Summary

The story takes place in the Salinas Valley of California on a gray December day. Elisa Allen, the 35-year-old wife of a foothill rancher, is working in her flower garden. As she prepares to plant some new chrysanthemums, she watches her husband, Henry, talking with two men in suits down in the tractor shed. Elisa is cutting down the previous year's chrysanthemum stalks and examining the plants for insects and other pests.

The white farmhouse where Elisa and Henry live is very neat with geraniums growing high around its polished windows. Even the doormat is clean and clear of mud. There is little work to do on the ranch in December. The hay has been cut and stored away, and the orchards have already been plowed up in expectation of rain. The cattle are ranging over the foothill slopes and growing...