Love and War: The Coltrane Saga, Book 1 Read Online Free PDF

you set foot in his house on his son’s arm. I’m not going to ask you not to go, but I want you to think about what you might be letting yourself in for. I’m afraid I have a lot of enemies now. But you have to make up your own mind about the way you feel.”
    Lena had been silently dipping up the fish stew into wooden bowls. As she placed them on the table, she grinned. “Praise be, John. For once, you’re staying out of the child’s life. If you’ll keep that up, maybe she’ll be lucky enough to land Nathan for a husband, and then some of the miserable years I’ve spent with you will seem almost worthwhile.”
    Years of living with her nagging had taught John that she only got worse if she thought her needling irritated him. Turning his head slightly so he wouldn’t even have to look at her, he turned his full attention upon the daughter he loved so much that it helped make up for some of his own misery in the life he’d shared with Lena.
    “Weldon Edwards is going to be at that party. You know who he is?”
    Kitty nodded, slipping from his lap to take a seat on the bench. “He’s a Radical, and he wants war.”
    “Right. He’s here to round up support for a secession meeting planned in Raleigh, and he’s also soliciting funds from wealthy slave owners like Aaron Collins to help finance the cause and get an army ready.”
    “I don’t care about that or the talk of war, Poppa, because I want to go to the party and just have a good time.”
    Lena dramatically pretended to drop her spoon. “Praise be to hear you say so, Katherine. Maybe the good Lord has heard my prayers, after all. You just go on to that party and keep your mouth shut about your father’s traitorous political views. You believe every word he says as though it were God’s own gospel. But you keep your mouth shut, and you just might snare Nathan Collins for a husband and find yourself living in that mansion of theirs, with slaves to wait on you hand and foot, and you’ll never have to worry about a thing for the rest of your life.”
    John slowly shook his head from side to side, a sad expression on his face. It became increasingly difficult to remember any love he might have once had for his wife. More and more, he was called upon to stretch the recesses of his mind to attempt to remember a good reason for ever having married her in the first place. Beauty? Yes, that was what had attracted him. Lena had once been beautiful. Not nearly so lovely as Kitty, but, back then, Lena had been the prettiest girl around. And sweet, too. She never nagged or complained, hanging on to his every word as she vowed that all she wanted from life was to be his wife and follow him to the end of the world, if need be.
    “Your mother makes it sound so simple,” he said finally, eyes grim above his wrinkled, sun-parched face. “Life isn’t all that easy, honey, and I hope you never get the idea that it is.”
    “Let’s don’t talk about it anymore.” Kitty felt uneasy as the tension in the room mounted. “I’ll go to the party and have a good time and won’t worry about political issues.”
    “You should never concern yourself with political issues,” her mother said sharply.
    John stiffened. Over and over again, he’d told himself never to drag out philosophies and ideals and display them for all to see and make light of. He would do well to keep his feelings and opinions locked safely inside. But more and more lately, with the countryside alive with all the talk of secession and war, it was becoming harder and harder to keep silent.
    “Politics affects women’s lives, too,” he said stiffly. “Why shouldn’t a woman be aware of the world about her? It’s refreshing to talk to a female who knows about something besides havin’ babies and cooking.”
    Lena’s eyes blazed. “If I had a servant to do all my work for me, maybe I’d have time to concern myself with other things. I’d sit on a porch swing and fan myself and spend my days