Chenghai stopped the SUV in front of the house, but nobody opened a door.
The tree had always been large enough to dominate the backyard. Now its branches stretched over the roof and halfway across the front lawn, turning the late afternoon light green as it filtered through the leaves. The exposed roots had lifted sections of the yard around the trunk, yet somehow avoided the house, patio, pool, and every other structure I would have been annoyed about losing.
It had even gone around my outdoor kitchen.
That showed intelligence.
Or fear.
Either way worked for me.
The roots continued beneath the driveway in thick ridges that should have destroyed the pavement. Instead, the concrete had separated neatly around them, leaving the surface intact except for several narrow cracks.
