Before the Dawn (Truly Yours Digital Editions) Read Free Page A

off the desktop. He had gone over the calculations again and again, and each time he concluded the structure should’ve been stable. As the mine’s engineer, it was his duty to see that things proceeded as safely as possible while finding the richest deposits of ore. The deaths and injuries from this disaster rested on his shoulders alone. His father hadn’t said so, and neither had anyone else, at least not in his hearing, but he knew the truth. Where had he gone wrong?
    All his supports had been kicked right out from under him. Like the mine, his life had caved in, filling his interior with rubble where there had once been a strong support system. Where was his faith? Where was the surety he’d always had that God loved him and heard his prayers? He’d never been so alone and frightened.
    God, You’ve got to help me. You’ve taken my sight. You’ve taken my future. The least You can do is help me solve this problem. Show me where I went wrong.
    He rose and inched across the room until his hand hit the carved back of the settee. Rounding the rolled arm and claw-and-ball foot, he eased onto the upholstery. A sigh pushed out of his lungs as he slid to his side and put his head on the pillow.
    Someone knocked and entered without waiting to be invited.
    David stiffened. Did no one in this house know what alone meant?
    “It’s me, David, Sam.”
    “What do you want?” David clenched his teeth, in no mood to be berated by his younger brother.
    “Just talk.” The chair at the end of the settee creaked, and something thunked the low table beside him.
    He almost smiled. Mother forbade boots on the table, but she had yet to break either of her sons of the habit. Then he stilled. He would never see his mother’s disapproving stare again. “Have you come for your pound of flesh?”
    “Nope, I just figured you could explain a couple things for me.”
    The scent of fresh air and the outdoors filtered toward David off Sam’s clothes, something he hadn’t smelled in weeks. But then, Sam was free to come and go as he pleased, not imprisoned in darkness in this house. David pictured his brother, as unlike David as could be with his blondish hair and blue eyes, and his easygoing manner and take-life-as-it-comes outlook. Easy enough for Sam to take life as it came. Life had never pummeled Sam as hard as it had David.
    “I’ll stoke the fire for you. It’s almost as cold in here as outside, and that’s saying something. The temperature is dropping like an anvil down an air shaft. Snowing, too.”
    David fumed. He couldn’t even do something as simple as lighting the fire. He sat up, scowling. “Leave it.”
    “Dave, you have to let some of this stuff go. Exploding like a pint of nitro every time someone tries to be nice to you is no way to live.” Logs clacked together, paper crumpled, and a match scritched on the hearth. Faint crackles and pops filled the air, along with the smell of burning resin. “There,” Sam said, satisfaction in his voice. “Now things’ll warm up in here. It’ll be more comfortable while we talk.”
    “There’s nothing to talk about.”
    Sam went on as if he hadn’t heard. “I had some time today, while I installed that new pump in shaft two, to do some thinking. I was thinking about that party we had here a couple of months ago.”
    David gritted his teeth. His insides writhed, and his muscles tensed.
    “Engagement parties are always the best kind, don’t you think? I tried to get a dance with the prettiest gal at the shindig, but she didn’t even notice me. She only had eyes for one fellow that night and saved every dance for him. And that fellow, well, the stars could have fallen from the sky and he wouldn’t have known.”
    “What is your point, Sam?” David tried to ignore the broken glass tearing his heart.
    “My point is, that much happiness and caring and loving shouldn’t be thrown away. I can see what you’re doing, and you think you’re doing it for Karen, but you