“We will need a signed authorization if your daughter is going to represent you.”

“We can do that,” Dad said.

By the time we left, we had an application checklist and a possible route to request temporary enforcement relief while the permit was reviewed.

No one had promised approval.

It was the first real progress we had made.

On the drive home, Chad offered to pay for an engineer to prepare a polished site plan.

I saw Dad tense before he answered.