Beyond All Dreams Read Online Free PDF

youngest brother.
    Perhaps it was the curse of sudden wealth. For generations the Callahans had been simple yeoman loggers, but then a large deposit of gemstones was discovered on their land. Luke’s family was a classic case of what can happen when a fortune gotdumped into the hands of those not expecting it, who were naïve about what wealth could do to a person.
    â€œPhilip is here,” Luke said. “He wishes to speak with you.”
    Julia’s quick indrawn breath could be heard from seven hundred miles away. As hard as the separation had been on Philip, it was even harder for Julia.
    â€œHi, Ma,” Philip said into the mouthpiece. “Uncle Luke got into a fight with the Speaker of the House. Did you hear about it?”
    â€œIt wasn’t a fight,” Luke said, leaning again toward the mouthpiece. “It was only a war of words.”
    Although it was true he’d been charging toward the rostrum to confront the Speaker when the sergeant at arms rushed to intervene and separate the men. Who could say what might have happened had it not been for that.
    He wandered farther into the mail room to give Philip some privacy. While Luke had inherited a hot temper from his father, he’d always been able to control it. Why was it becoming so difficult these past few months? He was starting to snap at insults and frustrations he’d always been able to tamp down and ignore before.
    Which was terrifying. The long chain of drunkenness and aggression that polluted his family was going to stop now. Someday he would find a wife, then settle down and create the perfect family. It would be ruled by reason, order, and Christian compassion. His children would know he loved them. His wife would never cower or flinch when she heard him coming home. At all costs, he would hold the line against the curse of alcoholism tainting the next generation.
    He could tell by Philip’s face that the conversation with his mother wasn’t going well. Luke walked over, and Philip eagerly gave the receiver back. Julia was weeping on the other end.
    â€œWe’re doing the right thing,” he said. “You know that, right?”
    Julia’s sigh was ragged. “I know. It’s just so hard.”
    This was another reason he hated telephones. They were nothing but a torture device for his beautiful sister’s already-punished soul.
    â€œI love you,” he added. “And you’re doing the right thing by giving Philip a decent shot in this world. I won’t let you down.”
    He turned the receiver back to the telephone operator and envisioned his ties to Bangor lengthen and snap. Bangor was the past. His future lay in Washington—with rules, reason, and order. The scandal of his fight with the Speaker of the House was going to make him vulnerable in the next election. He needed to begin rebuilding his reputation, and it was going to take work. And information. If he could find proof of the Speaker’s corruption, it would help Luke regain his footing in Congress.
    The image of a lively, sharp-witted librarian popped into his mind. He suspected Miss O’Brien had the mettle to wade through the quagmire of data in search of what he needed to knock the Speaker off his perch.
    A smile curved his mouth. He would control the reckless impulse that temporarily blinded him yesterday and from now on behave like the perfect gentleman. But he needed Miss O’Brien’s help, and he intended to get it.

3

    I t was a chilly morning, and Anna was still freezing from the streetcar ride to work. As soon as she stepped inside the map room, she tugged off her gloves and reached for the small oak box near the door. Her hands were numb as she skimmed the questions printed on the stack of cards that had been funneled to her. This was her favorite part of the morning. These questions would dictate how she’d spend her day, and she pondered various angles to solve each of the