Page 78 - The Last Gift
P. 78

would belong to someone else, just as he did.
      She was again up on the ridge watching the

sun set, but this time she watched all alone —
alone with the big equipment and her regrets.
Her heart was heavy as she returned from the
ridge that night.

      She wandered up there every night after
that. She knew she was trespassing, but she went
anyway. In the long shadows of the evening, she
walked around the skeleton of the house, trying
to imagine what it would be like. The builders
seemed to be hurrying it along to get it framed in
before winter. As the walls rose, she meandered
through the rooms trying to imagine the purpose
for each one, pretending it was her house, and
she was hosting a party.

      There was one vast room that she imagined

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