Gerald folded his arms. “And what business is that of yours?”
Tommy reached into his coat and removed an old folded paper, yellow with age. He opened it carefully.
Martha’s eyes widened.
It was a receipt. Twelve years old. Two loaves, one pot of broth, one blanket, three nights’ shelter. At the bottom, in her own handwriting, were the words:
Pay me back when life is kind to you.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Gerald barked out a laugh. “So that’s it? You came all this way to settle a soup debt?”
“No,” Tommy said. “We came to settle a life debt.”
The youngest man spoke softly. “If she hadn’t taken us in that winter, we’d be dead.”
Gerald’s contempt shifted into greed.
“Well, then,” he said. “Martha’s my wife. What you give her, you give this household.”
Tommy looked at him for a long second.
“Then perhaps we should discuss the law,” he said.
Gerald’s smile slipped.
Tommy added, “Especially the part concerning a husband who has been collecting relief money in his wife’s name for seven years.”
Chapter 3: What Kindness Cost Her
Gerald went pale.
Martha looked from him to Tommy, struggling to understand what she had just heard.
“Relief money?” she repeated.
Gerald forced a laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”