Walk out with me.”

The bottom drawer by the stove still ran crooked on its track.

I gave it a nudge with my knee on the way past.

We went out at five with our coats buttoned to the chin.

The driveway was shoveled clean on both sides, and the cars had been gone two days, so there was nothing to look at but a wide gray rectangle of concrete and a few salt crystals catching the porch light.

“You did this for nobody,” Helen said.