****
“Clayton, you shouldn’t be trying to work.”
“I’m not going to be much use anyway, but I do want to learn more about the business.” He grinned at his father and shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. I’m mending together pretty well. Now, I want you to treat me just like a brand-new clerk, Dad. Bawl me out when I do something wrong.”
“I’ll certainly do that.”
Leland was inwardly very pleased that Clayton had decided to throw himself into the work of rebuilding the company. Perhaps something good had come out of the accident after all. It had been the dream of his life that the two of them would work together, but up until recently, Clayton had shown little interest in the business. As he went over some of the rudimentary facts of the business with Clayton, he discovered that his son was sharper than he had known. He was perceptive and evidently had learned something at college.
“I believe we can bring the company back up to where it once was in the industry if we can just get the loans we need.” Leland shook his head and added soberly, “But somehow I’ve got the feeling that the First National Bank is never going to approve a loan.”
“Have you tried any other avenues?”
“Oh yes. I’ve put in applications at several other banks, but people are afraid these days. This economic climate has made businessmen cautious. They’re hanging on to their money pretty tightly.”
“I suppose most banks want a sure thing.”
“That’s it exactly.”
Clayton hesitated, then asked, “Is there any hope at all that First National will eventually come through with the loan?”
“I have one more meeting with them. Why don’t you go with me and we’ll make a special plea to the board.”
“Mr. Wright is on our side, isn’t he?”
“Yes, he is, and he’s tried hard to influence the loan committee in our favor. But he’s not very hopeful. As a matter of fact, he’s as much as told me that I’ll have to look elsewhere.”
The two men continued their discussion about the business for a while. “Say,” Leland said, “I got a call from Sharon yesterday. She and Temple are returning from their honeymoon today.”
“I wonder if Temple could be of any help with the business.”
“I really don’t know, and I don’t think Sharon knows either. But if he wants to work here, I’m going to give him an opportunity.”
“What does he do for a living?”
“All I know is that he worked as a roughneck in the oil fields in Oklahoma as a younger man. I think he’s moved around a lot since then trying different ventures.”
“I like him a lot, Dad. I think he’ll be good for Sharon.”
“You know, I do too. Sharon is happier than I’ve ever seen her. It took her a long time, but she finally found the right man.”
“While we’re on that subject, I might as well tell you Sarah and I are no longer together.”
“What happened, son?”
“I think I’m just not the kind of man she wants.”
“Nor the kind of man the Mellons want either. They don’t want a son-in-law with financial problems. Perhaps it’s just as well. Are you troubled about it?”
“You know, I’m not. Not a bit. Right now what I want to do is see Winslow Industries back where it used to be. Right on top.”
****
“I’ll be glad to see Mother and Dad and Clayton again. Clayton seems to be doing well from what they’ve told me on the phone.”
“That’s good news.” Temple glanced at Sharon, then smiled and reached over and put his arm around her. “You’re sitting very close beside me, woman. Is that on purpose?”
“I was pretty sure you wouldn’t mind.”
“You’re right about that. But if you were sitting any closer, you’d be on my other side.” Temple laughed as she made a face at him. “That harp is certainly not silent anymore. I never expected to have such an ardent bride!”
Sharon flushed and tried to pull away, but he only held her closer. “You’re everything a man could want, sweetheart.”
Sharon leaned against him, and the feeling of safety and security was very warm and real to her now. “I’m very happy, Temple,” she said quietly.
“I intend to keep you that way for the rest of your life.” He held on to her, and they talked quietly. After a time he said, “You’re worried about your dad, aren’t you?”
“Yes, he says the business is in terrible shape. Clayton has been working with him, though. That’s good news.”
“Maybe I can help too.”
Sharon turned to smile at him. “Maybe so, dear.” She reached up and captured his hand that lay on her shoulder. “I think poor Dad’s going to need all the help he can get.”
****
The frogs had begun their twilight chorus as evening came closing in. Clayton sat on a bench beside the new pond at the Winslow estate and admired the way William had made the plantings blend in. He had to admit this was the perfect spot for the pond, and now the whole family enjoyed sitting here enjoying the scenery on warm days. The water was absolutely still. Not a breath of air was stirring, and the surface was like a mirror.
“What are you doing here all by yourself?”
Clayton turned, surprised to see Seana coming toward him along the pathway. “Hello, Seana. Sit down and help me solve the problems of the world.” He waited until she sat down beside him, and he asked her about her day. She told him what they had talked about in class that morning and about some of her patients at the hospital. He knew she loved her work, and he liked that in her.
“How are things at the office?” she asked.
“Not good.”
“It’s sorry I am to hear it.”
“Life gets complicated, doesn’t it?” Leaning over carefully, Clayton picked up a small stone and tossed it toward the pond. It struck the still water with a plop, sending rings rippling out from it. “Look at those nice, perfect circles, Seana. I wish life were as simple as that. If you throw just one stone, everything is nice and even. But when you throw another one . . .” He picked up another stone and threw it. It landed near the spot where the other had hit and sent out its own pattern of circles. “Look how that messes up the first circle. When you throw two stones, the water gets all confused.”
“I know one thing. You could throw a dozen stones out there, and God would know every circle just like He knows all of our problems,” she said with a smile. “There are millions of people in the world, and God knows exactly what each one of them is thinking. He knows all they’ve ever been through and all they ever will think. He knows every act and every deed of every single one of us.”
“That’s hard for me to imagine.”
“That’s because you’re not God. He doesn’t have any trouble keeping up with all of us.”
“I love your theology. It’s so simple.”
“It has to be simple because I’m simple.”
The conversation soon turned to Clayton’s recovery. “I want to thank you for taking care of me, Seana. I know I was a bad patient, but you pulled me through.” He reached out and took her hand, half expecting her to draw it back, but she did not. She was watching him curiously, and he lifted her hand and kissed it. Her lips changed then, as did her eyes, as he continued to hold her hand. He couldn’t help but admire her red hair that glowed as the fading light slid across its surface. He allowed his gaze to follow her thick hair down to the smooth roundness of her shoulders and the graceful curves of her body.
“Aren’t you going to shove me in the water for taking liberties with you?”
“No, I’m not.” She withdrew her hand. “I do have a rule, though, that I established a long time ago.”
“A rule? What kind of rule?”
“My rule is that I don’t get involved with any man who has other commitments.”
“Well, I don’t have any commitments.”
“Yes you do.”
Clayton told her about h
is visit with Sarah. After giving her the brief highlights, he said, “So, you see, I don’t have any commitments.” He turned away and watched the tiny bugs that were skittering across the surface of the water. He said quietly, “And it doesn’t look like I’m going to have anything like that for a long time.”
“Why not?”
“For one thing, I may wind up being broke. We’re on the brink of losing the family business. I’m sure you’ve heard about it.”
“I have heard that your father’s having a difficult time.”
“And I haven’t been any help up to now, but I’m going to try to be from now on. But I’ll be too poor to have a sweetheart. I’ll be too poor to have a fiancée. So I guess you’re safe.”
“I’m used to not having any money,” Seana said with humor stirring her voice. “And since you don’t have a sweetheart or a fiancée, I think we might work something out.”
Clayton straightened and turned to her with astonishment and was glad to see that she was smiling. “Does that mean I might take a little liberty?”
“You’re a fainthearted one, you are,” she said. “Any other man would have done something about it if I had told him such a thing.”
Her laugh stirred Clayton, and he didn’t hesitate to put his arms around her and kiss her firmly. She stayed with him, her lips soft and yielding but returning a pressure of their own. He held her in his arms after the kiss, soaking in her loveliness and strength.
Suddenly a giggle burst from her and she pushed away. “I gave you baths for weeks, and in all that time you never once tried to kiss me.”
Her humor was contagious.
“I was afraid you’d break my other arm.”
“You might have been right about that! But now, since you’re no longer involved with Sarah, you can ask my father if you can come courting. That means you can sit on the porch with us until he decides if you are a fit man to see his daughter.”
“All right. I’ll do that.” He started to say more but turned his head at the sound of an approaching car. He got to his feet when he saw who it was. “It’s Sis and Temple. Come on. Let’s go welcome them back.”
The two moved across the lawn to greet the returning honeymooners. As the newlyweds got out of the car, Sharon was radiant as she cried, “Look who’s out and about! The patient on his feet with his nurse.”
“Marriage agrees with you, sis. You look absolutely beautiful.” He shook Temple’s hand and said, “How’s the groom?”
“I’ve got him trained,” Sharon said. “Give me a year, and he’ll be perfect.”
Temple laughed and shook his head. “She’s right about that. I’m just a big toy to her.”
“How are the folks? And how are you?” Sharon asked.
“I’m better every day. I have a good nurse here. She quit working for me, but I’m making plans to go over to her place now and then to get cheered up.”
Sharon raised her eyebrows. “Sounds interesting! And how are things at the office?”
“Well,” Clayton said thoughtfully, “the truth is we’re poor and bound to get poorer.”
Sharon shook her head. “No we won’t. The Winslows will come through. We always have.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A Fitting Finale
Leland and Lucille were thrilled to see Sharon so happy. The days when they had been so anxious for her to marry in high society seemed long ago and already were becoming a dim memory. Both of them had seen the joy in their daughter, and if it had not been for their pressing financial problems, their contentment would have been complete. Neither of them had questioned Sharon on the matter of finances, but they both had assumed that Sharon would have to support their new son-in-law.
On the third day after Sharon and Temple had arrived back from their honeymoon, the entire family sat down together at breakfast. The table was covered with platters of sausage, ham, eggs, potato casserole, biscuits, and fresh fruit, and as they started to eat, Leland said, “Well, today’s the day.”
“The day for what, Dad?” Sharon asked. She was sitting next to Temple, and both Lucille and Leland noticed that she occasionally reached over to touch him as if to be sure he was real.
“This is the day we meet with the loan committee at the bank and make our plea. I don’t want to get your hopes up. Clayton and I will do the best we can, but Daniel Wright has pretty well warned me not to expect to get the loan.”
“You never know about committees,” Temple said before putting a morsel of ham in his mouth. “I never knew a committee to do anything smart or wise yet.”
Leland grinned at his new son-in-law. “I expect you’re right about that, and this one probably won’t prove any exception.”
“What time is the meeting?” Lucille asked.
“At ten o’clock. We’ll have to leave shortly after breakfast.”
“I’m going with you,” Lucille announced.
Leland was surprised. She had never made any attempt to go to any of his business meetings, but he knew she wanted to give him moral support. “That’ll be good. Maybe they’ll see my poor wife and feel sorry for me—sorry enough to give us several million dollars!”
“Why don’t we go too, Sharon?” Temple said, the corners of his lips turned upward in a smile. “When they see you’ve got a worthless son-in-law to support, they’ll have to feel sorry for you.”
“I doubt it.” Leland shrugged.
“Maybe we ought to put on ragged clothes and look hungry,” Clayton put in.
“I guess we could do that,” Leland said with a smile.
“Seana says we’re going to pull through this,” Clayton added. “That woman’s got more faith than anyone I know.”
“I say we’re going to make it too,” Sharon said. “Let’s put on our best clothes and go in there and face that committee like we own the world.”
Leland slapped the table with his palm, making the dishes rattle. “By george, let’s do it! We’ll show them the Winslows are nobody to trifle with.”
****
The bank president’s secretary met Leland and his group as they entered the lobby. “Come this way, Mr. Winslow. Mr. Wright and the committee are dealing with another matter that’s taking longer than they anticipated, but it won’t be long, I’m sure.”
“Thank you very much.”
The party followed the secretary, all of them dressed up except for Temple, who wore a pair of jeans and a red-checked shirt that drew everyone’s attention. His Stetson was still perched on his head. Sharon had rebuked him for not taking it off in the bank and for not dressing up more, but he had said, “Clothes don’t make the man, sweetheart. They’re not going to give money because your dad’s son-in-law is wearing a pretty suit.”
As they waited in chairs outside the conference room, Leland turned to face Lucille. “If this goes badly, I guess I can always go back to where I was when we first got married. I didn’t have anything when I met you—and it looks like we’ll be starting over again.”
Lucille smiled encouragingly. “We can do it again, Leland.”
Temple suddenly got up and said, “I’ve got to make a phone call. I’ll be right back.”
Sharon watched him with surprise and wondered who in the world he would be calling. There was no time to think about it for long, though, because the secretary came back and said, “If you would come this way, the committee is ready.”
Leland let the ladies go first; then he and Clayton followed. When they entered the large conference room, he saw that the committee, comprised of five men all dressed in nearly identical black suits, were sitting along one side of the table. They look like roosting buzzards, Leland thought but smiled and spoke to Daniel Wright, the president, who was at the end of the table. “Good morning, Daniel.”
“Good morning, Leland. I see you’ve brought your family with you.”
“Yes, I believe you know my wife, Lucille, and my daughter, Sharon Smith. Her husband has gone to use the phone. He ought to be back in a mo
ment.”
Wright welcomed them, but it was obvious to everyone that he was nervous. “I’ve asked the committee to reconsider your request for a loan,” he said, “and now, perhaps, you would like to voice your appeal, Leland.”
Leland stood up. “I think you all know my record. You have all the papers and the financial history of Winslow Industries. I can’t add anything to that. We’ve had hard times, as others have had, but I am confident that with your help we can weather this storm.” He spoke a few more words but found himself staring at stony faces. Deciding it was hopeless, he thanked the committee for their time and sat down.
The chairman of the committee, a short, heavyset man with small eyes and a double chin, spoke up in a rather clinical voice. “Naturally we would like to help you, Mr. Winslow. You have been a faithful depositor and customer at First National for many years.” He went on for some time, but everyone in the room could see what was coming. “Things are so uncertain these days that we have curtailed a great many of our activities. I’m sorry, but for the last time, we’re going to have to refuse the loan.”
Leland showed no emotion. “Thank you for your time, gentlemen,” he said courteously. “I’m sorry that we couldn’t do business.”
At that moment Temple walked in through the door. He was still wearing his Stetson, and he looked decidedly out of place in his cowboy outfit and suntanned face. “Did you get everything settled, Leland?”
Leland did not have time to answer, for Daniel Wright interrupted. “Temple Smith!” he exclaimed, and when Leland glanced at him, he saw that Wright’s face was suffused with astonishment. “What in the world are you doing here?”
The whole Winslow clan now looked up with equal astonishment. “Do you two know each other?” Leland asked.
The Silent Harp Page 26