"I can't...I can't give you a good answer for the first one," Arden said, taking the half sandwich and starting to tear a bit at the crust. "Other than to guess that if something awful did happen to them, they'd be grateful that you weren't there for it to happen to, too. But the second one...they know you. They know you'd never take off and not tell them if you had any other choice. They might be scared for you and worried for you, but I don't think they're mad. And...even if they were..." She shrugged. "You're family. They'd forgive you, especially once they knew it wasn't your fault. That's thing about family, right? About love?"

She pauses a minute, trying to call back something she'd known long ago, hoping to remember. "Love is patient, love is kind," she starts slowly, picking up rhythm and speed as she remembers more of the passage. "It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Looks like seven years in the Southern Baptist mines paid off after all.