The Warning Read Free Page B

he managed. His voice sounded weak to his own ears. “Wait two months.”
    Paul looked frustrated. “And then?”
    The idea popped straight into his head and exploded with the force of a skyrocket. Buddy said, “I’ve decided to sell the ridgeline.”
    Both his son and his wife gaped at him. “What?”
    â€œTomorrow. Those developers were back again yesterday. They want to build a hotel.”
    â€œBut, honey.” Molly’s voice sounded as weak as his own. “You’ve always said that was for our retirement.”
    The ridgeline was a strip of land Buddy had bought soon after his first son was born. The bank had offered their employees low-interest mortgages, which had been a relatively cheap way for the bank to ensure employee stability. Instead of using the money to buy a larger home, however, Buddy had purchased the ridgeline from an aging farmer. The land totaled almost forty acres and overlooked the town and the interstate. Every year or so, some developer approached him with another deal.
    â€œIt’s time to sell, that’s all. We’ll still have the cash.” Buddy kept his eyes on his son. It was easier than meeting Molly’s troubled gaze. “Wait two months. If you still want to go ahead, I’ll lend you the money interest free.”
    Molly asked quietly, “What’s wrong, honey?”
    He could not put her off any longer. And he owed Paul that much, dashing his son’s hopes as he had. “Nothing I can put my finger on. Nothing I can give any name to. But I’ve had the feeling for more than two weeks now that something is going to happen. Something bad.”
    There. It was finally out in the open. Words to clothe the rising dread. “Something awful,” he went on, “an economic downturn or cyclical correction. I know everything looks rosy right now. And I feel like a fool for being so worried. But I am.”
    Buddy studied each of their faces in turn. “I have the strongest feeling that we’re headed into the worst recession any of us has ever experienced.”
    He sighed with sudden release. The act of speaking had eased the pressure as inexplicably as Paul’s announcement had brought it on. He steeled himself for their criticism.
    Yet the ensuing quiet held none of the condemnation Buddy had feared. In fact, his son’s face seemed to clear up and relax. Even Molly’s concern eased.
    Paul said, “It makes sense, Pop.”
    â€œIt certainly does,” Molly agreed.
    Both of the men looked at her in surprise. Molly dropped her gaze. “Oh, I don’t know the first thing about economics, but you’d be surprised what people say to a quiet person. Maybe they think they’re safe, that I don’t understand or won’t repeat what I hear. And they’re right. But I do hear things, and what I hear I take in. There isn’t a single woman in my Bible study who isn’t worried about money. Not one.”
    â€œIt sure is strange,” Paul agreed. “People have good jobs; they’re making good money. But everybody’s afraid.”
    â€œThey buy things they don’t want,” Molly continued in her quiet way. “They go into debt and hate themselves for it.”
    â€œAs if they can’t control their own actions,” Paul added.
    â€œOr they sense that something is happening and feel powerless to do anything,” Molly agreed. “Running faster and faster after something they’ll never have.”
    Buddy stared at his wife in absolute astonishment. “Of all the things I might have expected you to say, this would have been the last.”
    â€œPeople are frightened of tomorrow,” Molly said.
    â€œI am too,” Paul confessed. “I’ve put it down to nerves over starting another store. Like you said, Pop, everything seems to be fine. But what my mind says and what my heart tells me are two very different