Promise Made by Linda Sole Read Free Book Online Page A

had come to the door to look at them. ‘Dorothy has dinner ready. You can stay if you want?’
    â€˜No thanks. I’ve promised Alice I’ll go to look at a house with her this afternoon.’ He gave his brother a hard look. ‘I want that money and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get it.’ His gaze shifted towards the house and Dorothy. ‘Give my love to your wife.’ His words carried an underlying meaning and Cley threw him a look of hatred.
    â€˜Don’t try that or you will be sorry!’
    â€˜Don’t push me too far or you’re the one who will regret it,’ Daniel warned.
    He turned his back on his brother and got into the old truck he was driving. It had stood idle in one of the barns since he’d been shipped out to Greece, but he had got it going again and the engine sounded sweet as he started it up. He had always had a talent for repairing engines – that was how he’d got left behind when the British evacuated Greece. If he’d abandoned that ammunition truck when the engine died on him, he might not have ended up as a prisoner of the Germans.
    There was no point in looking back, no point in dwelling on what had happened to him. Daniel had ridden out the war as best he could, using his time to study mechanics. He’d formed an odd sort of friendship with one of the guards. As a prisoner of war, Daniel had received parcels from the Red Cross and occasionally from home. He’d seen Hans looking at his chocolate bar with naked envy and he’d given him half, because towards the end of the war the Germans had been short of luxuries too. After that Hans had brought him books and manuals about engines and tools. How he’d managed to find English copies Daniel didn’t know until after the war. He’d discovered then that Hans had had an English grandfather, who had worked on the earliest cars in the Daimler factory.
    They had parted on amiable terms. Hans had wanted to keep in touch, but it wouldn’t happen. Daniel wasn’t interested in the past. The war and everything that had happened to him in the camp was over. He was home now. All he wanted was to forget and get on with the future. His dream was to open his own garage, but for that he needed the money Cley owed him.
    He frowned as he drove through the village. Somehow he was going to get that two thousand. It would make all the difference to their lives. The farm would have to be sold, because the bank was making threatening noises. They would be lucky if they salvaged enough to pay off their debts. Daniel had already transferred the two fields he owned independently into Alice’s name. At least that would ensure they had something left if it all went down – which was looking increasingly likely despite the efforts he’d made since his return.
    It wasn’t going to be easy for a few years. Daniel hated the idea that he might not be able to provide a decent living for Alice and their son. He’d made such plans for the future. Sitting in that wretched camp it was all that had kept him sane.
    Damn Cley for what he’d done to Margaret! She might have been a calculating bitch who had taken them for every penny she could get, but she hadn’t deserved to be treated like that! Daniel had given Cley a thrashing and he’d extracted a promise that his brother would repay the money after the war. Now Cley was trying to wriggle out of it but Daniel wouldn’t let him.
    As he drew up outside his father-in-law’s house, he saw that another car was already parked outside. He didn’t recognize it, but as he went into the house he heard laughter. That was Alice and Emily! He grinned as he walked into the small back parlour. The room was overflowing with people, and he thought that the sooner he and Alice got their own place the better.
    Emily turned and saw him. She gave a screech of delight and rushed into his arms, responding warmly to his