"You must have an admirer," her look let him know she couldn't understand what appeal he might have on anyone, "it smells all pretty."

"Stop that!" Exasperation raised the pitch of his voice as she teased him with the envelope. She waved it high in the air and he jumped to grab it. When his fingers made purchase he was to the point of weeping. He knew that perfume, and he wanted it so badly it made him shake deep inside. "Come on, it's from Marie." Please let her have realized what needed to be done. Ellen dropped the letter to within his reach. Please, he begged as he pulled the slip out of the confines of the wrapper.

A frown furrowed his brow, and he tossed the card aside.

"What?" Ellen's concerned look infuriated Richard.

"It's an invitation," he said with dissolved enthusiasm.

Ellen stared at the card curiously.

"To a house warming," he continued in answer to her questioning look up from the paper. "Apparently my family has moved without me." It wasn't a surprise. The house next door had been conspicuously empty for weeks. His heart threatened to slow to a halt as he gulped back the tears. He just hadn't been able to admit to himself they weren't coming back.

****

The afternoon sun gave Richard a headache as he pulled up behind the Cadillac and cursed its existence. He fumbled with a festively wrapped package, and a bouquet of roses as he slammed the door on the old Chevy and cringed at the creaking squeak it made when it swung shut.