Alanna let her hand fall back to her side. “Then I don’t understand. Why doesn’t someone sue him, or at least have him fired from the sheriff’s office?”

They all stopped laughing.

Gavin’s expression went deadpan again. “Because everyone in town knows that, as irritating as Greer is, there isn’t a person in town he wouldn’t risk his life for and, in fact, has.”

Alanna stared at him doubtfully. “He has?”

“He has. I’m actually one of them.”

Dammit. Alanna raised her eyes up heavenward. Did I not ask You not to let me make a fool of myself? So far, You’re failing massively. Criticizing God might not be the smart way to go, but how much worse could it be? She had probably alienated half of the Colemans with her behavior.

“I just can’t understand his fascination with food.”

“Probably because he didn’t have much when he was a kid.” Matthew raised Freddy to sit on top of his knees and started pretending to buck him off as he talked. “Silas told us. Greer and Silas are the same age. They were even in school together. He said Greer’s family only had food to eat from their mother’s garden and what meat they raised. They would practically starve in the winter when their canned food ran out. Greer’s father made what money they had by moonshining, which wasn’t much because most of what he made, he drank. His mother would take a beating if she got caught taking charity from any of the townspeople. Silas said the first new shoes Greer had ever gotten, he had stolen from him.”

Each word Matthew said just hammered another nail in her coffin.

“Greer stole Silas’ shoes?” Alanna’s hopes began to rise. Greer stealing Silas’ shoes showed he wasn’t nice, didn’t it? “He shouldn’t have stolen from Silas.”

Matthew gave her a rueful look. “Silas had been bullying Greer. It was payback.”

“Probably self-preservation,” she muttered. She didn’t believe Silas was bullying Greer without a just cause.

Ginny and Gavin nodded, agreeing with her.

“We think that’s why Greer did it, too.”

She had meant Silas probably had bullied Greer out of self-preservation, but she had made enough bad impressions for the day. Ginny and Gavin might have assumed that was what she meant, but from Matthew’s expression, he knew exactly who she was talking about.

Alanna cleared her throat. “Can we just start over?” Looking around the spick-and-span kitchen, she then gazed questioningly at Ginny. “What chores are you needing done?”