Chapter 8

I said, "Not yet."My older boy looked at me for a long moment. He said, "Dad, how long is not yet?"I said, "Not very long."I found out later from that same guest who gave me the full account at the end of the day exactly what she said when she walked back to her guests. She told the people around her, word for word, "He'll leave. That type always does when you hold your ground."That type.She did not say he will leave when he realizes he is wrong. She did not say he will leave when I show him the paperwork. She said that type always leaves. She had already sorted me into a category, and the category was people who back down when someone holds their ground on them. I want you to hold on to that for a minute.I stayed on that tailgate for another full half hour after that. My boys had completely settled in by now. My younger one had found my old binoculars in the back of the truck and was watching the party through them. My older one had finished his chips and moved on to the granola bars he had packed for the camping trip. Neither of them said much. They had figured out that whatever was happening was going to be worth being patient for.Karen worked the back half of that party with the same relentless energy she had from the start. Nothing tired her out. She circled that party over and over, finding new conversations, new moments to be the center of, new corners of my property to point at and make plans about. At one point, she climbed up and stood on the bench of my picnic table. She actually climbed up there in her white heels and her ball gown, and she stood on the bench I had built with my own hands, and she raised her glass and she gave a toast.I could hear pieces of it from the tailgate: something about new beginnings, something about finally having what she had worked for, something about the people around her being exactly who she wanted to share it with. Her guests raised their glasses. They cheered. A few of them clapped—standing on my table, in my field, on my land.Halfway through the wait, I got my phone out, made one call, and kept it short. I told the person on the other end where I was, and I said, "Get here as soon as you can." I did not explain anything else. I hung up and went back to watching.My younger one said, "Who did you call?"I said, "Someone who needs to see this."He said, "Who is it?"I said, "You will see when they get here."He thought about that for a moment. He said, "Is this going to be good?"I said, "I think so."

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