The life was not the reward for the building.

The building had been an elaborate, gilded excuse to keep postponing the life.

Chapter 16 — The Storm

The cottage forced the next question before Damian could find a gentle way to raise it.

A severe summer thunderstorm exposed the full extent of the damage all at once.

Water poured through the ceilings of three rooms, and Mabel and Damian spent the middle of the night setting out buckets and dragging furniture clear, and near the hallway a whole section of soaked drywall let go and collapsed with a sound like a shot.