Her sister’s voice was high-pitched and frantic. “Honey, I was fretting all day because I forgot my phone when I went to work. Then I get home and hear this message, and I’m just sick that I wasn’t here when you need me! What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Sister, the worst. Today, there was a fire at the feed store where Arnold works. Somehow he got trapped. He’s dead, Joy.”

Joy wailed. “No, no, I’m so sorry. This is horrible, terrible. What can we do to help? Are the boys okay?”

And that’s when Donna lost it.

“No, they’re not okay. They got arrested last week, attempting to rob a man and steal his car. It nearly killed me and Arnold, and they’re gone. Transported off somewhere today.”

Joy gasped. “What? You aren’t serious?”

“Yes, I am, and we never saw this coming. I’ve never been so disappointed in them in my life. And then today this happened. I want to come home. I can’t be here alone. I just want to come home.”

Joy burst into tears, crying now along with her sister. “We’ll all get together and clean up Mama’s empty house and make sure everything is in order…nothing leaking…and we’ll chip in and get the utilities turned on for you.”

“I can pay you back for that,” Donna said. “The people here in Blessings are raising some money to help me get home. There are good people here, but without Arnold, I won’t stay.”

“What about the boys? Where will they take them?” Joy asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care. They were already running away from home when they got arrested, so as far as I’m concerned, they were the ones who left us. I’ll call you again when I know more, but I just wanted you to know about Arnold.”

“I’m so sorry. I wish I was there to help you,” Joy said.

“I’m not going through this alone here, but I want to be with my family when this is done. I’ll call you soon,” Donna said.

“We love you, Donna. We’ll be happy to have you home. Take care of yourself.”

“I will,” Donna said, and disconnected.

Hearing her sister’s voice had given Donna a measure of peace, and for today, it was enough.

She threw away the food that was left, then locked up the house. And for the first time in the twenty-two years of her married life, she went to bed alone.

* * *

It was the weight of Hunt’s arm across Ava’s waist that woke her to the fact it was morning and her alarm hadn’t gone off. She hadn’t remembered to set it.