AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Forrest sat down at his desk, just off the front entranceway of the Plantation, he offhandedly spun the propeller of the model plane sitting near the phone, watching the little wooden flaps go around and around. Taking Twyla flying had been a definite mistake. Even years ago, Twyla had been the sister he’d loved.
A knock sounded and the door opened at almost the same time. Jacob poked his head in and, seeing Forrest was alone, walked in and closed the door. “Did you talk to Roger?”
Forrest stopped the little propeller from turning. “Yes.”
“And?”
“You were right. He’s not involved in the opium trade.”
“I told you,” Jacob said. “What about the other thing?”
Forrest drew a blank. “The other?”
“Your airmail contract?”
Forrest shook his head. That had slipped further and further from his mind.
“You didn’t talk to him about that, did you?” Jacob said. “I’m sure he’d loan you the money to buy a new plane and once you got that government contract you—”
“I’m not asking Roger to loan me the money to buy a new plane,” Forrest said. “I’ve told you that.” A new plane was the least of his concerns right now.
“How else will you get that government contract?”
“I won’t.” Forrest stood and made his way to the window. There wasn’t much to look at, just the parking lot. “Did you know Galen was arrested for passing off counterfeit bills?”
“Counterfeiting? Is that what money laundering means? People kept saying money laundering and I didn’t know what it meant.”
Forrest turned around. “Don’t, Jacob—don’t pretend to be a simpleton around me. It may have worked on Galen, but I know better.”
Jacob sat down in an armchair near the desk. “All right. So I know what money laundering is, but I never heard so much as a whisper around here about counterfeiting.”
Forrest rubbed his head. “You made it your business not to.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Why’d you stay here all these years?” Forrest asked. “You were never treated fairly, never appreciated.”
“I am now,” Jacob answered.
Forrest slapped the edge of the windowsill behind him. “I’m so tired of secrets. So tired of—”
“Because of you,” Jacob said.
“Me?”
Jacob nodded. “Your grandfather did something he wished he could take back, but it was too late. He was sick and knew his days were numbered. He asked me to watch out for you. To be here for the day when this place would become yours.” Then the man shook his head. “That’s not completely true, either.”
Forrest’s stomach sank, and he silently pleaded Jacob wouldn’t say he was in love with his mother. It was the only explanation Forrest had been able to come up with for years.
“Your grandfather paid me to be here for when this place became yours. Paid me very well, and in order to make sure I remained here, I’ve stayed on the sidelines, but never got directly involved.” Jacob shrugged. “It was selfish, too. I never wanted your mother to know how much money I have sitting in the bank. I know she’s your mother, and I won’t talk bad about her, but I will tell you, if she’d known, she’d have tried to swindle me out of it.”
Forrest rubbed his aching temples. This was certainly turning into a day of revelations.
“I told you when you started remodeling this place that I could help, and I told you I’d buy you a new plane, but you said no.”
“I figured you were talking about a loan from Roger Nightingale,” Forrest said.
“I know,” Jacob said.
Forrest turned back to the window as questions once again started gathering in his mind. “What did my grandfather do?” he asked. “That he wished he could undo?”
“I’ve said enough,” Jacob answered. “Your mother knows, ask her. She called again while you were gone.”
“I tried calling her before I left,” Forrest said. “There was no answer.” Glancing over his shoulder, he decided he wanted one more question answered. “Are you in love with her?”
Jacob shook his head. “No, but I do love her. Just like I love you. You’re the only family I’ve ever had.”
“She needs money,” Forrest said. “That’s why she’s calling.”
“Do you have any to send her?” Jacob asked.
Forrest clamped his teeth together. The only thing he had left to sell was his plane, and that galled him. Telling his mother to ask whoever was bailing out Galen for money occurred to him, but he knew he’d never resort to those measures. His mother was as much a pawn as anyone else in Galen’s life of schemes. She always had been, however it irritated him that she never saw it that way, or never tried to do something about it. “No, but I’ll think of something.”
