand, the visit would be shorter than usual.”

“I don't care.”

Elena paused.

Sarah wiped her eyes.

“I mean—I'm sorry. I don't care how short it is. We'll be there.”

“Are the children able to come?”

Sarah looked at the clock.

Leo was in school.

Lily was at home with a fever.

Sarah closed her eyes.

“Can I bring them?”

“Yes.”

Sarah's breath broke.

“Then we'll be there.”

Arthur spent the next four hours in a state of terror.

Hope had entered his day.

And with it came fear.

What if Sarah could not leave work?

What if the children could not come?

What if the approval was canceled?

What if there was a mistake?

Every possibility hurt.

He returned to the laundry room.

He tried to work.

He folded the same sheet twice.

Another inmate noticed.

“You okay, Pendelton?”

Arthur nodded.

“Fine.”

“You folded that already.”

Arthur looked down.

He had.

The inmate raised an eyebrow.

Arthur took the sheet and placed it on the stack.

“Long day.”

At 3:42 in the afternoon, an officer appeared at the laundry room door.

“Pendelton.”

Arthur stopped breathing.

“Yes?”

“Come with me.”

He followed.

His legs felt weak.

The corridor seemed longer than usual.

Every step echoed.

The officer did not speak.

Arthur wanted to ask.

He did not.

They turned left.

Then right.

Arthur recognized the direction.

His heart began pounding.

No.

He told himself not to assume.

Don't hope.

Don't hope.

They reached the visitation area.

Arthur stopped.

The officer opened the door.

“Go.”

Arthur stepped inside.

The room was empty.

His heart fell.

Of course.

There had been a mistake.

He should have known.

He stood beside the glass.

A telephone receiver hung on the wall.

Arthur stared at it.

Then the door on the opposite side opened.

A woman stepped through.

Arthur stopped breathing.

Sarah.

For one second, neither of them moved.

Sarah looked different.

More tired.

Her hair was pulled back.

She was still wearing her work clothes.

But she was smiling.

Arthur reached for the glass.

Sarah reached for it too.

Then Lily appeared.

“Daddy!”

Arthur's knees almost gave out.

She ran toward the glass.

Behind her came Leo.

Taller.

Older.

Arthur had seen him only a few months earlier, but suddenly the changes seemed enormous.

Arthur grabbed the telephone.

Sarah did the same.

“Hi,” she whispered.

Arthur could not speak.

Sarah laughed through tears.

“Hi, Artie.”

Then Lily pressed her hand against the glass.

Arthur placed his hand against hers.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Arthur could not remember the last time he had felt happiness.

Real happiness.

It hurt.

“Happy birthday, Daddy!”

Lily's voice exploded through the receiver.

Arthur laughed.

Then cried.

“I love you.”

“Happy birthday!”

“I love you.”

Leo picked up his receiver.

“Happy birthday, Dad.”

Arthur looked at him.

“Thank you.”

Leo hesitated.

Then he said something Arthur had not heard in a very long time.

“I miss you.”

Arthur's face crumpled.

“I miss you too, buddy.”

Sarah wiped her eyes.

Arthur looked at them.

All three.

The people he had spent eighteen months trying not to lose.

“I thought I wouldn't see you.”

Sarah smiled.

“Me too.”

Arthur looked around the room.

“Who did this?”

Sarah shook her head.

“I don't know.”

Arthur did.

He looked toward the observation window.

Officer Marcus Miller stood there.

Beside him was Elena Davis.

Arthur pressed his hand against the glass.

Then he turned toward his family.

For the next thirty minutes, the walls disappeared.

Not literally.

The glass remained.

The guards remained.

The fluorescent lights remained.

But for thirty minutes, Arthur Pendelton was not an inmate.

He was a husband.

He was a father.

He was home.

THIRTY MINUTES OF LIFE

Sarah had brought nothing.

The facility rules prohibited gifts.

No cake.

No balloons.

No wrapped presents.

And yet Arthur would later remember that visit as the greatest birthday celebration of his life.

Because Lily had made him something.

She held a piece of paper against the glass.

It was a drawing.

Arthur leaned closer.

The picture showed a house.

A yellow sun.

Three stick figures.

Then another figure standing beside them.

“That's you,” Lily explained.

Arthur smiled.

“I figured.”

“That's me. And that's Mommy. And that's Leo.”

Leo rolled his eyes.

“You made me look like a lamp post.”

“You are tall.”

“I'm twelve.”

“You're tall.”

Arthur laughed.

Lily pointed at the drawing.

“You're standing outside.”

Arthur's smile faded slightly.

“Outside?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because when you come home, we're all going to go outside.”

Arthur looked at Sarah.

Sarah looked away.

He understood.

The drawing was not about the house.

It was about the future.

Lily was still waiting for him.

Leo talked more than Arthur expected.

He told Arthur about school.

Basketball.

A science project.

A teacher he disliked.

Arthur listened to every word.

Then Leo suddenly became quiet.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“Are you really coming home?”

Arthur's chest tightened.

“Yes.”

Leo stared at him.