Read Online Rebecca's Promise by Jerry S. Eicher - Free Book Online Page B

all that well.”
    “Don’t say that,” she told him. “Don’t even think it. Of courseshe likes you. You’re family. She pays you well. For now, just keep your eyes open. If something comes up in a conversation, try to ask questions without sounding suspicious. Find out what you can about who’s visiting her.”
    “I can try,” he said, unpersuaded.
    “You have to,” she told him. “It’s our only chance for good information. There’s no use in me asking her anything. She’s not going to tell me. If Emma
is
contacting a lawyer, it can only mean one thing.”
    “So what are you going to do about it?”
    “I don’t know.” She turned to look out the kitchen window, catching sight of Reuben heading toward the house. “Depending what her plans are, maybe we can go to Bishop Mose.”
    “Like he’s going to meddle in a family matter,” Luke said.
    “If it’s bad enough, he will.” She glanced out the kitchen window again. “Your dad is coming in. You’d better go.”
    “How much money is involved?” Luke asked, as he walked toward the utility room in his stocking feet, stopping at the rug for his boots.
    “An awful lot,” she said.
    His face gleamed as he reached for his boots. “That and some farms?”
    “Yes,” she said. “Now you see why I’m worried?”
    He just grunted without looking at her, pulling on his boots. When his father opened the door, his coat was already on.
    “Leaving for Emma’s?” Reuben asked.
    “Yeah,” he muttered, without looking up. “I’m a little late.”
    “Well, our driveway needed to be done,” his father said. “The work at Emma’s could wait.”
    “I suppose so,” he allowed. “It’s just that there’s feed to put out. Then I need to make sure the cattle can get under shelter and out of the weather.”
    “Has she got enough room for all the cattle inside?” Reuben asked, not remembering Emma’s layout exactly.
    Of course she does,
Rachel thought bitterly,
with all that money.
    “With the shelters in the fields, there’s enough,” Luke said.
    “How many cattle are on the home farm?” his father wanted to know.
    “Over two hundred head,” Luke replied. “The other farms—I don’t know.”
    “She’s got a lot of money,” Reuben chuckled. “No wonder your mother wanted some of it. Seems like there should have been enough to go around. Include all the family. Ever wonder why old M-Jay didn’t leave your mother her share?”
    “Maybe he didn’t like us,” Luke said.
    “I doubt if that’s the reason,” Reuben said. “M-Jay was a strange fellow. Good church member though. Never gave us a bit of trouble. At least during the time I was deacon.”
    Rachel cleared her throat, suddenly desperate to steer this conversation in another direction. “You shouldn’t be calling your father-in-law strange,” she said. “You married his daughter. Remember?”
    “That I did,” he acknowledged. “It was a good choice. Still a good choice.”
    Luke opened the door to leave. “I’ll be back at the regular time,” he said over his shoulder.
    Moments later his buggy went out the semi-plowed driveway, his horse shaking its head against the flurry of snowflakes.
    Reuben settled down at the kitchen table and said, “Rachel, there’s something I need to talk to you about.”
    Pulling a chair up to the opposite side of the table, she nervously sat down. “Yes,” she said meekly.
    “We have a problem in the barn,” he said, without looking up from the kitchen table. “The black driving horse is down.”
    “Is it serious?” she asked.
    “I don’t know,” he replied. “I should go down and call the vet. It can’t get up in the stall.”
    “We just drove it yesterday,” she said. “There was nothing wrong then.”
    “I know,” he acknowledged. “Maybe it’s nothing serious.”
    “So when are you calling the vet?” she asked him.
    He sighed, his eyes still focused on the kitchen tabletop. “That’s the