Stay a Little Longer by Dorothy Garlock Page B

Confused and growing angrier by the moment, he confronted Zachary, but the bastard acted
     as if he had no idea what the poor man was talking about. Even when the matter was brought to Sherman’s attention, Zachary
     clung to his lie, swearing on his late mother’s grave that he had never taken Archie’s money. Behind closed doors, he suggested
     that maybe Archie had been drinking or was a bit confused.”
    “But… but that’s not right,” Rachel protested. “Surely someone saw Mr. Grace giving Zachary the money!”
    Eliza shook her head. “Remember, it was a late February night and Zachary had been alone at the bank. Besides, you know how
     quickly the sun sets come winter. Since it was so cold and dark, not a soul was around to see him rob that poor man.”
    “But who would have believed him?”
    “Sherman had no choice.” Eliza shrugged. “When he demanded the truth of his son, Zachary sat there and lied to his face every
     bit as slick as rainwater running off a duck’s back. You also have to recall that Archie had been going through a tough time
     and he’d been known to tie on one or two at the tavern. What with those two things working against him, poor Sherman had no
     option but to accept Zachary’s take on the event.”
    “And then…” Rachel began but couldn’t finish.
    “And then Archie took himself out to his workshop and hung himself,” Eliza explained with a heavy heart. “There weren’t many
     folks that knew what had happened at the bank. Sherman made sure that tongues didn’t wag, so most all of Carlson figured that
     Archie couldn’t take the loneliness any longer and saw only one way out of it.”
    “But Mason told you the truth?” Rachel asked.
    “He did.”
    “He believed what Archie had said? That his own brother was a liar?”
    “I’m sure that he’s always known that Zachary was no good,” Eliza sneered. “Living with him for all of those years had to
     have taught him something, but I think even Mason was surprised by the depths of Zachary’s deception of Archie Grace. When
     he told Alice, she was so horrified that she burst into tears and, to the best of my knowledge, never spoke to her brother-in-law
     ever again. I doubt that Mason would have blamed her.”
    Rachel shivered at the thought of Zachary stealing Archie Grace’s money. There was little doubt that he was a greedy, overbearing
     man who treasured the pursuit of money over nearly everything else, but the man her mother had just described was nothing
     short of evil. Still, she knew there was little that would’ve led her to believe that Zachary had been misunderstood. That
     Mason hadn’t swallowed his own brother’s story was particularly damning.
    How can I believe a word he said about the boardinghouse?
    “Would you place Charlotte’s future in the hands of such a man?”
    Her mother’s question struck Rachel mute. When Zachary had first made the offer to follow up on his father’s pledge to provide
     for Charlotte, she had had reservations, but wanted to do what was best for the girl. Now, in the face of the accusations
     made against the man, she wished to keep her niece as far away from him as possible.
    “He told you that he’d provide for Charlotte, didn’t he?” Eliza asked.
    “Yes… yes, he did.”
    Her mother nodded solemnly, moving back toward the window and peering onto the street below. “Zachary Tucker does not give
     a damn about that child… never has,” she finally said, her voice low with a barely restrained anger. “All she is to him is
     a reminder of a brother he couldn’t stand. If she were in trouble, he would be the last person I would ever turn to for help,
     and that’s God’s honest truth!”
    “But what about the money his father promised?” Rachel prodded. “He said that if we sold the boardinghouse to the lumber company,
     he’d ensure she got what was rightfully hers.”
    “That money is gone forever, child.”
    “But what about—”
    “Just