The place was a ghost town. Despite its breath-taking locale, Appaloosa Plains had become a shadow of what it once was. The residents of the "sleepy ranching town" had drifted off, leaving behind shells of homes, crumbling remnants of Victorian architecture and empty streets. The city tried to save its existence by offering a funding assistance program for repairs, but the program collapsed when it was discovered that nearly all the buildings were contaminated with asbestos, had unsafe lead piping, needed all-new roofs or their foundations completely redone. Historical building legislation delayed construction work to such an extent that people opted to sell their homes to the government at a loss so they could move away from the red tape and renovation nightmare that their neighborhood trapped in. Now almost no residents were left and there was no city government to speak of. Appaloosa Plains was nothing more than a mess that needed to be cleaned up. Luckily, cleaning up...
Matthew needed Dorothy now more than ever. He had been holding up relatively well since his father had passed, but she knew he was struggling. All winter, Matthew spent a lot more time in bed. She hadn't seen him do any writing—he'd barely gone near his computer at all. The whole family got together for Christmas at Emery's house, but the sadness in the air was obvious. A few tears were shed. However, overall it had gone better than Dorothy expected. She was on her best behaviour; she hadn't taunted Aria at all, and she found she quite liked Colette. Still, Matthew seemed emotionally drained for days after the event. Dorothy did her best to keep up with the house cleaning and caring for the pets. She didn't want to complain about how much work it was maintaining things while Matthew took time to grieve. She knew he needed her support, she just wished it involved less litter box cleaning. Matthew was doing a little better by the time the frost melted an...