Into the Whirlwind Read Online Free PDF

in a voice, or maybe, as a man in his sixties, he had simply been on the planet long enough to understand the ways of the world better than she. Frank was a father, an advisor, and a friend all in one man.
    “I don’t know them well enough to answer that,” he said. “You have a valuable company, and their price indicates they recognize that.”
    “Do you think I should sell?”
    Frank’s smile was sad. “I can’t tell you what to do, Mollie. This is your company, and you have a head for business as good as any man I have ever met. I think the price is fair, if that is what you are asking.” He shifted in his seat. “I am exhausted. What time is it?”
    Mollie lifted the heavy gold watch from her skirt pocket. “Almost eight o’clock.” Mollie’s thumb caressed the dent in the watch’s cover before closing it. It had been her father’s watch; now it was her most precious keepsake. The dent in the cover was from flying shrapnel during those terrible days her father had been pinned against the side of that cliff with the rest of the 57th. Despite its dented cover and battered appearance, it still kept perfect time.
    “I know that selling is the financially responsible thing to do,” she said, her thumb pressing into the dent in the watch cover. “But I worry about losing control. I worry they’ll tell me how to make my watches. Or make them cheaper. But my worst fear is they won’t like a one-armed enameler. Or a metal polisher with shaky hands.”

    “Or a blind attorney.” Frank said the words without flinching, his head held high.
    “Yes,” she admitted. “I worry about that most of all.”
    Frank drew a heavy breath. “Mollie, the day I was blinded, I laid in the dirt not knowing if I was going to survive another hour. Once I knew I would make it, my greatest fear was that I would no longer have a purpose in this world. It is the fear of all crippled men, but your father did a great thing by making room for us at his company. He never pitied us, never lowered the bar. He expected an honest day of work from every man, and we gave it to him.” Frank leaned forward, his sightless eyes staring her straight in the face.
    “Mollie! Don’t lower the bar for us. If you coddle us, we lose our manhood. We lose our pride, and that is the most precious thing any man can have. Pride is the builder of bridges. It is the architect of dreams and the tamer of storms. It makes us want to rise out of bed so we can find dragons to slay and damsels to rescue. As long as we have pride, we have the spark that will illuminate our lives for a thousand days.”
    Mollie crossed to the window, gazing down at the streetlamps casting a warm glow through the avenue. Such brave words, but Frank was a strong man who could always rise to the challenges thrown in his path. Others weren’t as courageous, and it was her job to protect them. If she sold the company, Mr. Kazmarek might show up in his faultlessly tailored suit one morning and fire every veteran of the 57th, and she would be helpless to stop him. But if she didn’t sell, she would lose the Hartman contract and the entire company might go under.
    Why couldn’t she keep operating the company as she always had? Right now, everything was perfect. They made spectacular watches, and their profits were healthy. If she had a magic wand, she would freeze the world exactly as it was at this very moment.She had a home she loved and a company she adored. She lived in the most vibrant city in America, burgeoning with wealth, ambition, and the best of cultures from all over the world. This offer from Mr. Kazmarek threatened everything she held dear.
    For above all else, Mollie feared anything that would bring change into her carefully crafted, perfect life.

    Planning for the next season’s watches was one of Mollie’s favorite activities. On Thursday evening, when Alice and Ulysses suggested a visit to the Krause Biergarten to talk about upcoming designs, Mollie quickly