When Silence Sings by Sarah Loudin Thomas

Author:Sarah Loudin Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;Christian Fiction;FIC042030;FIC026000;FIC074000
ISBN: 9781493420230
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2019-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

chapter

eighteen

Serepta woke early and dressed for the day, brushing her graying hair vigorously and then twisting it snug at the back of her head. She opened a drawer to retrieve hairpins and found a slip of paper with “Song of Songs 1:15” written on it. Charlie. It wasn’t the first time he’d left her this particular message, but she refused to look up the verse. She had no use for the words of a God who cared so little for His creation. She crumpled the paper and dropped it back into the drawer. Better that Charlie use his own words or none at all.

She made her way downstairs to her office. There was a shortage of workers at one of her mines, and she needed to apply pressure to the superintendent so that production would not flag. She was mentally composing the letter she would write even as she entered her office to find Jake slumped in his usual chair with soft snores rolling out from underneath the hat pulled low over his brow.

Serepta flipped the hat to the floor and circled her desk as Jake blinked and rubbed his eyes. “Why are you here?” she asked.

“Mornin’ to you too, Ma.”

Serepta pulled out heavy writing paper and her favorite Montblanc ink pen as though Jake weren’t there.

“Yeah, well, I was just wondering if you’ve had any luck figuring out who’s stealing your liquor.”

She stilled and looked up. So, both sons knew about the missing shipments. How interesting. “What do you know about liquor being stolen?”

He yawned and scratched behind his ear. “Mack said something about it.” He curled his lip. “I can’t think why you’d send him after it when you’ve got me.”

“I thought you were busy running Colman Harpe out of town. He doesn’t seem to have budged an inch.”

“Aw, he’s not worth the trouble. I figure tracking that liquor matters more. You need to tell Mack to lay off and let me handle it.”

Serepta slid the cap off her pen and smoothed the sheet of linen stationery in front of her. “You might consider partnering with your brother. If you’re not careful, he just might prove more valuable to this family.”

The barb landed right where Serepta intended. Jake leapt to his feet. “Mack’s full of himself. He thinks all that education makes him smarter than me.” Jake leaned on the desk, his breath yeasty and stale. “You tell him to back off or I will.”

Serepta began carefully inscribing the day’s date at the top of the blank page. July 14, 1930. “I’ll do no such thing. Perhaps it’s high time one of you took the lead and proved your mettle.” She laid the pen down and folded her hands. “I’ll be interested to see which one of you comes out on top.”

Jake snorted like a bull, snatched his hat up from where it had fallen, and stomped out of the room. Serepta watched him go with a half smile. Finally her sons were starting to act like men. Now all she had to do was make sure she shaped one—or both—into the kind of men she needed.

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