“The original Bell parcel remained legally separate. When surrounding lots were developed, fences were placed incorrectly.”
“How incorrectly?” I asked.
“About sixty-eight feet.”
Brent rubbed his forehead.
“So part of my backyard—”
“May belong to the Bell estate.”
“And Gus’s garden?”
“Same issue.”
Dad seemed fascinated.
“So technically I may have been trespassing on Ruth’s land for forty years.”
Evelyn smiled.
“Fifty, perhaps.”
“Ruth would have enjoyed that.”
Brent stared at him.
“You knew her?”
“Of course.”
“How well?”
Dad leaned back.
“She gave my wife food when we were broke.”
That was how Brent finally heard the story.
Not all of it.
Dad did not mention Rebecca.
But he told him about Ruth’s Friday boxes.
About Mom.
About the garden.
Brent sat quietly when Dad finished.
Then he asked Evelyn, “Did Ruth have children?”
“One son.”
“Alive?”
“No. Died in 1999.”
“Grandchildren?”
“One.”
Dad looked up.
Evelyn checked her notes.
