She hugged her arms close and smiled as tears came to her eyes. She missed her family so much. Memories were all she had, and those were bittersweet and often too much to bear.

Why, God? Why did You take them all? Did I somehow fail to pray for them correctly? Did I somehow fail You, so You felt I needed punishment?

She had been so hesitant to pray—even to question the Almighty about her situation. After so much loss and pain, she was almost afraid to bring herself to God’s attention, and yet she wanted so much to know the answers.

“I’m so alone.” She tightened her grip on her arms, trying her best to feel something other than emptiness.

Storms only reminded her of Papa’s death—of the fragility of life. She went to the window again and looked out at the lake. Part of the window was iced with frost. Apparently her first leak to plug would be around that window.

The snow made it impossible to see anything. Gloriana thought of her life here in Duluth. She’d never traveled anywhere else or seen any other town, but right now she wished she could be far away.

Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. Why did it have to hurt so much? Why couldn’t she just cast aside her pain and be unmoved? There would always be time for tears in the solitude of her bed. Nighttime was the perfect cover for such things. But standing here now, with JT only just down the hall, Gloriana risked showing him her sadness. She had worked so hard not to break down in front of him.

There was a rattle and then a knock at the door. Gloriana raised her apron to dry her eyes. She knew if anyone looked closely, however, they’d be able to see she’d been crying.

She opened the door to find Luke standing there, covered in snow. “Get inside, quick.” She stepped back to give him room.

Luke laughed and came into the house, pulling off his coat at the same time. “Here, let me shake it outside.” He turned and gave the coat a snap, then handed it to Gloriana. He grabbed his hat and gave a few swipes with his gloved hand, then slammed the door closed against the wind. “I was worried about JT. I heard they closed school early, and I wanted to make sure he got home.”

“He did.” Gloriana turned away to hang up the coat. “He and Jack are in his room, playing out some battle, if you’d like to go see him.” She drew a deep breath. “I’ll put some fresh coffee on in the meantime. There’s also some cake if you’re hungry. Supper will be a few hours still.”