Cape Refuge Read Online Free

expelled a sigh. “Jonathan, not that again. Gus is a good man, and you don’t have to worry about him.”
    â€œAre you willing to bet your daughter’s life on it?” Jonathan asked her.
    She met her husband’s eyes, and Wayne got up to face Jonathan. He was a big man, at least as tall as Jonathan, who stood six foot three. “Jonathan, what’s the matter with you?” His voice was gruff and way too loud, to compensate for his poor hearing. “Now, I’m proud to call you my son-in-law, and I feel real secure that Morgan has you looking out for her. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. I know that whatever happens to me, you’ll always take care of her. So I don’t fault you for your concern. But you knew where she lived and that she helped us at Hanover House before you ever started dating her. You didn’t seem to care who lived in our house when you were coming over every night for supper. You got along just fine with everybody then.”
    â€œBut I see things now that I didn’t see then,” he said in a low voice, hoping Wayne would take his cue and lower his as well. “And there’s something about Gus Hampton that I don’t trust.”
    â€œJust because he’s Jamaican and has an accent—”
    â€œIt’s not that!” Jonathan said.
    â€œIs it because he’s black?” Thelma asked. “Because if it is, Jonathan, I have to say that I’m disappointed in you—”
    â€œNo, it’s not because he’s black! It’s because he’s as big as a football lineman and sneaks around like a prowler and looks at my wife—”
    â€œSneaks around?” Wayne boomed. “When does he sneak around?”
    â€œLast night,” Jonathan said. “I couldn’t sleep. I got up about two-thirty. I was going to go downstairs and read, and here he came up the stairs, walking so quiet you wouldn’t have even known he was in the house.”
    â€œFor heaven’s sake,” Thelma said. “Jonathan, he was being considerate. Trying not to wake us up!”
    â€œI don’t trust him!” he said. “And neither does anybody else on this island, which is exactly why the city council wants to close us down.”
    â€œThat’s not going to happen,” Wayne said. “We found out a few things that we’re going to bring out tonight at the council meeting, and I guarantee you, those council members will get off our backs.”
    â€œWhat, so you can just keep inviting criminals and rapists and murderers to come and live in the house with my wife?” Now he was talking too loudly, and the other patrons were silent, undoubtedly tuning in to every word he and Wayne said.
    Thelma sprang out of her seat and grabbed Jonathan by the arm. She was only five feet five, and three inches of that was the curly gray hair that padded her head. But she had a way of making a big man seem small. “Outside, Jonathan,” she said through her teeth. “You’re about to make me mad.”
    â€œ I’m gonna make you mad?” he asked as she escorted him through the screen door. Wayne stalked behind them, his heavy boots clomping on the hollow floor. The door bounced shut behind them.
    â€œNow you look here!” Thelma said, turning him to face her when they were out of earshot of the crowd in Crickets. “We have enough problems in this town with people spreading lies about our tenants and the work we do. But it will not come from our own family. Do you hear me?”
    â€œWhy won’t you listen to me? I can’t sleep nights. I have nightmares about that man hurting Morgan—”
    â€œWe can’t help your nightmares,” Wayne said, loud enough for everyone inside to hear him anyway. Even the tourists waiting at Jonathan’s boat seemed to be listening now. “All we can tell you is what we know. I don’t invite anybody to live in