Read Online The Edge of Town by Dorothy Garlock - Free Book Online Page A

know about me,” he said gruffly.
     
     
    “I don’t have to explain to my kids when I buy something.”
     
     
    Julie backed away. “I haven’t asked you to explain. Dinner is on the table.” She went quickly back to the house.
     
     
    The talk at the dinner table was about the car. Their father didn’t say how much it cost or how he was going to pay for it. He did say that he had borrowed the money from Mr. Wood’s bank.
     
     
    “Can we go for a ride?” Jason asked.
     
     
    Jethro gave him a broad smile. “I was planning on it right after dinner.”
     
     
    Not wanting to put a damper on the happy event, Julie left the dishes in the dishwater and went out to the car. Jack and Jason sat in front with Jethro. Jill, Joy and Julie climbed in back. Jack watched anxiously as his father moved a lever beneath the steering wheel and took the crank from behind the driver’s seat. The motor fired after a twist or two. Jethro hurried to get back behind the wheel. He adjusted the lever again and the engine purred softly. He set the car in motion and guided it in a big circle around the yard before heading down the lane toward the road.
     
     
    Joy held tightly to Julie’s hand. Her eyes were bright with excitement, and for once she was still. This was the first time since she was old enough to be aware of it that she had ridden in an automobile. The other time was when she was a baby and the doctor had come out because she was running a high fever. He had suggested that Julie and Joy return to town with him and spend the night in the spare room at his office so that he could keep an eye on the child.
     
     
    Julie put her arm around Joy and hugged her close. She wanted so much for this precious little girl who had been thrust into her life.
     
     
    “Where are we going, Papa?” Jill moved up onto the edge of the seat.
     
     
    “Just up the road a piece.”
     
     
    “Can we stop and show Ruby?”
     
     
    “We’ll not be going that far, Sis,” Jethro said as they approached the Humphrey farm. “We’ll turn around here.”
     
     
    He’s hoping that Birdie Stuart will see that he’s got a car
. The thought popped into Julie’s head and immediately, she was ashamed of it. The Humphrey children and Birdie’s little girl were playing in the lane. They stopped and watched the car turn around. Jill called out and waved. When Julie looked back, she saw the children running to the house to tell the news.
     
     
    “Joe’ll be surprised,” Jack said as his father drove back home. “He’s been wishin’ we had a car.”
     
     
    When Jethro stopped the car in the area between the barn and the house, he didn’t turn off the engine.
     
     
    “I suspect he will,” he said, pulling up on the emergency brake. “You all get out. I’m going to take it out for a little spin—”
     
     
    “Can I go?” Jason asked eagerly.
     
     
    “No, son. I’m going to see if I can get her up to about thirty-five and I don’t want you kids in the car.”
     
     
    “Thirty-five what?”
     
     
    “Miles an hour. They’ve got cars now that go up to forty or fifty.”
     
     
    “Fifty miles in an hour.” Jack whooped. “I’m going to do it someday. Ride in an airplane, too.”
     
     
    “Not if I have anything to say about it,” Julie said staunchly as she lifted Joy down from the running board.
     
     
    “Ah, Sis,” Jack said. “I wouldn’t get hurt or nothin’.”
     
     
    “I might stop over and see what Evan thinks about welding the fenders.” Jethro released the brake.
     
     
    “Be careful.” Julie grasped Joy’s hand and backed away from the car.
     
     
    As she stood in the yard and watched the automobile bounce down the lane toward the road and then turn right toward the Humphreys’, Julie felt an anguished moment of fear and dread of what the future might hold for the family. She glanced at Jack and was surprised to see that the happy grin had left his face. The look in the boy’s eyes as