The ladies raised their eyebrows. Mrs. Fryt shook her head. “Mercy me, child, now you’re going to have trouble for sure. How on earth did you get into that?”

“Oh, well, I bumped into him downtown, and he asked me,” Dolly said. She had planned her story in advance, but she had no idea whether they would believe the particulars.

“Why you, of all people?” said Judy Wasserman.

“Because he didn’t know me.”

“Oh ho,” said Mrs. Fryt. “He’s still trying to keep that family’s secrets from us, is he? What are their plans for the house?”

Dolly’s heart raced. “I don’t know,” she said.

Mrs. Fryt harrumphed. “Well, of any of them, I didn’t expect him to be the one to show his face in this town. Such a hero in the war that he didn’t have the time of day for us when he got back! Never even came to church so we could give him a proper welcome home!”

“Mother,” Jeannette said, “he did have a difficult—”

“Of course, he is his father’s son,” Mrs. Fryt interrupted. “Not to mention that the weekend he did come home, that Thanksgiving in ’forty-five, was the weekend that everything went to pieces. I suppose that doesn’t sit too well with a proud boy like that.”

Dolly drew in her breath; she hadn’t known that the family’s demise could be traced to a particular weekend. “What happened?”

The ladies shifted in their seats, looking anywhere but at one another. Mrs. Fryt’s caterpillar eyes shone behind her glasses. “Well, JJ came home on leave from the hospital, and everybody came to see him. And then, lo and behold, here came that boy Elissa had met back in ’forty-three, who the whole family thought they’d seen the last of.” Mrs. Fryt shook her head. “The saddest thing is to look back and realize how they were all bound for their own destruction, and didn’t even know it! They thought the worst was over, and it was only beginning! Harry was the one who brought everything to light. Made John steam like a teakettle! But then, Harry had always had a knack for that—”

“Mother,” interrupted Jeannette. “What’s the difference, if JJ’s back now? Shouldn’t we welcome him? Bring him a casserole, or something? Let him know we’re glad he’s back.”

“But what happened?” Dolly said.

Mrs. Fryt turned to Jeannette. “I’m not sure I am glad he’s back,” she said. “He was so young when he left, I can’t judge him but to say that, if he’s like his father and grandfather, he’s going to be nothing but a headache for this town. Thank goodness Jack sold the bank after John died, or we’d likely have JJ taking over as we speak.”

“He isn’t like them,” Dolly blurted. Her vehemence surprised even herself.