“You feeling better?” he said after he had finished.

She nodded. She seemed tired, but there was a set to her shoulders that reminded him of Helen when she had her mind made up. “And you?” He reached out and scratched the stuffed bear behind its ear. “What do you think, Mr. Bear?” He waited for Jessie to respond, but she said nothing, hands against her hips. Her foot traced little designs in the snow.

“Does Johnny Bear like the place?” he persisted.

“I don’t know,” she said. “He won’t talk about it.”

Helen walked around the open car door. “Just because it stopped snowing doesn’t mean you can’t freeze to death,” she said, hands on her hips. They stood side- by-side, mother and daughter, amusing if unintentional mimics.

Hank had supposedly hung the spare key on a nail under the front step. David groped blindly behind the first riser and felt a sharp pain in his palm as he touched the keys. He withdrew his hand quickly and stared at the splinter that dug deeply into the soft flesh. The damn thing looked the size of a toothpick. He picked at it, but only succeeded in driving it even deeper.

“Daddy, you’re bleeding,” Jessie said. Bright red drops ran down his hand to the sleeve of his jacket and hung from his wrist, the snow below him spattered with tiny dots of crimson.

He gave the keys to his daughter (who took them cautiously while making a face), grasped the top of the splinter firmly with his fingernails, and yanked. A sharp pain made him grit his teeth, and then it slid out smoothly, leaving an angry red wound behind. He slipped a few Kleenex from his pants pocket and wrapped them around his hand.

Inside, with the lights on, the house seemed almost cheery.

“It’s beautiful,” Helen breathed again, looking up at the deep brown of the railings that ran along the edge of the second floor. He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close.

Jessie wriggled impatiently out of her backpack and dropped it on the floor. “I want a room up there,” she said, pointing to the second-floor balcony. All the sadness and fear seemed to leave her in a rush. He leaned over impulsively and kissed her on the cheek, and she brushed it away impatiently.

“You can have any room you want,” he said, and Helen pinched him hard. “Any room except the big one, that’s ours.” Jessie ran for the stairs, with Johnny Bear grasped tightly under one arm.

“She’s fine, isn’t she?” Helen asked.

He nodded. “I think so. She just fell asleep or something, and had another nightmare.”

“I was so scared.” She rested her head on his chest.

“Me too.” He held her for a long moment, touching his lips to her hair. “I love you.”