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.” I shook my head frantically but Phillip continued on.“They found Janette’s jewelry stuffed behind the seat.”“That’s ridiculous.I don’t believe you.” I directed the words at my mother, though it was Phillip that had spoken them.“You’ve never liked Eric.Now you want me to believe he’s a thief.”“This has nothing to do with my feelings one way or another,” Mom said.“Everything that Phillip told you is true.”“I’m going to call Eric,” I said as I turned to leave the room.“I don’t care what Jim had to say, or what the police found.They’re wrong.He would never steal from anyone.”“How well do you know him?” Mom asked.“Well enough,” I argued as I reached the door.“Wait, when did all of this supposedly happen?”“Last night,” Phillip said.“It’s possible that he’s out on bail.If the Zierdens were willing to do that for him.”Out on bail? The conversation had started out crazy and had slid into flat out ridiculous.Because really? The thought of Eric being involved in any of this was beyond ridiculous.There was no way that this could be true.I tried to ignore the niggling little voice in my mind that kept telling me that there was no way Mom or Phillip would lie about it.They would never take that chance because it would be too easy for me to prove them wrong.“It has to be a misunderstanding,” I said.I realized that the words were more for my benefit than theirs.“I hope so,” Phillip said.“I can make a few more phone calls.See what else I can come up with.”I nodded.“Please.While you do that, I’m going to call Eric.”I’d left my cell phone on my nightstand.I turned, ready to retrieve it.“EmLynn,” Mom said.“I think it would be wise of you to stay away from that boy for a while.”“Of course you would say that.”I left quickly, before she had a chance to forbid me from seeing him.If she did that, I’d still find a way.But I didn’t want it to come to that.I hurried to the pool house.I wasn’t surprised that there were no messages from Eric.I also wasn’t surprised that when I called him, he didn’t answer.I grabbed my car keys and hurried out of the house.I needed to see him.I knew I needed to go now, before Mom had time to think about stopping me.* * *“EmLynn, hi,” Lisa said as she pulled the front door open.I tried to ignore the fact that she didn’t look particularly happy to see me.“I hope it’s okay that I’m just stopping by.I’ve tried calling Eric but he’s not answering his phone,” I explained.She glanced over her shoulder and hesitated, as if debating whether or not to let me in.She turned back to face me and pulled the door open a little wider.“Come in.You probably won’t be able to stay very long but Eric will probably be happy to know that you’re here.”I followed her into the kitchen.“Is he home?”“He is.He’s in my office meeting with his caseworker right now.We have just a little bit of time before his lawyer is scheduled to arrive.”She continued walking to the sliding glass door that led onto the deck.She pulled it open and I followed her outside.We both took a seat at the outdoor table.“Is it true?”“What part of it?” she asked as she shook her head.“I guess that depends on what you’re asking.”“He was the one who broke into the Deverouxs? He was arrested?”She let out a sigh.“Word does travel quickly, doesn’t it? Yes, he was arrested but as far as whether or not he actually did it, that’s still in question.The evidence paints a pretty damning picture, excuse my language,” she said wryly.“But Eric swears he didn’t do it.He swears that after he got back from spending time with you that night, he went to his room and stayed there.”“Do you believe him?” I wanted to believe him but I also wanted to know all of the facts.She didn’t say anything for a few moments.“I want to,” she finally said.“I would like to be able to say that I knew for sure he hadn’t left the house.But considering that I know that he is capable of leaving without either Tim or I hearing him…”“That only happened one time,” I said in Eric’s defense.“I know he shouldn’t have snuck out but I’d had a really bad day.He admitted to me that he knew he shouldn’t have violated your trust that way.He didn’t do it again.”At least not that I knew of.I didn’t say the words out loud, but I was thinking it.Judging by the look on Lisa’s face, she was thinking it too.She glanced at her watch.“Miriam, his caseworker, should be finishing up with him soon.We all met together but she wanted to speak with Eric alone for a bit.”I clasped my hands and placed them in my lap to keep myself from fidgeting.“Next he’ll meet with a lawyer?”“Yes.” She cast a glance over her shoulder at the quiet house.She looked nervous, her posture was stiff.“Do you think he did it?” I hadn’t meant to ask the question but there it was.She returned her gaze to me.“If I only looked at the evidence, I would have to say yes.But I’ve gotten to know Eric.Knowing him the way we do, neither Tim nor I can believe it.It isn’t just the theft, but the damaging violence behind it.The Eric I’ve gotten to know is not capable of that.” She drummed her fingers across the tiled tabletop.“One of my best friends in high school was a foster child.She’d had a rough life; she was in and out of foster care for most of it.It wasn’t until her last few years of high school that she ended up in a stable home.To this day, she’s one of my closest friends.I remember watching her struggle in high school.I remember the stigma that wouldn’t go away.I also will never forget how sweet she was, how kind and caring despite everything she’d gone through.All she needed was a family to give her a chance, people to show her what a real family was like.What a stable home was like.All of the things so many of us take for granted…”“Where is she now?” I asked.Lisa smiled.“She lives a few towns over.She’s a kindergarten teacher now with three teenagers of her own.She’s happily married.The family that took her in our senior year…she’s still close to them.They’re kind of like surrogate parents.” She shrugged.“Watching the way she struggled, and seeing what a difference someone can make, I knew that I wanted to do that.When we read over Eric’s file, we just knew he was the one.He wasn’t a trouble maker.He got decent grades.He was in a bad situation due to no fault of his own.”I wanted to ask her more but I wasn’t sure that would be right.I should hear about Eric’s life from him.It was frustrating that he’d been so reluctant to share.As much as I wanted to push Lisa on the subject, I did not want to go behind Eric’s back.Her voice cut into the silence again
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