She looked at his pack and the rest of the materials. “Weren’t you going to do more? Salt lines?”

“Give me a minute.” Jim stretched his bad leg out, wincing at the pain shooting up past his knee. “I’ll show you how to lay salt lines, and we’ll place these…” He reached into his pack and brought out what looked like some sort of stem with leaves attached. Handing one to her, he continued. “…in your bedrooms and the family room or whatever is the room you spend the most time in.”

She turned the greenery over in her hand. “Kitchen, then. Since John died, neither of us really wants to spend much time in the family room. The memories are stronger there, somehow.” She hefted the stem, leaves waving gently to the motion. “What...

Please subscribe to keep reading.