Free The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers Page A

overweight. She was elegantly dressed in a green suit
    with a gold silk blouse and a string of pearls.
    “Your husband said you moved recently and you were having
    a difficult time settling in,” she said when they were on their way
    in her sleek black Jaguar. “He didn’t mention where you lived
    before.”
    “We both grew up in Healdsburg,” Sierra said, wondering
    how much else Alex had confided in this attractive stranger. “It’s
    about seventy miles north of San Francisco, in the wine country.”
    “I’m familiar with the area,” Roberta said and smiled with
    complete understanding. “God’s country. No wonder you’re
    having trouble. Culture shock. This area must seem like another
    planet to you.”
    Sierra warmed to her at once and felt herself relaxing. From
    that point on, they talked easily. Roberta had four children, all
    grown-up and in college or married. She had gotten her real
    estate license when the market was booming. “I’ve always
    loved looking at houses,” she said, driving along pretty
    tree-shaded streets with charming ranch-style houses and
    some with a hint of Victorian. “You know, most people I know
    dream of retiring in the wine country or farther north in the
    redwoods. I like Garberville myself. It has an old-fashioned
    feel to it.”
    “My brother owns a place there. He has twenty acres out near
    White Thorn on the way to Shelter Cove. He likes to go up on
    weekends and relax.”
    “Heaven.” Roberta sighed. “Well, we’ll see if we can’t find you
    a house down here that’ll have the country feel. Why don’t we
    take a look at this one?”
    6 6
    T H E
    W I L D E R N E S S
    Roberta showed her four homes, all with four bedrooms, three
    bathrooms, and a pool. The prices made Sierra’s head spin and
    her stomach drop. They were four times what she and Alex had
    paid for their Windsor home! What was Alex thinking? Sierra
    confided her concerns to Roberta.
    “It is a shock, I know. Your husband told me what you’re going to make from the sale of your home and what he’s currently
    making. It’ll be tight, but I don’t think you’ll have problems qualifying. Especially with Steve Silverman cosigning.”
    Sierra could feel the blood running out of her face. “Cosigning?”
    “It’ll speed up the process of you and your husband having a
    new home. Steve simply guarantees the loan.”
    “So they would own part of our home?”
    “Oh no, but should you fall into financial difficulties, which is
    very unlikely, Steve would have to assume responsibility for the
    mortgage. Alex told me his primary concern is location, which is
    wise. Should you decide to resell after a few years, any one of
    these homes would be snapped up quickly.”
    Warning bells were going off in Sierra’s mind, but she couldn’t
    pinpoint the cause. She tried to talk to Alex about it that night,
    but he thought she was suspicious of Steve’s motives in offering
    to guarantee their loan and took offense.
    “That’s not what I said!” Sierra protested, upset.
    “Pretty close.”
    “You don’t listen.”
    “Then try making sense. Try thinking things through before
    you open your mouth.”
    “Forget it,” she said, hurt. Did he think she was stupid just
    because she wanted all the facts? “Just forget it. We’ll buy a
    house. After all, it’s your money. Right? This marriage isn’t a
    partnership. I’m just the stupid, uneducated little homebody
    who happens to be your wife!”
    “I didn’t say that!”
    6 7
    T H E
    S C A R L E T
    T H R E A D
    “You didn’t have to.”
    Alex said barely a dozen words to her over the next week.
    James Farr has come to live with us.
    He talks to me sometimes when Matthew has
    other things to do. He is laid up with a broken leg
    and he is very sad because his mother and father
    was both dead from a terible Tragedy.
    I herd him tell Matthew what happened.
    James and his mother and his father was riding home from the camp meeting when his father
    says