I had never seen Evelyn look frightened until the trustee meeting began.
She sat at the head of the table, both hands resting on the folder in front of her. Peter sat beside me. The two distant trustees had joined us in person after reviewing the documents. My mother and Willa waited in the hall with the others, because the sale decision belonged to the trustees alone.
The conservation group had made a final offer. It was higher than the first one, enough to cover the emergency roof work, the safety repairs, and a reserve for the lodge's reduced-capacity year. The buyer would hold the land under a permanent conservation easement. The family would give up private use of the shoreline, but the public would not lose it to development.
The offer was strong. The loss was real.
Evelyn presen
