Whole family, and I want that table cleared before then.”

The back door didn’t catch behind him and swung twice before it settled.

Martha took the survey out from under the sugar bowl and rolled it tight.

Her hands were steady, but her jaw wasn’t.

“He has been like that since he was nine,” she said.

“When his father was alive, he wasn’t like that.”

I photographed every page before the lid went back on.

The surveys, the notebook, the old land descriptions.