Chapter 15 Summary

While Reta's oldest daughter is living the life of a beggar in Toronto, life goes on in the Winters' household. Four yards of screened bark mulch have been delivered to the house on the morning that this chapter opens, and Reta is now faced with the task of spreading it between the shrubs and perennials in the garden. By late afternoon, Tom and Reta have finished the work and go into the house for dinner. Everything appears so normal. Christine is playing the piano; Natalie is watching TV. Tom sits down in a chair beside her; Pet sprawls in front of him.

At seven o'clock dinner is ready. Reta shuts the red kitchen curtains, her signal to Lois, her mother-in-law, to come over for her nightly meal with the family. Everyone sits down at the dinner table and talks about a variety of...