“I just told you not to apologize,” Anthony chides. Unexpected though it may be, he does not fault Gabriel for his confession—neither its suddenness nor its content are things he should be sorry over.

He takes a sip of his drink, thoughtfully silent for a moment. “After all that, I am surprised that you hung on to the church at all.” It is one of those things Anthony still can’t understand about Gabriel. How did he still see something in God and the rest after all that?