An Inconvenient Match (31 page)

Abigail gasped.

Wade took her sister’s hand. “The new house should bring more than you owe. Perhaps you can apply the rest of the money toward rent.”

“Just like that?” Abigail’s hands curled into fists. She wanted to pound them into that broad chest, to hurt Wade as he was hurting Lois. “When they’re finally getting on their feet!”

“Stop blaming Wade. Joe and I brought this on ourselves.”

“Who’s to blame doesn’t matter.” Abigail had to persuade Wade to change his mind. If he had a heart, he’d find another way. “The boys need a yard. A room of their own. Please, Wade, please don’t hurt those children.”

Dark eyes glistening, he met her gaze. “I’d pay off the loan myself if I could.” He placed a hand over his heart. “I’m sorry, Abby. I didn’t have a choice.”

“We always have a choice! You criticized your father for valuing money more than people, but he risked his life for Joe.” Abigail flailed a hand. “What have you done for anyone?”

At his silence she gave a strangled laugh. “I thought you cared about me.”

He jerked up his head. “I do care about you.”

She’d thought he loved her. Though until this moment she hadn’t admitted how much she cared, even to herself. Now the possibility for a future tumbled away, an avalanche she couldn’t stop.

“You can’t possibly care and be this cold and unfeeling to my family.” She closed her eyes as memories came rushing back. Memories of the pain Wade had given her all those years ago. But this time he was hurting innocent children.

The Cummingses had money. She didn’t believe Wade couldn’t help. Did greed drive him as it had his father?

She took her sister by the arm. “Let’s get out of here.”

Lois pulled back. “I need to stay and sort out the details.”

Abigail turned on Wade. His face was ashen, his brow furrowed. His eyes locked with hers.

Eyes she’d foolishly admired, gotten lost in. Those connections she’d felt between them… Wade Cummings was an actor, just like his mother. Well, she couldn’t abide one more moment working in the Cummings house. “Consider this my notice. I quit!”

With one last glance at Lois, Abigail stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

What could she do to help her sister? She had a pittance in the bank. Another job, even a second or third job, couldn’t solve this.

She’d never felt more helpless.

And more like a fool.

Why had she let down her guard with Wade?

Chapter Eighteen

T
he glass in the office door rattled in the pane, the vibration jarring. Hurting Abby had ripped a hole in Wade’s heart. A hole only she could fill. By calling the Lessman loan, he’d lost his chance with Abby. She’d never forgive him now.

From the condemnation he’d seen on her face, she didn’t believe he’d had no choice. The survival of the bank had to come before his personal life. No matter what Abby believed, his motive wasn’t greed.

Wade met Lois’s troubled eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you didn’t call the loan out of spite. Give Abby time to calm down. When she does, she’ll know it too.”

He plowed a hand through his hair. “She doesn’t trust me. Her distrust goes beyond the feud.”

“I know.” Lois’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve always wondered why you ended the relationship.”

He dropped his gaze and shrugged.

“You’re hiding something.”

Nothing could make him tell her.

“One thing I’ve learned through the nightmare with Joe—as ugly as the truth may be, we have to look facts square in the face. Look ourselves square in the face. When we do, with God’s help, we can overcome the mess we’ve made of things.”

Wade slumped onto the corner of the desk. “Please tell Joe I explored every alternative.” He swallowed hard. “But even if I could have brought more money into the bank, a bank examiner would see a delinquent loan as a red flag.”

“Loans have brought about the Wilson downfall. I’ll be glad to have this one paid.” She gave a wobbly smile. “Don’t look so grim. God will work this out.” With that encouragement, she gave him a hug then walked out the office door.

With everything in him, he prayed God would do what he couldn’t and somehow bring good from this mess. He couldn’t imagine his life without Abby. The shop, his plans, nothing mattered if he couldn’t share them with her.

Oh, Lord, comfort Abby. Help her to trust me, to trust You.

Even if she never spoke to him again, even if he couldn’t have her in his life, he wanted her happiness.

An idea latched onto his mind. One thing he could do. He hoped he wasn’t too late.

Heels clicking, Abigail marched through the bank lobby, looking neither right nor left, yet sensing Leon watching her. If she looked his way, he’d see the anger, the pain in her eyes.

Once again Wade had proved he didn’t have a heart. Why had she thought otherwise? He was a Cummings after all.

The outside door swung closed behind her. With no plan except escape, she raised her umbrella against the driving rain and stumbled along, sloshing through puddles. At the alley leading to their apartment she hesitated. She couldn’t go home. Couldn’t face her family’s unspoken but nonetheless real, I told you so.

Nor could she talk to Rachel. Rachel would urge her to give Wade another chance. She didn’t have another chance in her.

Even Elizabeth, a woman with many solutions, didn’t have an answer for this. Abby had never felt more alone.

Without considering her destination, her feet took her to the park. Inside the shelter of the gazebo, hidden by a curtain of rain, she dropped onto a bench, then hunched forward, shivering.

By now Lois would be home, telling Joe they’d have to sell the house. Visualizing his face, Ma’s, the boys’, she moaned.

Only moments before she’d been excited about the future. With the feud behind them she and Wade might have found a way to build a life together. That hope had blown up in her face.

Why had she trusted him?

She straightened. She’d survive. She’d teach, work in the community and at church and spend her time with friends and her family. She needed nothing more.

No one else.

Not even a man with indigo eyes.

As the rain continued to fall, she shed no tears. A stone did not weep.

With his every step spraying water, Wade slugged home, rain sluicing off the brim of his hat. The temperature had dropped twenty degrees, matching his dismal mood.

He hoped Abby wasn’t walking around in this weather, but he suspected she was. She didn’t have a carriage house or shop to hole up in as he did. The crowded apartment provided not one iota of privacy or comfort. Comfort he’d like to give her but knew she wasn’t ready to accept.

His only hope of bringing Abby and the Wilsons happiness, of making up for what the Cummingses had taken from them rested with Wade’s father. A few weeks ago he wouldn’t have given his errand a chance but George had softened. With the incentive Wade would offer, his father, a savvy businessman, just might agree.

Not wanting to track through the house with wet feet, Wade entered through the kitchen door. The aroma of corn bread and stew greeted him. An orderly house, a well-cooked meal—he appreciated what Abby had done, what Cora did now to make the Cummingses’ house a home.

Her salt-and-pepper tresses twisted into a bun at her nape, Cora stood at the stove, an anchor in the storm, or so he saw her. How many times had she comforted him as a boy? Did she even know what she meant to him?

She looked over at him and smiled. “Supper won’t be long.”

Though he had no appetite, he could pretend. He moved to the stove and glanced at the bubbling stew. “My favorite.”

“Appropriate for a day like this.”

A day of damage he would undo. “Do you know where Dad is?”

“In the library. I just told him ten minutes till supper.”

“Can you hold off a few minutes?”

Nodding, she studied him. “Is everything all right?”

The last time Wade could remember everything feeling right was five years ago, when he’d first given his heart to Abby. “No, but I hope to…make things better.”

“Sounds serious. I’ll pray for you. You and the mister.”

“Thanks.” Abby had taught him to express his feelings, to stand up for himself. From now on he’d share what was in his heart. “I hope you know you’re family, my second mom.”

Tears sprang to Cora’s eyes. She laid a gentle palm on his cheek. He’d never known Cora to be at a loss for words, but she’d lost hers now.

He gave her a peck on the cheek. “Thanks for the prayers. Those prayers helped Dad and me to forgive each other.”

Cora’s eyes twinkled. “I knew God could knock some sense into George’s hard head. He used Abigail Wilson to do it.”

“God knocked some sense into me too.”

Abby had shown him that someone had to take the first step. Someone had to stop running and do what they could to make things right. He headed toward his father’s library, praying for wisdom, for strength. If his father agreed to his proposition, he’d rectify the damage the Cummingses had done to the Wilsons.

George sat at his desk, fiddling with his pipe, cold, unlit. He glanced up and studied him. “You don’t look too good.”

“I just called the Lessman loan.”

With a grimace, his father set aside the pipe. “Not easy doing the hard thing.”

“No, sir, it’s not. Having to call that loan was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.” Hurting Abby all those years ago was worse.

Wade took the chair across from his father and met his gentle gaze. Verification of how much his father had changed and giving him hope George would accept his offer.

“Dad, I’m asking you to return the Wilson farm to their family.”

His father’s jaw dropped. “What? I—”

“Hear me out. The Lessmans are losing their home in order to pay back the delinquent loan. I’ve been in the shabby apartment over the bank, barely adequate for Abigail and her mother, much less the Lessman brood. If we return the land and farmhouse, we’ll restore Joe’s livelihood, the family’s roots, and give them a good place to live.”

“You’re asking me to
give
the Wilsons the farm? Because they have needs? If that policy guided me, I’d be providing for half the people in this town.”

Wade shook his head. “I’m asking you to restore what we took from them.”

“Calling that loan was aboveboard.”

“Once you knew the railroad’s interest in the Wilson land, and kept that information to yourself, you crossed a line.” Wade waved a finger. “If you’d waited a month or so to call the loan, the Wilsons could’ve sold that partial to the railroad, giving Frank the money to repay what he’d borrowed.” He leaned toward his father. “Face the truth. We owe them.”

“If waiting another month had been an option, then why didn’t you give the Lessmans more time?” He released a gust. “I’ll tell you why. Conditions at the bank demanded action. Now.”

“I’ll give you that, but once the railroad deal was finalized, you could’ve returned what remained of their farm.”

George picked up his pipe. “Returning the farm makes as much sense as putting this unlit pipe in my mouth. We can’t restore assets to everyone who’s made bad decisions. Besides, Frank would’ve risked that farm in another foolish venture.”

“What he would’ve done isn’t the point. The point is what
you
should’ve done.”

George’s nostrils flared. “Money is tight. Income from that farm helps us meet expenses.” He sighed. “Truth is my lungs haven’t yet healed. With your plan to open a shop,” his father said, stumbling over the words, “I’ve got to hire someone to replace you and perhaps even myself. Giving the Wilsons that farm will add to my concerns about money.”

Wade looked his father in the eye. “I have an offer that will handle your concerns. An offer you won’t want to refuse.”

“What’s that?”

“Give the Wilsons their farm and I’ll continue filling your shoes for as long as you need me.”

“You’d give up your dream?” He blinked. “The only reason you’d do that…” His eyes softened. “You love her. You love Abigail.”

More than life itself. “Yes. Without Abby, all my plans, the shop, none of it matters.”

George rose and walked to the globe, spinning the orb, watching it swirl round and round. “I wish I’d seen that years ago, before I lost Ernestine.”

Wade walked to his father. Put an arm around his shoulders. “Dad, it may be too late for Abby and me. But whatever happens between us, giving the Wilsons the farm will please God and show this town and the Wilsons that the Cummings name stands for integrity.”

Fierce eyes turned on Wade. By questioning his father’s integrity, had he destroyed the possibility that he’d accept the offer?

“Will you do the right thing?” Wade asked.

“I’ll think about it. That’s all I’m promising.”