"Now you listen to me and you listen good," Angel said, more firm than she usually was with Aiden. "You ain't lost nothin'. Not over those bigots. That's all on them, ain't nothin' on you."

She couldn't hold it for long, though. "Ah know things ain't looked so good sometimes lately," she told him. "But Ah also know things ain't gonna be like that forever. God ain't never gonna give us more than we can handle... and we come out stronger for the challenges he puts our way. 's all for a reason."