The little house looked abandoned and forlorn when the cab pulled up in the drive. It looked lonelier still with no life in the fields or barns. Karen walked through the barn, her suitcases still sitting in the driveway alongside where the cab had been. Annette and Bobby charged into the house without a word. The entire trip they hadn‟t spoken to her; preferring to mourn the passing of their fun with each other, as far away from their mother as possible. Karen walked through the barn looking into each empty stall, imagining each occupant was still there munching away. "Well, Hi ya stranger." Karen felt her feet leave the ground several inches before she turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice.

"Oh lord, Cody." She released a breath, recognizing Cody Wells, from across the road. Cody‟s farm lay directly across from hers, they had been neighbors for nearly fifteen years and she had seen him about fifteen times in all those years. "Didn‟t mean to scare you. Saw the cab, got worried with you gone and all. Wanted to make sure everything was kosher over here." He tipped his head and began to leave. "Wait. You don‟t have to go so fast. Thank you." Karen walked up to him. "Come on in for some coffee." So what if she wasn‟t the only nosey neighbor around, it was nice to know someone cared enough to check up on her. They walked to the house, chatting like they had been best friends forever. Karen was just happy to have someone to chat with. Cody sat at the kitchen table, holding the warm cup. The chill of winter was in full swing now, even though the ground was still bare-unusual for late December in Illinois. "Was sure sorry to hear about Wayne." The sound of her late husband‟s name struck deep in her soul. "He was a real good man, good farmer…" "Good husband," she finished for him and raised her cup. "But gone,