Summary

Ella Hale thinks of herself alone and refuses to miss her husband. She and Cole go to retrieve Cal from a bar, where he is clearly having an affair with a woman in a room upstairs. She drives off in a fury, watching him chase after her half-dressed. That night, she vows that “they were over” (71), and reflects upon the “variety of fragmented dreams” (71) of her past. The next morning, however, she goes about her life as usual, taking care of the large amount of housework that falls to her. She reflects upon her role as a mother, which does bring her fulfillment, and on the good ways her sons turned out, noting that while “other women were always complaining…she loved being a housewife and mother” (73). From a future, disembodied perspective, Ella watches her sons as the sheriff and other...