Summary

In Chapter 9, Dad suggests that Lorraine move back home and take over running the store. Mary also thinks this is a good idea, but Lorraine is unsure. The three talk about the past, and Lorraine speaks about how Frank would get very sad sometimes. She also speaks of how he would become amusing when he drank. He talked about his life, his work, and his friends. Lorraine explains that Frank did not always say bad things about growing up in Holt.

In Chapter 10, the novel shifts back in time several years. Alene and her lover, a married man who is the principal from the school district where Alene teaches, are walking in Denver. Alene cries each time he leaves her to go home.

In Chapter 11, the novel returns to the present. John Wesley, a freshman, has been seeing Genevieve Larsen, a sophomore. Genevieve loves...