As she made this journey every weekend, Bess knew at exactly what moment she would first see the farm.  She should feel as if she was coming home, but with each trip, she felt a little more detached.  The farm was not her home anymore and never would be again.  She put aside a little money every time she got paid and she had enough saved up that she could get by for a few months if she lost her job at the school.  It wouldn’t take her long to find another teaching job, though she might have to relocate again.  In the past few years, she had become an independent woman who was able to support herself and saw no reason to return to the farm for good.

The sight still filled her with nostalgia, though.  She’d had some good times here with her family.  Her childhood, though full of hard work, had been a happy one.  Sometimes she even missed the work that she had complained about as a child.  If she missed it too much, she was sure that Tobias … and Sally, when they married … wouldn’t mind a bit of help now and then.

Her gaze turned back to her youngest brother as he explained their father’s condition.  It was going to get colder, which wouldn’t be good for him.  And while Tobias seemed to have the farm under control, Bess did indeed know what their father was like, wanting to be useful even though he knew he was dying.  And if the wedding was going to be held in five weeks, maybe he didn’t have much time left on this earth.  She would write Nate tonight and tell him everything so that he could make an informed decision.  Bess hoped that he would come, and that he would be welcome.  Her brothers had their differences, but for their father's sake, they needed to put them aside, at least temporarily.

“Maybe you should allow Father to do what he can.  Lying in bed may help him live a bit longer, but perhaps he would rather make the most of the time he has left.  I know that I would if I were in his situation.”  Bess doubted this advice was going to go over well with Tobias, but she felt that she needed to say it anyway.