Free The Sun Rises (Southern Legacy Book 4) by Jerri Hines

that Derek considered her empathy a weakness of being a woman, but it was an encouraging sign for the family. She remembered Miss Hazel telling her once that misfortunes will do one of two things: strengthen a family or split it.
    Jo wondered whether it had more to do with Jenna’s stance. Only the night before, Jenna declared, “I don’t question our cause and know it is just, but I can’t help but feel that slavery’s time needs to come to an end.”
    “I do not disagree with you, my dear,” Derek replied. “I doubt it will ever be the same after this conflict. We are fortunate here at Magnolia Bluff. The servants who have stayed are loyal and excellent. They are as much a fixture here as the family.”
    Jo realized that although Derek was raised on a plantation in Georgia, it was not as large or massive as the land owned by the family he had married into. He had become a great asset, not afraid of hard, physical labor.
    She had discovered that Derek had an inner strength that emerged since his return. Gone was the thought of him as a cripple. His left shirt sleeve may have been pinned up at the shoulder, but that was the only indication of his handicap.
    Not afraid to toil alongside the remaining Negros, Derek worked harder than ten men. The plantation had come to depend heavily on his guidance. He mended fences, tilled the garden, and saw to the livestock.
    With most of Andrew’s time and energy concentrated on the hospital in Charleston, Gardner had begun to come to Derek for direction on the care of the plantation. It was one less worry upon Andrew’s shoulders.
    For well over a century, the main cash crop on Magnolia Bluff had long been rice. They had not even attempted to plant the fields this year. There would be no cash crops. It would have been a useless venture. Instead, Derek’s focus was upon Magnolia Bluff maintaining its ability to be self-sufficient.
    The emphasis had turned to the other plantations under the Montgomery name to supply the needed cash crops; those grew cotton. Unfortunately, cotton had fared no better, commanding no price whatsoever. Derek reasoned that at least cotton could be stored and sold at a later time.
    Long before the war, Jo would have fallen on her knees, praying and weeping, at the magnitude of problems that faced Magnolia Bluff. She had learned to take one day at a time, not looking ahead…just surviving the day.
    Lost in her thoughts, Jo smiled over at her daughter, who made such a lovely picture with her grandmother. The little one reached up and touched Mother Montgomery’s face in the most gentle of fashions with her chubby hand.
    From the corner of her eye, movement caught her attention. Turning, Jo rose and walked over to the railing. Amos ran haphazardly across the back of the front lawn, flailing his hands over his head.
    Rosa emerged from the back of the house and ran to meet him. Amos doubled over for a moment to catch his breath. Grasping the large black man by the shoulders, Rosa leaned over and said something.
    Too far away to make out the words, Jo watched in confusion. Rosa glanced around in a nervous manner and then ushered Amos back the way he came. After one last look behind her, Rosa followed.
    “Mother Montgomery, can you watched the children for a moment? There seems to be a disturbance of some sort.”
    “Oh, my,” Mother Montgomery cried in a low voice, Madeline clutched to her chest. “Is it…is it the Yankees?”
    “No…no, my dear. I can assure you I would not be going out to greet the devils,” Jo calmed Mother Montgomery. “More than likely, it is nothing. I just saw Rosa head toward the barn. I hope it is not Ole Toby. Can’t afford to lose another draft mule. Amos said the old mule was looking peaked last night. Do you need Anna to help you with the children?”
    Obvious relief flooded the older woman’s face. She shook her head. “I will bring the children in for a nap.”
    “Thank you. I’ll be back shortly.” Without