Read Online A Message for Julia by Angel Smits - Free Book Online Page A

truly believed in them. Was that part of the reason his marriage was in trouble now?
    Julia was the daughter of a mine owner. Rich. Affluent. Linc was the son of a man who’d died in those mines. Poor. A nobody on life’s radar. He opened his eyes and the reality of the cold mine came crashing back.
    He’d known then that they weren’t meant to be together, but he’d ignored his gut and married her anyway. He shivered, and not just from the cold, damp mine tunnel.
    She’d finally walked out on him.
    Time had proven him right.
    Thursday Afternoon, 5:30p.m.
    J ULIA STARED AT THE FIVE MEN in suits who stood together at the front of the gym like bricks in an impenetrable wall. She immediately didn’t like them and she liked them even less when they started to talk.
    One man took a step forward. “I’m Martin Halston. I’m the CEO of the Winding Trail.” His face flushed asif admitting that wasn’t something he wanted to do. The bright red color swept up his pudgy neck and showed through his thinning salt-and-pepper hair. “I want you to know we’re doing everything we can to figure out what happened.”
    Jack Sinclair stood. His face was red, too, but from anger not embarrassment. “My sons are down there,” he shouted. “Right now I don’t give a damn what happened. I want to know what you’re going to do to get them out.”
    The silence stretched uncomfortably until finally another man stepped forward. What weren’t they being told? Julia watched Halston stand back and take a deep breath.
    â€œI’m Patrick Kelly, Director of the Mining Commission.” This man seemed a bit more sure of himself. “That’s why we’re here. To fill you in.” He pulled off his suit jacket and tugged at his tie before he spoke again. “There’s been one face fall that we know about. There’s debris, but we believe the men are beyond that. We’ve started drilling the first bore hole.”
    â€œHell.” Jack Sinclair threw his hands up in frustration. “You don’t even know if they’re alive, do you?”
    â€œWe’re trying to find out. We hope so.” Patrick scrubbed a hand over his face, then met Jack’s eyes. “You wouldn’t want me to lie, would you?” An awkward silence settled over them all.
    â€œNo.”
    Julia wasn’t so sure. She wanted to hear that they were okay and would be home soon. Lie to me. Lie to me.
    For several long minutes, she listened to the men argue. She understood Jack’s pain. His two sons—his only children—were down there. She felt as if she were watching a bad dream through distorted glasses. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real.
    She didn’t understand all the jargon they were throwing around, but she did understand that they were drilling down to try to locate the men. That wasn’t going to be anytime soon, and forever stretched out in front of her. She knew from past incidents that this whole process—regardless of the outcome—could take hours, or even days.
    She swallowed her anxiety and looked around at the people who shared her fear.
    The Sinclair women sat behind Jack. Rita’s arms were around her very pregnant daughter-in-law, Rachel. Shirley Wise sat to the side, her back ramrod straight as she glared at the men. For once, Julia and Shirley were on the same page.
    Another woman sat on the front row of the bleachers. The blonde woman’s face was buried in her folded arms.
    Julia turned back to look at the young counselor who’d come to comfort her. Why had she come to her and not this heartbroken woman? Because of who her husband was? Julia fought a flare of anger. Neither she nor Linc wanted special treatment. She was in the same boat as everyone else here. Her loved one was trapped, too.
    Her thoughts stopped. Loved one? She didn’t love Linc anymore. Did she? Instead of an answer, a