Beau grimaced. Ellerbee wasn’t as bad as his father, but he came in a close second. “Why would she do that? There are tons of war industry jobs in that part of the country. She could have stayed closer to home.”
“Not if she wanted the kind of opportunities Bell’s been willing to give her.”
“A secretary?”
“Edie got a promotion a couple of weeks ago,” Maggie replied, her voice filled with pride. “She works in the drafting department now, drawing the technical sketches for the assembly line.”
Dear Lord! Was that what Edie Michaels had been hoping for from the start, to maneuver her way into a position with complete access to the most intricate details of the United States’s greatest hope to win the war?
A knock at the door fragmented his thoughts. He glanced at Maggie. “It’s kind of early for folks, isn’t it?”
Maggie walked over to the front door. “Not since the war. We get visitors at all hours of the day or night.” She threw him a teasing smile. “And occasionally through the front window.”
“Very funny. You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Not until we’re old and gray.” Maggie opened the door just enough for Beau to see the flash of tin and a gun harnessed in black leather at the man’s hip. She stepped out of the way. “Come on in, Mack.”
Beau hadn’t seen Mack Worthington since their days at McEachern High School, playing baseball for Coach Fuller. While most on the team dreamed of playing in the big leagues, Mack had a different goal. To be Marietta’s sheriff.
“Well, look at you.” Beau glanced down at the badge pinned to his friend’s shirt and smiled. “I can’t believe they gave you a gun. You couldn’t even throw straight.”
“Home run hitters didn’t need to know anything besides hitting the ball and running around the bases.” His old friend clapped him on the back. “Which is more than I can say for you. I heard you were back in town.”
Mack never pulled any punches. “Figured it was time I came home.”
“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a job to get to.” Maggie tugged on the knot holding her scarf in place, then grabbed her lunch bag and purse.
“Thank you, Maggie.” The lawman fumbled with his hat, circling the felt rim with his fingers. “I’m sorry to barge in, but I thought I might have a word with Beau.”
“Sure.” Beau nodded toward the dining room. “You want some coffee?”
“That would be good.”
“Merrilee’s just made a fresh pot before she left.”
A few minutes later, they settled around the table, steaming cups of Merrilee’s brew making misty swirls above the rims of the china cups. They settled around the dining room table, the lawman at the head of the table, Wesley and Beau flanking his sides. Wesley had had the good sense to send Claire upstairs to finish dressing for school. No telling what the sheriff had to say.
Mack reached for the miniature pitcher of milk and poured a generous helping in his steaming cup. “I’m sorry to bother you on your first morning home, Beau, but this just couldn’t wait a minute longer.”
Beau leaned back in his chair. “What has the old man done now?”
If Mack was surprised, he didn’t show it. He picked up his cup, curling his fingers around the dainty china. “He knows you’re back home and he wants to see you.”
Ten years Beau had been gone, and the minute he hits town, the old man starts making demands. Well, Beau had some business to take care of—getting a job, for one thing, so he could take care of Merrilee and Claire, fulfilling his promise to the only man who’d cared for him like a son.
Beau shrugged. “Dad’s going to have to wait.”
Resting his arms along the edge of the table, Mack leaned forward. “I figured that’s what you’d say, but Beau—” He paused. “He’s made some threats, promised he’d make our lives at the jail a bit rough if you don’t come by and see him in the next day or two.”
Beau laughed over the rim of his coffee cup. “Since when did an old man’s threats scare the Marietta police force?”
“He doesn’t, but the last time your daddy started trouble, we had to transfer six prisoners down to the federal pen for medical care, most of them Negroes. Almost had a race riot all because he didn’t think he got his mail quick enough.”
Beau ground his back teeth together. So Dad had figured out the reason he'd left home all those years ago, and even now, wanted to use it against him. Controlling… Beau forced the curse that came to mind out of his thoughts. I am a new creature in Christ. So why did his dad’s threats still bother him? Because now, as then, lives hung in the balance.
Beau stood up and paced across the room to the window. “Do you think he’s bluffing?”
“I don’t know.” Several seconds passed as Mack lifted his cup to his lips and took a sip. “He put up a pretty good fight the day he got arrested.”
“Don’t I remember!” Wesley chuckled. “Gave me a nice sock in the eye.”
Beau pulled back the curtain and looked out over the front porch. “Why can’t the old man just stay out of trouble?”
There was a silence, as if the two men were giving serious thought to his ridiculous question, before Mack spoke again. “Any thoughts about who’s going to represent him?”
Turning back toward them, Beau shook his head. “Not really. I’m not even sure he’s got the money to hire a lawyer.”
“Has your father got any savings?” Mack asked, placing the cup back in the saucer.
“Hasn’t trusted a bank since the Crash.” Beau scrubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve got a little, but nothing compared to what he’s going to need.”
“What about his house?”
Wesley stared at Beau. “I didn’t know James had a house. I mean, he’s lived here since before I moved in.”
“He probably thought it was his best shot at keeping an eye on Merrilee.” Beau blew out a deep breath, then looked at Mack. “You think I could get enough from his house to pay for a lawyer?”
Mack shook his head. “Not the way it is. James let it go to waste after you boys left.”
“That bad?” But Mack didn’t have to answer. The hard downward pull of his mouth spoke volumes. Beau chewed on the tough skin around his thumbnail. Why was he worrying over this mess? It wasn’t his problem to clean up. And he’d never intended on helping his father escape punishment—not after what that man had done to Merrilee and Maggie, and if he was completely honest, to their family. If convicted, James Daniels would spend the rest of his life rotting in jail. He lowered his gaze to the tablecloth, brooding over the intricate stitches. The old man had done it again, putting Beau in an impossible situation, counting on his son to get him out of it.
Well, Beau was done with him. He might take a look at the house and see what he could repair to get the place sold, but that was it. No more cleaning up his father’s messes. No more.
I am a new person in Christ. The old has passed away.
Beau pushed the palm of his hand into the aching muscles of his leg. He’d been on the same path as his father and the Lord had changed him, loved him, made him new. Could God work the same sort of miracle in James’s life as well? “I’ll go out to the house and see what needs to be done.”
Mack leaned back in his chair. “You can always asked for a court-appointed lawyer, Beau.”
But Beau shook his head. If he wanted God to work in his father’s life, he had to be willing to do his part, too.
“You might want to get someone who knows something about houses. Just from looking at it, I’d say you may have some problems with the weight-bearing walls,” Mack said. “An architect could tell you what the problem is.”
Beau plowed his fingers through his hair. First a lawyer, now an architect. “Where am I going to find one of those around here?”
“God must be smiling on you, my friend, because there’s one living right here in Merrilee’s boardinghouse.” Wesley leaned to one side, resting
his cheek on his fisted hand. “And you’ve already met her.”
Chapter Four
Edie bit the inside of her lip as she placed the slide ruler on the crisp sheet of parchment, quickly casting a glance at the anchors that held it to her angled desk. Pressing the sharp edge of the protractor against the metal, she traced the tip of her pencil lightly across the page, then stopped to study it. She couldn’t afford to make any mistakes in the updated drawings, not when the fighting men of the Army Air Force depended on it.
“Edie?”
She peered over the top of her desk and smiled as Maggie stood at the door. “Well, hey, you.”
Maggie studied the layout of the room, much like Edie imagined she did while in the cockpit of the B-29. Once she had the target in her sights, she headed toward her, her purposeful stride chewing up the floor until she stood at the edge of Edie’s desk.
She glanced around the empty room. “Where is everyone?”
“The dining hall.” Edie leaned back, stretching her crossed legs out underneath the desk. “Ruthie Clark made several of her juicy chocolate cakes from Major Evans’s private stash of Hershey bars. First come, first serve.”
“A piece of that cake’s worth a month of rations,” Maggie replied, rubbing her hands together. “So when are you going to take a lunch break?”
“Not today.” Edie released the screws of the anchors holding the blueprints until the paper popped free. Carefully, she rolled it into a tight scroll and placed it into its protective case. “Got to get these changes out.”
“You’ve got to eat.”
“I know. This is the third set this week and it’s only Tuesday.” Edie blew out a deep sigh. “And I don’t want to disappoint Mr. Ellerbee.”
“He’s blessed to have you.”
She nodded, though she wouldn’t exactly call herself a blessing. Abner Ellerbee had taken a chance on her. As one of the few women draftsmen at the plant, military documents crossed her desk on a daily basis.
If she’d chosen Germany like her parents…
“What happened to your test flight this morning?” Edie took out another sheet of clean paper. “I figured I wouldn’t see you around for the next couple of days.”
“A problem with the preflight check. Nothing big, but Wesley wanted one of the mechanics to take a look before he gave the okay.”
Edie shot her friend a sideways glance. “He’s very protective of you, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” Color infused Maggie’s cheeks, giving her a subtle glow that only complemented her girl-next-door good looks. “And the funny thing about it is, I’m actually enjoying it.”
Edie leaned forward, resting her elbows on her desk. “I think it’s kind of sweet.”
“Merrilee was right. Love changes everything.”
Edie lowered her gaze to the blank paper, the happiness radiating from her friend’s face a reminder of her own dim future. Hope lit Maggie’s smile. Edie could only pray she never lost it.
“Oh, Edie.” Warm, slender fingers closed over her forearm. “When you meet the man God has just for you, you’ll know it.”
The image of Beau Daniels, his russet hair slicked back, his green eyes filled with gentle concern at her pitiful attempt to hold him off with an iron poker flashed through her mind. She didn’t even know the man, except that he was James Daniels’s son—and that wasn’t saying much.
Who was she to judge? The pencil in her hand trembled against the paper. Her parents had abandoned their home, left everyone they knew, all for the ravings of a madman.
Edie stared at a collection of dust bunnies gathered in the corner. At least Beau knew what his father was capable of and had adapted.
Unlike herself.
She shut her eyes, the memories of that morning almost four years ago flooding through her. Shattered plates. The acrid smell of burnt toast. Even now, breakfast turned her stomach. Her ears still rang with the anger in her father’s voice. Edie reached up and touched her cheek where her father had struck her when she refused to go to Berlin.
“Don’t think you can hide from us forever, Edwina! The Bund is a very powerful German American group, and we will find you!”
Edie swallowed. Keep me hidden, Lord.
Silence hung in the air for the next few seconds. “I heard you met my cousin last night. Merrilee should have warned us that she always kept the front window unlocked for him.”
“It was fine once I knew who he was,” Edie answered, stealing a glance at her friend’s face. If Maggie thought it odd that her cousin entered the house through an open window, her expression didn’t show it.
“Good,” Maggie replied. “I think he might be worried that he made the wrong impression on you.”
Edie glanced over at her. “Why would you say that?”
“He asked me some questions this morning, and I couldn’t help feeling that he wanted to know more about you.”
Her heart sped up to a nervous rhythm in her chest. “Why would he do that?”
“Because you’re absolutely wonderful, that’s why!”
“I don’t think he got that out of our conversation last night.” Or this morning, for that matter.
“You never know.” Maggie gave her a sly smile. “I had to go before we had a chance to talk. I figure we’ll catch up once I have a break.”
Edie’s stomach knotted in panic. Why would Beau Daniels be nosing around her? What would he do if he learned the whole truth? That there were people after her, ready to send her to Germany?
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Edie’s hands shook as she slipped her drafting tools into their case. “I just don’t think it’s such a good idea to encourage him.”
“Why not? He’s obviously interested in you.”
Edie’s heart skipped a beat, and she grimaced. “I don’t know, Maggie. It’s just that I’m not interested in a relationship right now.”
“But I thought…”
“I’ve just started a new job.” Edie’s heart began to beat faster and for once, she was glad of her bulky desk so that Maggie didn’t see her trembling legs. “Plus, you’ve always complained about how your cousins bullied you.”
Maggie ran her hand down the long angle of her drafting table. “I know, but Beau was different. He looked out for me even after he left home.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“A couple of weeks after he went into the Civil Conservation Corp, I started junior high school. I must have told him how nervous I was because when I went to my locker that first morning, I found a note from him. He was so encouraging. For the next two weeks, he made sure I had a note in my locker.” Maggie smiled softly. “I’ve still got those letters.”
Edie cleared the sudden knot in her throat. “That was very sweet of him.”
“That’s the kind of guy Beau is.”
Edie nodded, not sure how to respond. This piece of information seemed to contradict everything Beau Daniels had hinted to her the night before about his unscrupulous life. And yet, it didn’t strike her as out of character. If he would go to such lengths to comfort a teenage Maggie, what would he do to protect his family from someone like her? A hunted woman?
“Then he shouldn’t have any problems finding a date around here.” A vague sense of melancholy drifted through Edie.
Maggie nodded, her shoulders slightly rounded in surrender. “I guess you’re right. I was just hoping the two of you might hit it off.”
“Of course,” Edie answered. “You’re marrying the man you love, and you want everyone else in the world to feel that way, too.”
“Not everyone, just my best friend.”
Tears pricked Edie’s eyes. She’d left so much behind when she’d taken this job—not only family, but friends she’d known for most of her life. Maggie’s friendship meant the world. Edie patted her arm. “So tell me. How are the wedding plans coming along? You and Wesley set a date yet?”
Maggie’s face lit up
with a bright smile. “That’s why I’m here. I figured since I’m not flying out today, maybe we could start looking at material for my wedding gown, at least see how many rations I’m going to need to make a decent dress.”
“You couldn’t come up with a parachute?”
“Wesley’s still working on it, but I’m not holding my breath. The man is chomping at the bit to get married.” Maggie grabbed her hand, her mood infectious. “So what do you say? Want to come with me this afternoon? Merrilee is going to meet us at Goldstein’s if she can find someone to watch Claire.”
“Why doesn’t she ask Beau? He and Claire seemed to be getting along well when I left them this morning.”
“He can’t,” Maggie answered. “Said something about having an appointment this afternoon.”
How could Beau Daniels already have some kind of engagement when he hadn’t even crossed the county line twenty-four hours ago? “Did he say what it was?”
“Why?” A knowing grin slanted across her face. “Are you more interested than you let on?”
Maggie’s remark hit too close to the truth. Edie smoothed down the rough edge of the paper. “I just think it’s odd, that’s all.”
“Oh.” That answer seemed to take the wind out of Maggie’s sails. “So will you come with me?”
“I wish I could.” Resting her elbow against her desk, Edie cupped her cheek in her hand. “But I’m scheduled to work at the hospital this afternoon.”
“Oh, come on. Can’t you just play hooky this once?”
With her free hand, Edie reached out to touch her friend’s arm. “I would, but we’re expecting a new batch of soldiers in, and I don’t want to leave them shorthanded.”
Maggie glanced up at her, her eyes luminous. “You’re just the sweetest thing.”
“I don’t know about that.” Edie laughed, the hard knot of guilt in her throat causing her short chuckle to be harsher than she’d like. “Tell you what. Why don’t I meet you over at Goldstein’s after I finish? Maybe we could go out for a bite to eat or something.”
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