I don’t know why. He had no reason to come back. It’d been surprise enough that he’d hung around as long as he did yesterday, when it would have been easier just to leave us and go. Maybe he’d wanted to know how it was with Franky. Or maybe he’d just been waiting for his chance to knock me in the dirt. He wasn’t there this time, and I was glad. Maybe he was already on his way back to Albany. I couldn’t imagine anything that would hold him here. And he’d done enough damage, surely. Juli took my hand as we walked toward the hospital. None of us said much of anything. I wondered if the pastor and Barrett blamed me at all for what had happened to Franky. I certainly couldn’t blame them if they did. I should have been watching for him better. I should have been watching Edward better. Why hadn’t I known to warn the kids away? Poor Franky was just trying to do good to a man who needed an example. “Because Jesus loves you,”
