The Promise of Morning Read Online Free PDF Page B

was an occasional hiss as water condensed under the lid of the copper boiler and dripped onto the stove top. The flush in Ruby’s cheeks deepened as she read. When she turned to the second page, her eyes widened and she pressed her fingers over her mouth. After a moment, she refolded the letter and returned it to Matthew with shaking fingers. Her gaze slid to Ellie and then quickly moved away. Silence hung in the air.
    “Well?” Ellie asked. “He’s writing about my father, isn’t he?” Her voice rose. “All these years you’ve let me believe he was dead and he wasn’t. I could’ve seen him, known him, but you kept me from it.” Julia started to whimper and Ellie thrust her at Matthew, then faced Ruby. “Why?”
    Ruby stood and extended her arms. “I can explain. You need to understand how things were.”
    Ellie took a step back. “I understand that you and Uncle Arthur have lied to me. How can you expect me to believe you now?”
    Footsteps sounded from the front of the house. Arthur entered and flicked an apprehensive glance around the room. “What’s all the shouting about?” He directed the question at Matthew, one man to another, rather than seeking a reply from his wife or niece.
    Ruby raised her head. Defeat wrote itself across her features. “She knows about George. Pa wrote them a letter.”
    “Your brother’s in Texas. After all this time, why would your pa write them about that?” Arthur stepped between Ruby and Ellie. Lowering his voice, he said, “I thought no one would mention George. That was the agreement.”
    “He’s dead. He died last December.” Ruby pointed at the letter dangling from Matthew’s fingers. “Pa seems to think there may be an inheritance concerning the land down there—that’s why he wrote.”
    “That’d be your pa. If it comes to money, he’ll stir hisself.” Arthur tugged at his short white beard, then glanced at Ellie. “For your sake, I hope it’s not another of his harebrained—”
    “We didn’t come here about money.” Ellie snatched the sheets of paper from Matthew’s hand, wadded them into a ball, and threw them at Ruby’s feet. “Let Grandpa Long have whatever’s down there. I don’t want it.” She glared at her aunt. “We’re here this morning because you lied to me.”
    Matthew stood Julia on the floor and slipped an arm around Ellie. “She trusted your word. Can you imagine what a shock this is to her? To us?”
    Arthur’s face lost its usual benevolent expression. “Yes. I can.” He laid a hand on Matthew’s arm. “Sit down.” He pointed at the wooden table in the center of the room. “Ruby, pour us some of that coffee. We have a story to tell.”
    Keeping his arm around Ellie’s shoulders, Matthew led her to a chair. They watched in silence while Ruby took four pewter mugs from a shelf and filled them. After placing them on the table, she sank into a chair next to Arthur. Tears welled in her eyes.
    He nudged her side. “You tell them.”
    “Well, after your ma died—”
    “Did she really? Or is this another untruth?” Suspicion cut through Ellie’s words.
    “She did. You were about three, going on four. Anyway, your pa was sore upset. We could see he wasn’t taking good care of you.” Ruby’s lower lip trembled and she turned to Arthur. “You tell her.” “He was letting you wander loose,” he said. “It was wintertime, and sometimes you wasn’t even wearing a wrap. You’d come to our cabin, hungry, wanting something to eat. Things went on like that for a spell.” Something in the memory caused him to smile briefly, then the smile disappeared.
    Ruby picked up the narration. “We didn’t mind looking after you. Most of my brothers and sisters had young’uns of their own and Arthur and me didn’t. Come spring of ’twenty-one, some men rode through full of big news about this fellow Stephen Austin getting a contract from the Mexicans to settle three hundred families down there in Spanish Texas. Nothing