Read Online Redeeming Gabriel by Elizabeth White - Free Book Online

Resentment laced Diron’s tone. “So I’m not good enough for you anymore.”
    “You know that’s not true, uncle.” Gabriel gentled his voice, tamping down the temptation to blurt out everything to his mentor and foster father. He turned and found the old man bowed over his whittling. “I mean, I am religious, and I need to distance myself from what I used to be. But you’ll always be my favorite old man.”
    Diron grinned a little. “Some of the tales I could tell about you…”
    “Uncle—”
    “Aw, don’t worry. I can keep a secret when I have to.”
    Gabriel turned sharply to study his uncle’s shadowed face. He looked around more closely. Even in the uncertain light of the flickering oil lamp, he could see improvements around the old shack. New steps with fresh paint. The pier, which had been a mess last time he was here, extended gracefully out into the river, a sturdy fishing boat bobbing against it. “What’ve you got into around here? Fishing’s never been so lucrative.”
    Diron shrugged and flicked his knife across the pine. “I’m doing some work for Chambliss Brothers.”
    Gabriel leaned against the post and stuck his hands in his pockets. “There can’t be many men in this part of the country who’re making money instead of losing it.”
    “Beckham Chambliss is a smart businessman.” The old man grinned. “Strikes when the iron’s hot.”
    Gabriel shook his head at the pun. “I suppose the war brings in machine shop trade.”
    “Now you’re thinking. The secret’s providing what the military needs.” With a cagey look Diron leaned toward Gabriel. “If you’re interested in investing, I could put in a word.”
    “I might, if the basic funding is secure.”
    “As secure as it gets this day and age.”
    “I don’t know.” Gabriel pretended to hesitate. “Who’s the bankroller?”
    “Swear you’ll keep it to yourself.”
    Gabriel nodded.
    Diron lowered his voice as if Ajax might carry tales. “The major stockholder of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad.”
    Gabriel released a soundless whistle. Ezekiel Beaumont, then, was a man with not just a finger but an entire fist in the Confederate military pie.
    And his daughter had intercepted a sensitive Union document. God have mercy if she let that document get into the wrong hands.

Chapter Six
    C amilla found Portia in the warming kitchen, transferring hot yeast rolls into a wicker basket. The housekeeper was perched atop a wooden stool situated in a stream of sunshine pouring through the open window, her big Bible open on the table.
    Camilla plopped into a rocker in the corner beside the empty fireplace and pulled a half-finished sock and a ball of yarn from a quilted bag. “Portia.”
    Portia glanced up. “What, honey?”
    “What are you reading?”
    “Galatians five—the fruit of the Spirit. Gotta remind myself every now and then.”
    “‘Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.’” Camilla sighed. “Why is it so hard to do all those things?”
    “’Cause they’re not things you do. It’s what you are when you’re under the Spirit’s control.”
    Camilla knitted fiercely for a moment. Had she been under the Spirit’s control yesterday when she’d been in the company of Reverend Leland? He had upset and confused her so that she’d hardly felt like herself.
    She put her hand into her pocket and fingered the paper she’d been carrying around all morning. “Portia, if I tell you something, will you promise not to scold?”
    “I can promise you’ll be sorry if you don’t tell me.”
    What had she expected? “Well, the night I heard—you know…”
    Portia gave her a head-down, under-the-eyebrows stare.
    “When I went back to the boat I was given this message. I think it’s from Harry, but I can’t make head nor tails of it.”
    Portia’s lips tightened. “I told Mr. Jamie there wasn’t no future in encouraging that Martin boy. Not