There had been a heavy downpour a while ago, shining, silvery blades streaming from the sky as though to cleanse this innocent place of the tragic ugliness her confession had brought to it.She was still seeing it, feeling it; it would never let her go.Her eyes refocused on the orderly piles of leaves David had left behind. He’d come into the house when he’d finished, but Sallie Jo had shaken her head, letting him know that it would be best for him to go.Justine had expected Sallie Jo to leave soon after that, but she was still here, sitting at the table, her hands covering her face as though the pictures Justine had conjured were refusing to fade. Justine could see her ghostlike reflection in the window, a manifestation of the world’s speechless horror.She wouldn’t tell Sallie Jo about the time that had followed, when she’d had to be sedated to help get her through the shock and the grief. If it hadn’t been for Lula she was sure she’d have ended it all, and she was certain Matt had felt the same.
