If you could, indeed, catch Ebby’s eye, strike up a conversation, and show genuine interest in her, if you could be one of those one-in-a-thousand who could look past the hometown tragedy that had burned itself into her family’s identity, or past that reserved exterior, then Ebby would turn her full attention to you. She would be considerate. Ask you questions. Listen to your answers. She would smile. And when she did, it would be like finding the sunny spot in a garden and leaning back in a lawn chair to soak up the light.
