Audra asked Jason. “There’s nothing at all wrong with her?” Jason looked down at the floor. “Yes. I made it all up. And I told Momma that you needed to keep me to run some tests—some IQ tests. I knew she would believe me, because I most always tell the truth.” It was all Audra could do to keep from laughing. Instead, she forced a serious tone to her voice. “But Jason, that was a very bad thing you did. Lying to me—to your mother. Why didn’t you simply tell us what you wanted to do?” He looked up at her, knowingly. “Would you have let me come? Do you think my mother would have?” “No. I’m certain we would have both said no, but that isn’t the point.” Jason interrupted her. “Yes, Miss Delaney. That’s exactly the point.” Audra bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. Sometimes when Jason spoke it was like listening to a philosophy professor—one that stood three feet tall, with a nose full of freckles and a missing tooth. “If I had told you,”
