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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

“Yes,” Leslie said, smiling as if she was interrupting a child who was delighting her. “Of course. But the difference is that these things have such a tremendous impact on Justin that I’m afraid he might develop ulcers or other physical manifestations. We have to treat him properly.”

“There’s no way you’re putting my boy on pills,” he said, and stood.

“Well, that’s not up to me anyway, Asher. That’ll be up to the psychiatrist,” Leslie said, and he felt like demanding that she not call him by his first name. He hated how familiar perfect strangers were these days. But he remained silent.

And so here was another reason to stay: to not uproot everything his son had ever known, to protect Justin.

9

9

The next Sunday, the two men came to church again and everyone turned in the creaky pews to watch them walk down the aisle. The men sat about halfway back and when they did the family sitting on the other end of the pew made a big commotion of getting up and moving to the front row. Jimmy nodded his head in greeting but only a couple people acknowledged him. Stephen kept his eyes on the floor.

Surely the men knew how these people felt about them. But maybe, Asher thought, that was why they came. Maybe they wanted to test this place and see what would happen.

Asher couldn’t blame them for that.

He had a sermon prepared on the rocks of the Israelites but now another idea came to him. It was easy to discount people when you didn’t know them or couldn’t see them. But here these men were, right in front of them, their faces full of expectation. Maybe they weren’t trying to test anyone; maybe they wanted to worship with a congregation. He remembered the tender way Jimmy had kissed Stephen’s eyelids during the flood. His forehead. His mouth. Asher realized that he was standing there in silence, watching them while everyone else watched him. He had to say something.

So he turned to Hebrews 13:2 – 3: Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Then he quoted Matthew 25:35: For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in. He flipped to Romans 12:13, and read: Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.