Chapters (62)
- Cover
- A PENNY
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
- About the Author
- Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
- About the Publisher
“I’m recovering,” I said. “At least we’re here now—we’re safe.”
“I’m not just talking about the incident this morning. I’ve been worried about you all week.”
Glancing into her concerned face, I felt a surge of tears threatening behind my eyes. I looked away, rearranging the fruit on my plate.
“It’s been a hard week for me,” I said finally, softly. “The widow, Mrs. Smythe? She loved her husband very much. From what I can tell, they had one of those marriages…”
I let my voice trail off as I struggled for the right words.
“One of those amazing marriages, like you and your husband had?” Harriet finished for me. I nodded.
“But I’ve cried a little and worked some things through,” I continued, “and now I think I’m going to be fine. No, I know I’m going to be fine.”
“If you need to talk,” Harriet said, “I’m ready to listen.”
I smiled at her.
“Don’t need to talk, actually,” I said. “But I could use a prayer.”
She nodded knowingly, and then we held hands and bowed our heads.
“Lord,” she drawled, “I thank You for my dear friend, Callie Webber, the finest woman I have ever known. I just pray that You will come down and wrap Your lovin’ arms around her and protect her from hurt and from harm. Bless us here today as we attempt to finish this job so Callie can come back home where she belongs. Help us to keep our eyes on You, God, and give me traveling mercies as I head back out this afternoon.”
After her amen, I felt her squeeze my hands tightly before letting go. I said my own silent prayer of thanks for the blessing of a true friend. Then we turned toward the table, pulled out Harriet’s computer and her adding machine, and got down to work.
Thirty-Nine
Thirty-Nine
“You’re telling me,” I said to Harriet, “that there’s a $250,000 discrepancy between these two sets of books?”
We had been working for nearly three hours as we compared the records and analyzed the cash flow from each set.
“Two hundred forty-nine thousand, seven hundred thirty-three dollars,” she said, “that shows up in the public record, but disappears in the private one.”
“Well, I guess that’s not really a surprise,” I said, tossing a grape up into the air and catching it in my mouth. “My bet is that Wendell wanted the money from J.O.S.H.U.A. to cover this debt. He wanted to straighten out this mess before he went in for his operation.”