have enough trouble with one property.”
Two days later, Dad, Mom, Derek, Veronica, Inez and I drove out. Inez insisted on joining us, saying, “Your family has demonstrated a remarkable ability to discover documents in inconvenient places.”
We drove past fields and hills to a brush-hidden entrance with an unlocked chain between stone posts. Behind a collapsed farm shed stood a smaller building, roof bowed but frame intact. Dad approached it like an old friend.
“My father brought me here once.”
“You remember?” I wondered aloud.
“Barely.”
He touched the old door.
“I thought I dreamed it.”
The building contained decayed lumber, corroded tools and shelves of jars full of nails. Dad touched initials carved in a beam: M.R.
“His.”
Below them were the words MAKE ROOM AT THE TABLE. Mom smiled. RentApartments
“He liked sayings.”
“He liked telling other people what to do,” Dad replied.
“He was your
