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join in on school trips that cost extra money, and had long ago quit accepting invitations to birthday parties. Even as a child, the gifts that her family could afford were too embarrassing. Was it her poverty thathad kept her alone or her propensity for being alone that kept her in emotional poverty? None of that mattered to her now.
    As irony would have it, her attitude and demeanor changed once she fell in love. She became a brighter soul and let her physical beauty bloom as well. In less than a year, it appeared she had become desirable. Other boys began to ask her out. The tug of her past held her back from the popular crowd, but she explored others who had grown up like her, shunned or shy or simply loners.
    This day, the sun reflected her brightness. She had a story to tell and a plan as to when to tell it. She had the glimpse of an escape from elderly parents, a cluttered trailer, and a life of loneliness. Today, her life would change. She had hope—more than hope. With him as a partner, she’d have normalcy in her life.
    She brushed at swarming gnats near her face and trotted a little way along the gravel edge of the creek. The shallow water, warmed by sun, soaked into her sneakers and socks, then dampened the hem of her skirt. The air blown over the deeper, colder, part of the creek was already doing its work on her body. The skin on her arms tightened. She hugged herself.
    As usual, she arrived a bit early and he would be a bit late. She never minded the wait. It gave her time to get ready, to think of him, to relax, to imagine herself naked under the tree, his body heat warming her in a protective cocoon. Imagining him, she could feel his hands near her shoulders and his thighs plunged between hers. She easily sensed the feel of his fingers separating hers as they would make love hand in hand.
    â€œMy love,” she said, fondling the newly budding leaf of a butternut tree.

Chapter 3
    A heavy fog lay over the valley Monday morning. Beyond the shed and the first few rows of trees, the air thickened with a pale gray mist, eliminating all evidence of a world beyond that point. Billy cleaned up and dressed before Alice stirred. He fixed a quick cup of instant coffee and stepped outside where the mist fell over him like a second shower. Under the coolness of the morning air, he could feel heat and humidity and knew what the lifted fog would bring.
    He leaned against the truck fender and sipped his coffee, looking into the nothingness over the trees. He fought back an urge to drive into the mountains, all the way to Bradford Ridge, where he could peer down over the ocean of fog, knowing the drowning town of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, lay under it.
    Out the corner of his eye, Billy saw the kitchen light go on. He wandered back into the house. “Good morning, Mom.”
    â€œGood morning, Billy. Sleep well?”
    â€œI did.”
    â€œYou were out late with your friends.” She smiled. Her hair was pulled back and her housecoat tied firmly around her waist. “You were with Karla?” Her eyebrows rose. “You don’t have to tell me.”
    â€œWe broke up.”
    â€œOh, honey,” Alice started toward him with her arms open.
    Holding the coffee cup away from his body, Billy let her hug him. “Don’t make it a big deal.”
    â€œYou’re not going to try to get her back?”
    â€œNo.” He kissed the top of her head. “I gotta go.”
    â€œHave a good first day,” she yelled after him.
    Coffee spilled onto the floor of the truck as he climbed into the cab. “Shit,” he said, setting the cup on the dash. He leaned over to open the glove compartment, found a napkin, and bent down to clean up the spill before starting the engine.
    As the sun rose, the mountains to his left became visible through the fog. The mountain tops showed through first, then the silhouette of trees, finally, slowly, fields appeared along the road. A strip of fog remained