From This Day Forward by Margaret Daley Read Free Book Online Page B

plantation.” Her face heated. “My farm, when I had the accident.”
    “So that cart in the ditch is yours?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where is your husband?”
    Rachel met Sarah’s direct gaze. “Dead.”
    “When? How?” Sarah’s eyes brightened when they latched onto Faith. “May I hold your daughter? I hope I have a little girl.”
    Rachel nodded while she tried to decide how much to tell this woman. She placed Faith in Sarah’s arms. “He died on the ship from England. I have only been here a few days.”
    “Aha, I thought you were English. That is awful, being left stranded here. Do you have any family in Charleston?”
    “What are you doing here, Sarah?”
    Gasping, Sarah whirled around with Faith cradled against her. “May a sister visit her brother?”
    Rachel glanced toward the open doorway. She had not heard Nathan come in either. Her pulse kicked up a notch.
    “Yes, but since we saw each other a few days ago, there must be a reason for this visit. Did you come from Liberty Hall? I was there this morning and you were not.”
    “You were? Why?”
    “To borrow a few items to help Rachel. So you came from Charleston. I am surprised you came here before going to Liberty Hall. Where’s John?”
    “In Charleston. He was at the docks when I left.” Sarah fussed with the blanket around Faith then handed the baby back to Rachel. “Patrick wants to see you.”
    “He knows where to find me.”
    “At Pinecrest.”
    “No.”
    “Grandfather is sick.”
    “Then Patrick should have a physician see him.”
    “He will. You .”
    Nathan strode toward a cabinet and withdrew another large bowl, placed it on the table, and then poured sugar into it, along with other ingredients. After he added the flour, he began stirring the cake mixture, his features set in granite.
    Sarah stamped her foot. “Nathan Stuart, don’t you ignore me.”
    “If you two will excuse me…” Remembering squabbles she’d had with her siblings, Rachel sidestepped toward the door of the bedchamber.
    Nathan trapped her with an intense gaze, burning with suppressed anger. “Stay. I promised I would show you how to make a cake.”
    “But—” The protest died in Rachel’s throat. From across the room, Nathan’s distress beckoned to her. She wouldn’t leave if he wanted her to stay. She owed him that much.
    Nathan swung toward his sister. “Sarah, you are welcome to stay and enjoy a piece of cake when ’tis ready, but if you do, not another word about Grandfather.”
    “You are as bad as he is. We are a family, whether you two want to acknowledge that or not. You used to follow him everywhere and hang on his every word. How can you turn your back on him?”
    His jaw clamped shut, a muscle in his cheek twitching. “I didn’t throw him off my land nor threaten him at gunpoint. When I returned from the war, I wanted to mend the rift between us, but obviously he didn’t.”
    “Please go see him. He can be stubborn but—”
    “It will not do any good.” Nathan picked up some patty pans and buttered them.
    His sister threw her hands up. “Men and their pride.” She turned toward Rachel. “Perhaps you can talk some sense into him. I give up.”
    “I have found it is hard for some men to admit they may be wrong. Pride is a convenient excuse for them.” Rachel shifted her sleeping baby in her arms. “I need to put Faith down.”
    Sarah removed her hat. “I will come with you.”

    The women disappeared into his bedchamber. Nathan poured the batter into the pans and put them into the brick oven next to the fireplace then checked on the rising bread dough. He quaked from trying to hold in his intense emotions. They demanded release.
    Sarah was asking too much of him. He had loved his grandfather, but the stubborn old man had turned him away from Pinecrest merely because he had not wanted to be a planter but a physician. He had tried to do his duty to the family and take his father’s place after he died, but his heart had not been