I picked up the pen and held it. My hand felt heavy and my mind kept going back to what Daddy had said about the land. I thought about the three hundred and ten acres and all the years they had put into them.

I thought about how quiet the house would feel without him in it.

The clock kept ticking on the wall. I put the pen back down and pushed the papers away.

In the morning I called Tom and Linda both on the phone. I told them I could not sign the papers. Not yet. Tom was upset and said I was making a mistake. Linda said she understood and that we would figure something out together.

Daddy was out in the field again that afternoon, walking slow but steady like he always did. I watched him from the kitchen window and wondered how long we could keep going this way. The offer from the facility expired on Tuesday just like they said it would.

I put the papers in the bottom drawer and closed it. The jars stayed on the shelf where Mama had left them. Every night I still leave the window open, just in case he decides to walk again.