Castles in the Sand Read Online Free PDF

and full of reasonable argument designed to win over a jury. You’re going to tell me to butt out. I don’t want to hear it.”
    He smiled.
    And she almost gave in. She loved his analytical mind. It usually complemented her own thinking. Their greatest joy was creating solutions to problems, whether big, small, irrelevant, personal, or business. World affairs were settled over morning coffee and their sons’ adolescent woes over dinner decaf.
    But now they were talking about Drake and Susan. Natalie’s feminine side was riled up, a side she usually relegated to the back burner. Except when it came to Drake and Susan.
    In spite of Rex’s less than empathetic attitude, she felt nothing if not gratitude for his solid character. He did not resemble his older brother in the least. Instead of being tall with dark hair and light eyes, he was stocky in build with caramel brown eyes and blondish hair worn in a crew cut. The siblings’ appearances provoked snide comments about a milkman’s genes. Personality-wise, they were even more dissimilar, a fact that always triggered a jet stream of thankfulness in her.
    “Rex, what happened to him?”
    “It’s what didn’t happen to him.”
    The exchange was an old rerun. Natalie agreed that as young men in their early thirties, both brothers were smart, goal-oriented, hard chargers with a magnetism that drew people to them. They were both headed toward what she considered greatness: Rex in law, Drake in the church. Their goals centered around helping people. The irony was that the more they succeeded in helping others, the less time they devoted to their roles as husbands and fathers.
    Seven years ago, life-threatening injuries from a ski accident changed Rex forever. As soon as his casts were removed, he went down on his knees. Seven years later he still did so on a daily basis. And it showed loud and clear in his compassionate ways.
    Meanwhile, Drake spent the years feeding his public persona and distancing himself further and further from his family.
    “I want to strangle him, Rex.”
    “I know, but it wouldn’t help. And going against his wishes and telling people about Kenzie will not budge him. Only prayer will.”
    “But we’ve been praying that for months and Susan is hurting so badly.”
    “She has to make her own choices. And keep in mind, she is not like you. You never would have taken his nonsense sitting down. All we can do is pray her quiet demeanor wins him over.”
    “And that Kenzie is not lost in the process.”
    “Yes.”
    “We need more people praying.”
    “This is not for the gossip chain. Not without Drake’s knowledge.”
    “I’m calling the Prayer Warrior.”
    Rex opened his mouth as if to protest more.
    “I won’t tell her details.”
    His lips relaxed back into another smile. “Mildred Murray. All right, totally different story from the gossip…I mean, prayer chain. Where would we be without those special older women who really know how to pray?”
    His question was rhetorical. He referred not only to seventy-seven-year-old Mildred Murray, but to Faith Fontaine, the deceased owner of the beach house. When Faith learned that he lay near death in the hospital, she went to him and prayed. The doctors called it a miracle. So did Natalie.
    She said, “Mildred is discreet. She will only tell the Father. Gwyn Fairchild knows discreet too.”
    “Natalie.” His tone was back to let’s just hold on here a minute . “Gwyn too?”
    “I won’t tell her details, either. Gwyn is the only woman who doesn’t intimidate Susan to the point of speechlessness.”
    “Not like you.”
    She harrumphed. “No, not like me. That’s why I have to tell Gwyn. She knows how to love Susan in a gentle way. I only harangue my poor sister-in-law. I don’t know why she even talks to me.”
    “Harangue isn’t the word. You simply suggest solutions. Like she needs time away. Aw, Nat. You’re crying.” He backed his chair from the table and held out his arms.