He knocked on the door and waited on the doorstep, noting the pumpkin on the front porch. It was 5:45, and his Saturday shift at his second job had ended at 5:00. He was tired, bone tired, just aching from all the extra work he'd been doing, and he was hungry, very much ready for dinner. As tired as he was, he might just fall into bed and skip everything else. All of the extra work-it was really paying off, though, as he was starting to recover from his near-bankruptcy situation. Finally, he had some money in the bank and was able to treat the kids a little when they stayed with him. That hadn't been a lot recently, as they'd been traveling with their mom during their fall break from school visiting the grandparents, but when he did see them, he could now at least make their time together fun. Every now and then, they could go for ice cream, see a movie-really, anything to get out of the house. His apartment was starting to look better too, thanks again to the extra money he was saving. All of that still added up to this bone-tired feeling he had right now, standing here on the front porch. He knocked again and paused to listen. His mind had been wandering so much he hadn't noticed if he'd heard anyone home. She should be home; he could see a car in the driveway.

"Oh, Officer Flynn," he heard a moment later as the door opened. Andy smiled at her and nodded. "I mean, Detective Flynn," she said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry; I always forget the titles."

"No worry," Andy smiled warmly at her. "It's nice to see you Mrs. Walker. I wasn't sure if you would remember me."

"Of course," she gestured with her hand. "You lived there in Sharon's house for almost a year. I couldn't forget you, such a nice, helpful person, great tenant too."

Andy chuckled at that and nodded, "Thank you. She's a great person, and that's actually why I stopped by today."

"She's out of town right now," Mrs. Walker said, closing her cardigan around herself. "My, it's getting chilly."

Andy continued to smile and just nod. He wasn't about to comment that for October, the week of Halloween, it was feeling extremely hot to him. He nodded toward Mrs. Walker, "Yes, Ma'am, that's actually why I stopped by. I haven't spoken to Sharon in well," he titled his head, "a few weeks. We're friends, and she told that she was going to Florida because her father had a stroke. That's the last I heard from her. I stopped in her office at work, and they didn't have much more information, just that she was out. I was getting a little concerned and knew that since you were getting her mail, you might have more information. I don't have her phone number there in Florida, and aside from her work email, I don't know if she really uses a personal one yet. So many people only use email at work."

"Oh," she waved, "I'm not interested in that technology. Email," she huffed. "By the time I connect my dial up Internet, I lose interest in anything on the Internet. I suppose it's got good information, but I don't need it."

"Right," Andy nodded. "Sharon?"

"Oh, of course," she shook her head. "Sorry, I get easily distracted. Sharon is still in Florida. Her father had that stroke, and he wasn't doing well at all. He passed away almost a week ago now. That's the last time I spoke to Sharon. She told me that she would be even longer. Poor girl. She has no one to easily help with the kids, not when her father has died, and her mother must also be a wreck. Sharon said she should be home the first week of November. I know that the last thing she wanted to do was to miss almost a month of work and all, Emily with school, but family emergencies don't have the best timing."

"Wow, I, ahh, had no idea," Andy sighed. He dropped his head and looked down at his feet. Sharon's father had died. He knew she was private, but even this, he hadn't heard it at work. As far as he knew, work didn't know. He'd checked again today to see if she was back, and when he asked about her in the office, they didn't know when she would return. They told him what he already knew; Sharon's father was ill, and she had a family emergency. Still, now, the fact was that she had a mess on her hands, and he really had no way to contact her.

"Do you have her phone number, by chance?" Andy asked.

"Oh, I probably do, yes," she said. He could tell the older woman was flustered. Sharon liked Mrs. Walker so much, and Andy did too, but he didn't want to fluster her too much.

"You know what," Andy waved. "Don't worry about it. If her dad died, Sharon's busy and has a mess, not even to include just taking care of the kids. Calling her right now isn't going to help with any of that. You said she should be back next week?"

"Yes," Mrs. Walker nodded. "She told me she would. Honestly, I expect her to call me in the next few days. She's called each week, and it's been that long now since I spoke to her, but wit her mess," she sighed and shook her head. "Poor girl. She has had so much tragedy. She's got that ex-husband of hers who is worthless, and now, she's dealing with this. Some people just have too much."

"Would you please pass along my condolences and tell her I was thinking of her?" Andy asked, his eyes pleading with hers. "Sharon doesn't have a lot of friends here, but I hope she knows I'm one of them."

"I will, certainly," she said with a nod to him.

"Thank you," Andy nodded, looking out toward Sharon's house. It sat there, empty. It almost looked sad, certainly in need of some yard work. He turned back to Mrs. Walker. "Tell you what," he nodded at her, "I'll get Sharon's grass cut for her and clean up the place. I just got off work today, and this is more important than going home."

"Oh, that would be wonderful," she clapped her hands together and gave him a warm smile. "I asked Sharon about that last week on the phone, and she said not to worry. I can't exactly get out there and take care of things."

"No, no," Andy gestured with his hand and waved. "I'll do it. Ahh," he put his finger to his mouth, "I don't have a key anymore to her garage."

"I'm not sure the key she left me gets into her garage either, but I have tools and a lawn mower here if need be," she told him.

"Great," he said with an encouraging smile. "Let me get to work, then. It's the least I can do for her mess. Even more," he gestured at the house, "I'll pick up a few groceries for her since she'll need to clean out and replace a lot. I lived there for almost a year and have a pretty good idea of what she needs."

"Bless you," Mrs. Wallace smiled, clutching Andy's hand. "You're a good friend."

Andy sighed and shook his head, "Not good enough, not if I didn't know anything about her dad passing away. To think-" He sighed again.

"To think what?" Mrs. Walker asked.

"Nothing," Andy shook his head. "Yes, she's a good friend. I did want to talk to her, to see how things were going. I had no idea it was so bad. Let me get to work."