The clasp caught on the second click, the same as it had ever since the forty-five-dollar repair.

He spread the agreement out across the hood of his truck.

Forty acres of coastal grass sloped down to the water, and the paper showed twenty of those acres set aside for veteran housing.

“The whole parcel appraised at thirty-eight million,” he said.

“You’re giving away nineteen million dollars’ worth of land.”

“I know I am.”

“The town takes the twenty acres and builds forty units.

You hold on to the rest.”