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“What?”

“Tell Noah I did it Otherwise he’ll drag me around in his head He doesn’t need that”

“I will not I won’t”

He nodded, said, “Thanks, Win I mean it If it was redeo home and take care of my family” Then he left the room

She stared after hi up

“He’s wrong,” she said to the guard, who didn’t respond at all “I didn’t go through all of this to have it ”

She left the prison and went to her car,“He’s a cynic Of course he thinks the worst, hat he’s been through” Already she was figuring how to prove what good news this was

Noah would be thrilled

She’d concentrate on that: the good Optimism was always a choice, and her ould not fail her nohen she needed it so much

She was halfway ho to tell her that the prosecuting attorney had just called to say that she’d seen the DNA results and illing to concede that Dallas had not had sexual relations with the decedent that night, but reaffir their motion to uphold the conviction this week

Perhaps, the prosecuting attorney had opined to Lisa, Dallas had had an accomplice

Vivi Ann was in the far a casserole for dinner, when the story ca to a song in her head (“Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” but it was best not to think tooitself), when she heard Dallas’s name

She turned slowly, buh the living roo like a colt through new grass, but when she stepped into the family room and saw the look on her father’s face, she knew it had been real

Saying nothing, Vivi Ann picked up the remote and hit the back button, thankful for the first ti a DVR

When she hit play again, a local newscaster was on-screen, standing in front of the forbidding gray prison walls A snapshot of Dallas—hissuspended in the corner