Summary

One day, shortly after her husband’s death, Lane spots an object on the side of the road. She gets out of her car and discovers that it is a dead dog. A man on a tractor pulls up next to her and begins to cry when he sees the dog. He explains that the dog, Otis, belonged to his daughter, and accuses Lane of hitting it. Although Lane is able to convince the man that she did not kill Otis, he asks her if she will break the news to his daughter for him. Lane reluctantly agrees. When she arrives at the farmhouse, it occurs to her that the farmer assumed she would do as he asked because she is a woman. She defiantly drives off.

Many years earlier, in 1929, Christmas approaches. Jim and...