The next time Roberta parked there, her neighbor said nothing. By noon, about thirty cars had filled the driveway and the gravel lane behind it, leaving Roberta furious and demanding that everyone move.
One of the visitors, Harold Beckwith, revealed that the lane was a registered right-of-way leading to an old orchard and that the group was attending an annual survey walk. Roberta was shocked because Harold was also her former father-in-law, connected to a past she had hidden for decades.
Roberta eventually moved away, while the restored orchard later opened to the public with a bench honoring the narrator’s late husband. The experience became a reminder that something can look empty or unimportant simply because someone does not understand what it holds.
