the reasons in her mind why what Mary Beth is saying absolutely cannot be true. She blinks at Mary Beth and shakes her head.

“And after he took sick, it was Joy who tried to take care of him. She was heartbroken when it became clear that he needed more support than she could give. His kids all turned out to be no account, moving up north and never even coming back to see their daddy, let alone call to check on him. It was Joy who got him in to Merciful Heart and it was Joy who went and saw him every day until the day she died. Bless both their little hearts.”

Mary Beth’s eyes are twinkling in the face of what she clearly considers to be divinely sanctioned romance.

Mary Beth whips her blue order pad out of her pocket and scrutinizes it before scrib...

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