Jessica jumped out of David’s sedan and dashed across the lawn to the bunkhouse to fetch her few belongings. She would have left her junk behind if it weren’t for the championship silver buckle she’d won barrel racing just before her dad died. As she skidded to a stop at the entrance, she remembered how he’d beamed with pride and insisted her mom take their picture. That photo was in her room too.
Inside the lodge, pandemonium greeted her as staff escorted elderly guests out to the Ruby Buses waiting in the parking lot. She weaved her way through the crowds all the way to the back building that housed the bunkhouse, then rushed into her room to gather her things and stuffed them in her backpack.
She paused before she wrapped the framed photograph into a dirty shirt: hair pulled back into
