They Forgot to Invite Me to Christmas—So I Bought a Mountain. When They Came to Take It, the Deputy Was Already Waiting.

the truth at church if necessary. I thought about my friends showing up with board games and fierce loyalty. I thought about the look on the deputy’s face when he told my family they were leaving. I thought about every person who’d said “welcome to High Timber” like it was the simplest, most natural thing in the world.

The vow I’d made that first night continue reading …