“I hope someday you understand I’m trying to keep this family together.”

“You’re not keeping us together,” I said.

“You’re choosing who gets pushed out.”

He left without another word.

I stayed awake researching Silas.

There was almost nothing online: a trade license, an old photograph of a community timber project, and a land parcel near the forest.

I called the number listed for the lumberyard before breakfast.

Silas answered himself.