Before the Dawn (Truly Yours Digital Editions) Read Free

her aside before she had a chance to reject him.
    “Well?”
    “Leave me alone.” David’s throat tightened until it ached.
    “Not till you face what you’ve done.”
    “What I’ve done?” The chair swiveled toward his father’s voice. “You’ve got nerve coming in here to accuse me. I made my wishes regarding Karen clear.”
    “You aren’t thinking straight right now. You don’t mean what you say. We all know you’re hurting, but taking it out on those you love isn’t going to get your sight back.”
    “Don’t pretend to know how I feel.” David got to his feet, his fists clenched. Impotent humiliation sloshed inside him like kerosene in a can. “It’s your fault she’s here. You can deal with it.” Heat rose up his throat and raced to his hairline at the thought of Karen seeing him like this.
    “Why are you acting this way? I raised you better than to be rude to a woman, much less a woman who loves you like Karen does, a woman you promised to marry.”
    “How can you ask me that? I’m in no condition to take on a wife. What kind of husband would I be? How could I be the leader of my household? Karen might think she still wants to get married, but once she realized I’d forever be dependent on her, she’d regret her decision. Are you forgetting what happened with Uncle Frank and Aunt Bernice?”
    Father sucked in a breath as if he’d been gut punched. “I told you never to mention their names in this house again.” His words hissed, and David pictured his father’s narrowed eyes and clenched teeth. “They’re dead. It’s finished. Karen would never do something like that to you.”
    “Circumstances change people.”
    “What happened fifteen years ago has nothing to do with right now. That’s over and done with, and we’ve all moved on.”
    “If it’s over and done with, why don’t you ever talk about it? You want to act like it never happened, which is ridiculous considering Marcus is here as a reminder. You may want to think the situations are different, but I’m not willing to risk it. I’m not dragging this family down that road again.”
    David followed his father’s movements, envisioning his scowling face and restless pacing. Then the movements stopped, and father turned toward him again. “So, what am I supposed to tell Karen?”
    The pain in David’s head intensified, and his gut twisted. “If you’d have sent the telegram like I told you to, she would’ve stayed in Kansas City with her aunt.” He brushed his fingers against his temple, gauging the soreness that lingered there. “I’m tired. Please close the door on your way out.”
    “You can’t hide from life forever, David. And I’m not doing your dirty work for you. You and Karen need to sit down and talk about this rationally. She deserves better than you’re giving her.” Boots clomped on the floor, and the door opened and shut with force.
    David massaged his injured wrist in the confining bandages, resigned now to the persistent ache. A wave of panicked remembrance swept over him. The earth trembled, timbers snapped, rocks thundered and cascaded as the mine caved. Thick dust choked him. He coughed and staggered, bracing himself against the unstable walls, dropping his blueprints. A shattered brace hurled downward, landing on his wrist with a sick crunch and bouncing away. All around him men’s cries of pain and terror ricocheted off the rock walls. Despite the agony screaming through his arm, he staggered upright, trying to reach the injured. A blinding flash burst through his head when something crashed into his temple and everything went black.
    He gulped, trying to force air into his lungs, to remind himself he wasn’t trapped in the mine, that he was alive in the study. For the past three weeks, everyone had been telling him he was one of the lucky ones. But the blackness still surrounded him. And it would forever.
    There’s no reason why that shaft should have collapsed. He bounced his good fist