She left the twenty-dollar bill lying on the laminate counter where Rory had dropped it two days earlier and walked straight down the carpeted hall to her room without a backward glance.

I stood at the sink and watched a shiny new diesel welding truck roll slowly down our gravel road, its heavy tires crunching the stones before its bright yellow headlights swept across our front window and swung toward the highway.

The kitchen clock ticked steadily on the wall, filling the silent house, until the landline on the counter rang at eight o’clock sharp.

I grabbed the receiver before it could ring a second time.