Billy was in the barn, his dog patrolling the front porch. Maud growled at the dog louder than he growled at her. She threw out a leg in his direction as she went inside. Billy’s chair and chest were hunkered in the main room like a couple of contented hogs. The chest was particularly grating. It was sitting where Lovely’s cot usually sat and it seemed solid and permanent. But Maud had already felt that living alone without the hope of Lovely returning was worse than living alone thinking he would show any day. So her feelings were running completely crossways. Maud went to the cow lot, prodded Carrie into place with a little stick, and fussed at the cow, even though the animal was as cooperative as usual. She stood behind Carrie and smacked her on her rump more than once, trying to make the cow kick her in the stomach. But Carrie just turned a big brown eye and a wide, wet mouth Maud’s way and flicked her tail like she was bored with the whole conversation. Maud gave up. She set her bucket and stool in place, rested her cheek on the cow’s side, and closed her eyes.
