together on that deal Packard is making with our company.”
Chapter 16
I t was just past five when George flew through the front door of their small, drafty, rented house and raced back to the kitchen. He found Carole at the stove working on supper. Sweeping her into his arm, he dipped her down and presented her with a huge, sloppy kiss. After pulling her up and twirling her across the wooden floor, he all but yelled, “You’re not going to believe what happened to me today!”
“Shhh, the baby’s asleep. You’ll wake her.”
“Sorry,” he whispered, his face still framed by a grin the size of a breakfast saucer, “but this has been the greatest day of my life!”
“It’s been pretty good here, too.” Carole laughed. “Ever since that story came out, the phone hasn’t quit ringing and a dozen different people have come by to visit.”
“That’s nothing,” George said, his voice once again approaching a shout.
“Hold it down,” she begged him.
“I got a raise,” he whispered, “and the Packard Company is going to pay us two thousand dollars to be in an ad and use our story. At first they were talking about half that, but then they added a radio pitch and doubled their offer. Honey, we can move out of this dump and into a nicer place. We might even be able to buy the Casons’ place. It’s been for sale for a while, and it has the huge backyard and a nice garage, too.”
“We’re going to be in an ad?” she blurted out, disbelief showing in her tone. “You mean a local ad in the paper?”
“No,” George crowed, “in magazines like Life and Time. And on national radio, too!”
“And it’s all because of the Packard!” She laughed.
“Sure is,” he assured her.
“And just think, George, I wanted you to sell that car. I’d have been giving away a gold mine. Sure glad you’re the brains in this family.”
“I doubt that I’m the brains. Felix gave me the next couple of days off. Let’s use them to look at the Cason place and make an offer.”
“Okay,” she sang out, “but isn’t there something else we need to do first?”
“You mean eat? Celebrate?”
“I was thinking about maybe offering a prayer of thanksgiving. It seems God has been smiling on us.”
George hadn’t stopped to consider his faith in a long time. Maybe he’d thought God had forgotten him. Besides, was this God’s doing, or was it merely a run of good luck? Getting the deal on the car right when his broke down … The fact that he was able to purchase it for the money he had on hand … The car’s brakes saving their lives. Did God really set up false curses so that people like him could be blessed?
“George, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” he lied. If the Lord was behind all this good fortune, then was He also behind the death of the two men associated with the Packard? Was there a way to separate the good from the bad and only give God credit for the half that blessed them?
The ring of the phone drew Carole from his side.
“Hello … Oh, Mary, yes it was a blessing we weren’t killed.”
George took his thoughts with him to the front porch. As he eased down into a metal lawn chair, he glanced back at the car that had suddenly brought so much fortune into their lives. Was there something more than just the car at work here?
Chapter 17
March 15, 1940
T ax day! Could there be a worse twenty-four-hour period in the history of the world? Especially this year!
Life had been too good since Rose had come. It was almost impossible for him to believe it had been two-and-a-half years. Where had the time gone? But how great those years had been. The continuing deal with Packard, the money that came from the generous raise at his new position with Johnson Drafting and Design, and even a small inheritance from his uncle Jim Henley’s estate had moved George into a higher tax bracket. He’d been in shock since the night before when he figured his income tax. Just paying Uncle Sam was
Chapter 16
I t was just past five when George flew through the front door of their small, drafty, rented house and raced back to the kitchen. He found Carole at the stove working on supper. Sweeping her into his arm, he dipped her down and presented her with a huge, sloppy kiss. After pulling her up and twirling her across the wooden floor, he all but yelled, “You’re not going to believe what happened to me today!”
“Shhh, the baby’s asleep. You’ll wake her.”
“Sorry,” he whispered, his face still framed by a grin the size of a breakfast saucer, “but this has been the greatest day of my life!”
“It’s been pretty good here, too.” Carole laughed. “Ever since that story came out, the phone hasn’t quit ringing and a dozen different people have come by to visit.”
“That’s nothing,” George said, his voice once again approaching a shout.
“Hold it down,” she begged him.
“I got a raise,” he whispered, “and the Packard Company is going to pay us two thousand dollars to be in an ad and use our story. At first they were talking about half that, but then they added a radio pitch and doubled their offer. Honey, we can move out of this dump and into a nicer place. We might even be able to buy the Casons’ place. It’s been for sale for a while, and it has the huge backyard and a nice garage, too.”
“We’re going to be in an ad?” she blurted out, disbelief showing in her tone. “You mean a local ad in the paper?”
“No,” George crowed, “in magazines like Life and Time. And on national radio, too!”
“And it’s all because of the Packard!” She laughed.
“Sure is,” he assured her.
“And just think, George, I wanted you to sell that car. I’d have been giving away a gold mine. Sure glad you’re the brains in this family.”
“I doubt that I’m the brains. Felix gave me the next couple of days off. Let’s use them to look at the Cason place and make an offer.”
“Okay,” she sang out, “but isn’t there something else we need to do first?”
“You mean eat? Celebrate?”
“I was thinking about maybe offering a prayer of thanksgiving. It seems God has been smiling on us.”
George hadn’t stopped to consider his faith in a long time. Maybe he’d thought God had forgotten him. Besides, was this God’s doing, or was it merely a run of good luck? Getting the deal on the car right when his broke down … The fact that he was able to purchase it for the money he had on hand … The car’s brakes saving their lives. Did God really set up false curses so that people like him could be blessed?
“George, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing,” he lied. If the Lord was behind all this good fortune, then was He also behind the death of the two men associated with the Packard? Was there a way to separate the good from the bad and only give God credit for the half that blessed them?
The ring of the phone drew Carole from his side.
“Hello … Oh, Mary, yes it was a blessing we weren’t killed.”
George took his thoughts with him to the front porch. As he eased down into a metal lawn chair, he glanced back at the car that had suddenly brought so much fortune into their lives. Was there something more than just the car at work here?
Chapter 17
March 15, 1940
T ax day! Could there be a worse twenty-four-hour period in the history of the world? Especially this year!
Life had been too good since Rose had come. It was almost impossible for him to believe it had been two-and-a-half years. Where had the time gone? But how great those years had been. The continuing deal with Packard, the money that came from the generous raise at his new position with Johnson Drafting and Design, and even a small inheritance from his uncle Jim Henley’s estate had moved George into a higher tax bracket. He’d been in shock since the night before when he figured his income tax. Just paying Uncle Sam was
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