Corinne stepped out and called, “Are you alright? Do you need help?”
The woman nodded slowly. “Please. My name is Augusta Keller. This is my husband, Raymond. We have nowhere else to go. Our son and daughter told us to leave their home this morning. They said we were a burden.”
Hearing those words felt like being struck. Corinne took a deep breath. “You must be exhausted. Get in the car. I will take you somewhere safe.”
Raymond tried to protest. “We do not want to inconvenience you.”
“You are not inconveniencing me,” Corinne replied. “You need help. Let me help.”
They rode in silence for a while until Augusta spoke again. “We raised our children to be kind. I do not know what went wrong.”
Corinne reached for her hand. “Sometimes people lose their way. It does not mean you deserved what happened.”
She brought them to her home. It was small but clean and filled with the scent of pine from candles she burned to mask the sterility she so despised. She made them tea. She prepared sandwiches. She offered them her guest room.