Beck and Barn — Janice Daugharty

In the tradition of Eudora Welty, "Beck and Barn" is an old-timey love story about a couple's exaggerated and ironic devotion to each other. After Barney dies, Becky takes a short trip to her sister's in Florida; she returns to find that her no-account brother has burned her cabin to the ground, and with it her only picture of Barn. She now has something to live for--revenge--but even that is denied her. A simple I'm sorry would do, but she doesn't get that either--not from The Count.