The Quilter's Scandalous Past by Patrice Lewis
Author:Patrice Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-01-26T19:15:02+00:00
Chapter Ten
âHow did your aunt take it?â Miriam asked.
âShe was shocked, of course,â replied Esther. âThough in some ways, I donât think she was surprised. She knew Uncle Paul had high blood pressure and refused to take any medicine to control it. I think she expected him to have a stroke or a heart attack someday.â
Esther and Miriam sat in the hospitalâs cafeteria the day after Uncle Paulâs stroke. Her uncle was doing much betterâso much so that the doctor was confident he would be released the next day.
Miriam invited Esther to the cafeteria during her lunch break so the two women could finally have a chance to catch up.
âAunt Anna will be here this afternoon to visit,â continued Esther. âJoseph said he would drive her in the buggy so she wouldnât have to walk.â
âHow has it been, working with Joseph?â Miriam sipped her tea.
Esther was silent a moment. âAwkward, at first,â she admitted. âI had a lot of bad memories to overcome. To be honest, when I first heard it was him who was buying the store, I was horrified. Why him, of all people?â
âIt does seem ironic.â
âWhatâs ironic is how all of you, as well as myself, ended up here in the same town. I mean, what are the odds?â
âI just wish Thomas hadnât shown up.â Miriam made a face.
âJoseph said you decided not to bail him out?â
Miriamâs grimace deepened. âWelllll, I changed my mind. Heâs begging me to post bail for him.â
âWonât he just get into trouble again?â
âOf course, he will.â Miriam put a hand over her face. âBut the thought of leaving my own brother in jail just...just...â
Esther touched her friendâs hand with sympathy. âItâs a difficult choice, I know.â
âJa.â Miriam rewrapped her hands around her mug of tea, her face troubled. âItâs this crowd heâs hanging with. Some of them are doing serious crimes. To his credit, Thomas hasnât involved himself in the really bad stuff, but I worry he will at some point. Or that they may use him as a scapegoat. And you want to know my dark hope?â
âWhat?â
âThat he finally hits rock bottom in a way that wonât permanently harm himself or anyone else, and then gets redeemed.â
âRedeemed spiritually or socially?â
âBoth.â
âJoseph wondered the same thing after you came into the store to tell us he was in jail. But he didnât sound hopeful. He said Thomas has been messing up his life for twenty-four years, so why should he change now?â
âYet, people do change. They change all the time.â Miriam took on an expression of anticipation. âThe hospital offers all kinds of services and counseling he could take advantage of. And of course he could return to the church...â
Her friend seemed so filled with eager optimism that Esther became chilled. Was Miriam so blind to her brotherâs faults that she actually thought he could be redeemed? Is that why she was willing to bail him out of his latest scrape?
âWhy did he turn out the way he did?â Esther mused. âYou and Joseph arenât anything like him.
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