To Dream Again Read Online Free PDF Page B

faded. He tugged at his cap and took a deep breath. "Nathaniel, I already have a job."
    "Yes, I know." He made a sound of contempt. "Tailoring. You're not a tailor, Michael. You're an engineer. The best damned toy engineer in the business. I need you."
    Michael shook his head. "I can't, Nathaniel. I can't risk what I have for some new venture. Not even one of yours."
    "Is it because the last time I tried, I went bankrupt?"
    "Of course not! I've always believed in your ideas."
    "Why then? I'm not asking you to put up any money."
    "I'm engaged to be married."
    "You are?" Startled, Nathaniel stared at him.
    Michael nodded. "Her name is Rebecca Goldman and I work for her father. He's done a great deal for me, and he pays me a decent salary. I'm hoping to have enough put by to be married next year. I have a future with Goldman's."
    "Do you like being a tailor?"
    "Of course not. What does that have to do with it?"
    "It has everything to do with it. Michael, listen to me." He leaned forward. "If you don't do this, if you don't try now, then you'll stay a tailor for the rest of your life. You'll be married, you'll have children, and one day you'll wake up an old man, and you'll know you spent your whole life doing something you never wanted to do."
    "Nathaniel—"
    "Do you think the train will sell?"
    "Are you joking? Of course it will." He grinned. "Provided you get the thing working."
    "Then what's the problem? I'll pay you ten pounds a week."
    Michael laughed, but he didn't sound amused. "You make it tempting."
    "That's because it's so much fun."
    Michael drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It'd be just like the old days at Chase before your father died and Adrian took over."
    "Better." Nathaniel took a swallow of beer. "I'll have the controlling interest in this partnership. Fifty-one percent." He paused, then added, "I'm truly sorry Adrian fired you."
    "There was nothing you could've done. It's not your fault your brother is a Jew-hater," he said with a hint of bitterness. "Stop apologizing."
    "I can't help it. I brought you into Chase. I wish I could have done something to stop him."
    "Forget it. How's your new partner feel about making me your engineer?"
    "He doesn't care about you being Jewish, if that's what you mean. When he proposed this deal to me, I knew immediately I wanted you for my engineer. We discussed it, and he agreed. There's no problem."
    "When shall I meet this partner of yours?"
    "He's not back in England yet, and there's no word yet on when he'll arrive. I'm meeting with his wife tomorrow to show her the train." Nathaniel took another swallow of beer. "He's been in America for quite some time, and it's my understanding she's in charge until he returns. Converting this factory will mean a great deal of work. I'm hoping we can start immediately."
    Michael nodded. "It's July. We'll need that much time, if we intend to have the trains out by the Christmas season."
    "We? Are you coming to work for me, then?"
    "I can't. I just can't." Michael looked at Nathaniel and groaned, in an agony of indecision. "I hate being a tailor. And I have to admit, taking revenge on Lord Leyland would be rather fun."
    "Well, then?"
    Michael raised his bottle of beer in a gesture of surrender. "All right!" he said, laughing. "I'll do it."
    "You won't regret it," Nathaniel promised him.
    "I may not live long enough to regret it. Rebecca might kill me."
    "If she loves you, she'll stand by you."
    "Sure she will. Pigs fly, too." He set down his beer. "If you're to show the train to that woman tomorrow, we'd better get it running."
    The two men set to work. They tried using a screwdriver to pull the belt back into place, but that was unsuccessful. "What we need is something with a hook on the end," Michael told him.
    Nathaniel set down the train and the two men began to search the flat, looking for a tool that might suit. Half an hour later, they stood in the center of the room, the contents of several crates scattered about their