Prequel
Jean stood in the front drive, staring at the house for several minutes. She'd been here many times before, but this was different. This was permanent.
After a few weeks of selling her old things and staying in a hotel in town and moving whatever items she'd wanted to keep, Jean had finally fully vacated the old farm she and Christopher had worked all those years. She had tried, but she simply couldn't manage it alone. Not now that Jack had run off to make a life for himself without the horrid stigma of his youthful mistakes. And not now that Christopher Jr. had enlisted in the Army and left Ballarat far behind.
Jean was all on her own now, and it was time to move on. She tried to tell herself that the Ben and Ruth Dempster would be happy at their farm, just as she once was with her own family.
Still, she couldn't bring herself to let go. Not completely. As she stood there, staring at Dr. Blake's house, Jean clutched tightly to the plant clipping she had hoped to transplant here from her prized flowers at home.
She shook herself. Her old home.
With determination, she marched herself to the front door and used her key for the first time. This was home now.