"Suppose I was braced for something worse than that," he says with a faint, almost sad smile. "Sorry. I think that's been waiting nearly two years to be said."

And part of him regrets saying anything at all, still worries about some sort of judgment. Anthony hadn't asked him for family secrets, but there it is. Gabriel realizes he has a terrible history of just saying things that he can't take back. But being in church made him think of all of it all over again, brought it closer to the surface.