Sadie's Surrender Read Online Free PDF Page A

to mind. Was she reading them at this moment? How he’d love to stand behind her and clasp her shoulders. Watch her breasts rise and fall as she breathed. Pull the book away. Caress her. Capture her mouth until she surrendered again.
    The mayor discussed his road-building project next. Good. Maybe it would steer everyone’s minds away from racial tensions.
    “These roads will bring more white power to Oyster Harbor because we can afford cars and they can’t.”
    No such luck.
    Jon smirked as he unfolded a paper. “It’s time to go over our list of current concerns.”
    The weighman raised his hand. Oh, crap.
    “Yes, Dan,” Jon said. “Please share the concern you spoke to me about.”
    The skinny man stood, turning to glare at Henry. “One of the colored women at work threw a bucket of oysters in my face. Instead of being arrested or fired, she only got a week’s furlough.”
    “Hmph,” the proprietor of the Sapphire Crab, the town’s best restaurant, exclaimed. “Sounds like a vacation instead of a punishment.”
    In seconds, every pair of eyes in the place nailed Henry to the wall.
    “Maybe Rockfield is sweet on her,” Short added.
    Jon grinned like a hungry shark. “Maybe we have a colored lover in our midst.”
    Words of hate flew around the room, echoing against the walls. Despite the cool temperature, sweat dripped down Henry’s torso, plastering his shirt to his body. Why couldn’t the floor open and swallow him up? Although he’d predicted it would probably arrive eventually, he’d dreaded the day that would destroy his charade. He wasn’t proud to admit attraction to a woman had brought him to this point.
    Last year, Sadie’s brother, Leroy, had been jailed because the town was convinced he’d raped the mayor’s daughter, Mary, in Baltimore. Instead of making a stand, Henry had worn his wretched white robe. He hated himself for it.
    He squared his shoulders, hoping no one noticed the cold shivers coursing through him. Although he wanted to tell everyone Sadie had an aging mother to care for, it wouldn’t help. He had a role to play and wasn’t about to lose Rockfield’s after fighting for it so long. Caleb and his unborn child needed him.
    “What do you have to say for yourself?” Jon asked Henry.
    “Sadie is an experienced shucker who usually knows her place,” he said slowly. “Because her mother depends on her, the lack of a week’s pay was the best way to punish her.”
    Assorted grunts filled the room.
    “If she misbehaves again, I’ll deal with her more severely.” He swallowed hard. “I run Rockfield’s. Not the colored folks.”
    “That’s well and good,” Jon said. “But I’ve found once a troublemaker, always a troublemaker. Her brother is little better than a wild animal. He threatened to attack me last year.”
    “Wasn’t that because you tried to kiss his future wife?”
    To attend the town’s art school, pale-skinned Rose had masqueraded as a white woman. Henry’s heart hammered. Taunting the Klan’s second in command was not his favorite pastime, but he had to do anything he could to keep the man’s evil power in check.
    “No need to go into that.” Jonathan’s pale face flushed red. “Motion for everyone to keep an eye on Sadie Johnson even when she’s not at work?”
    “Passed,” someone said.
    During the rest of the meeting, Henry’s pulse slowly returned to normal. He hoped she stayed safely in Crab Creek for the rest of the week. The next time he saw her, he planned to warn her, for her sake and his own.
    Were the men right? Was she a born troublemaker? If so, why did he want her so much? She had the power to ruin everything he fought for. Thank goodness her mother would be there Sunday to chaperone them.
    After Sadie taught him the contents of those business books, he had to keep her at a safe distance.
    * * *
    After dinner Sunday night, Sadie squirmed in her seat while Mama cleared dishes from the rickety plank table.
    “I’ll clean