Lon was at the feed store with the coroner. It appeared Arnold had been trapped by the fire, but they wouldn’t know how he’d died until the autopsy.

When the coroner finally finished his initial examination and all the photos were taken, they removed the body and drove away. The damaged side of the store was roped off, and the inventory inside declared a total loss.

Dub Truesdale would have to remove all of the soaked and burned inventory from the premises, then tear down that side of the building before it could be rebuilt.

It was a hard hit to take at the beginning of a new year, but he was insured. The hardest part was losing Arnold. Dub dreaded talking to Arnold’s wife, but it was a phone call he had to make.

Finally, everyone was gone, and he went to the privacy of his pickup and called her number. The phone rang and rang, and he didn’t think she was going to answer. Then he heard a shaky voice.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Hollis, it’s me, Dub. I can’t tell you how sorry I am that this happened. We still don’t know what caused the fire. Only that he was unloading sacks in the area where it broke out.”

“Thank you for calling,” Donna said.

“Of course, but that’s not all. I want you to know that I’m covering the funeral expenses, and it is part of my policy to have a hundred thousand dollars of life insurance on every employee, if their death happened on the job. I don’t know how long it will take the insurance company to pay up, but that money will be yours. I wanted you to know this now for your peace of mind. I’d give anything for this not to have happened, but it did. I’ve never understood the workings of God’s ways, only that we have to find a way to deal with them.”

Donna was crying openly now. The relief of knowing she could bury Arnold in dignity—and she wasn’t going to be destitute and trying to live on widow’s benefits—was huge.

“Thank you, Mr. Truesdale. God bless you,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am. If there’s anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m serious. If you’re planning on moving and need help getting furniture out of the house, all you have to do is call. Oh…do you have extra keys to your car?”

“Yes, here at the house.”

“We’ll be needing those to get the car back to you. If I come by your house to pick them up, then I’ll get someone to help me get your car back to you, okay?”

Donna sighed. “Yes, I sure would appreciate that. I’ll have them ready,” she said.