He read the obits everyday. He was waiting for Ray to die. He hadn't seen Jennie in 12 years and he had lost track of her. He didn't have a phone number nor an address, but he knew that when Ray died she would be back in town for the funeral and he knew Ray was getting old. Last time he saw Ray he looked like he would be dead soon. His constant worry was that Ray would die one day and the dog would tear up the paper before he got home. Depending on the time of day and week one died and the conscientiousness of the funeral home staff, sometimes the announcement would appear in the paper with little more than a few hours prior to the "sitting up" (wake for northerners.) If he missed the sitting up, he could always try to approach her at the funeral, but that would be a bit more awkward. The funeral home is a much better setting. The emotional atmosphere there would be one of bittersweet nostalgia which would be perfect for what he wanted. The mood at the funeral would be much darker and not nearly so romantic.

Once the funeral was over she would have no more ties to this town outside of settling the estate. God knows Ray won't have much of an estate and one could never tell about the timing of the settling of an estate. Typically the administrator runs into town one afternoon in the middle of the week, makes whirlwind visits to the attorney, courthouse and newspaper office and is gone again in two or three hours. And the emotional state associated with all that.... he didn't even want to think about it, but it certainly wasn't conducive to rekindling lost passion. He'd tried that once and it was a disaster.