I can’t help it; I laugh. I drop my head to my knees and dissolve into laughter. A.J. laughs along with me.
“I know, right? Insane. Even more insane was how they encouraged me to play drums, take music lessons, join a band, read books . . . those people were ridiculously supportive. They only wanted the best for me. They were proud of me; they told everyone I was their son who’d been away on a mission.”
“And no one questioned your sudden appearance? This unknown sixteen-year-old son shows up out of the blue and it’s business as usual?”
He gives me a look. “You ever spend much time around really religious folks, Chloe?”
I shake my head. “My family’s Protestant. That’s about as non-religious as you can get without being atheist.”
“Yeah, well, it’s called faith for a reason. Total suspen
