His jaw tightened.
His eyes shone.
He folded the note carefully and put it in his shirt pocket like it was a medal.
“Tell her thank you,” he said.
“Tell her yourself.”
He looked at me.
“She doesn’t need me showing up at her house.”
“No,” I said. “But there’s a town safety meeting on Wednesday. Her father will be there. So will I.”
He shook his head immediately.
“No.”
“Silas.”
“No, ma’am.”
“People need to hear from you.”
“People don’t need anything from me.”
“That’s not true.”
He stepped back from the gate.
His voice was low.
“I don’t speak in rooms like that.”
“Rooms like what?”
“Rooms where people already decided what I am.”
That stopped me.
I had no clever answer.
Because he was right.
A room can look open and still be locked.
So I only said, “Then don’t come for them.”
