Ellen pulled off her apron and tucked it under the counter, the roadhouse was empty, Jo had left to go get some more alcohol, and Ash was out of town. Ellen pulled down the shades and locked the door. She had more than one person sneak up on her and she was sick of it so she made sure it could never happen. She walked over to the jukebox and flipped through the music from all of the years of hunting. She turned on a soft song from a random playlist and swayed her hips to the music. Her long hair whipped back and forth between each step that she took. She closed her eyes, and for a moment she was in William's arms. His hands wrapped around her waist and she could have sworn that she felt the heat come off his finger tips. Ellen wrapped her arms around the air where her husband's shoulders should have been or where he was she couldn't tell what was real anymore. A tear fell down her cheeks and she held a faint hope that he had come back as a ghost if only for a moment. "Ellen," he whispered, "Ellen I love you" and he was gone. Ellen fell to the ground and let the tears streak down her face. Her tear stained shirt was drenched by the time that she stopped crying. She stood and wiped away the rest of her tears with her sleeve and slipped out into the rooms that she and Jo called home. She pulled her long sleeve shirt over her head; she needed to clean up before Jo got home. Ellen slipped into the shower to wash away the pain that seeing William had left her. She let the hot water stream down her body and her muscles relaxed from the tension that she held. "Mom," Jo called from the bar. "Mom I'm home, where are you?!" Jo pulled on her apron and put away the liquor that she had just brought home. Ellen climbed out of the shower and threw on some clean clothes. "Jo… honey I'm in here." She said as she walked into the room that she had just mopped. Hold it together, she thought as she walked towards her daughter. I need to be strong enough for Jo.
Jo found her mom her hair dripping in stingy clumps and felt guilt; she had taken away her moms person time. If only she had known what Ellen thought or was going through maybe she could help. She thought as she saw her mom's worn face, but she knew that her mother would never tell her what was troubling her unless she had too. Ellen embraced her daughter holding back tears. "I love you Joanna Beth. Don't forget that for one second" Ellen knew that everyone's time came and that her ticket was going to be punched real soon. She felt it in her bones, and she knew she needed to hold on to her daughter until that time came because nothing was more important to her.