“Oh, it’s you, Susanna. I’m afraid I’m just so weak from the heat.”
“I thought you might be, so I brought you iced tea with sugar. It should perk you right up, although I know you prefer hot tea.” Susanna arranged the tray on the bed so that it was near her mother, who had changed from her clothes into a dressing gown and now lay atop the bed with a book.
“I don’t suppose we have any cake, do we?”
“No. I haven’t had time to bake.” Susanna offered nothing more. If Mother wanted cake, she could figure out for herself how to get it. “I’ll be with the boys if you need anything.”
She didn’t give her mother time to protest but returned to the table to find her father and brother arguing.
“I don’t want to help you at the hotel,” Gary said firmly. “I like what I’m doing.”
“You like being a dirty laborer? I didn’t raise you to take on such work. You were meant for greater things. I want you to go to college this fall.”
“And how will you pay for that? We have no money because you lost it all.” Up until now, Gary had said very little about their change of status. It seemed a hard day’s work had brought out the frustration in him. “I lost all of my friends because of your inability to manage your accounts. You were the laughingstock of Topeka and no doubt elsewhere. I was glad to leave so that I could be spared further embarrassment.”
Father slammed down his fork. “How dare you speak that way to me? We had a minor setback. Nothing more. You cannot gain great capital without taking risks of equal greatness. It is hardly my fault that the man involved in the investment was a crook, nor that your uncle wouldn’t stand by me.”
“If you’d taken Uncle Harrison’s counsel in the first place, you wouldn’t have made such a mess of it,” Gary countered. “You think you’re so wise, but you aren’t.” He got up from the table, shaking his head. “And so we must live like this.”
He stormed off to his room, leaving Susanna and her father to stare at one another.
Susanna wondered if there was anything she could say to help the matter, but she decided her father wouldn’t hear it, even if she offered praise. He knew in his heart of hearts that this mess was his fault. He had to know. Even with all the denial and blaming of the conman who’d sold him out, he had to see that he had rejected advice from others more qualified to judge. He had to accept that he was responsible. Didn’t he?
“Your brother will never know how these things work,” Father groused. “He’s too impatient to learn. If he could only see the way industry and finance requires a man to make choices that others might see as far too dangerous in order to blessthat man with riches and security. Perhaps one day when we are resettled and recovered from this, I will be able to teach Gary how to judge the situations for himself.”
She frowned and tried to keep her focus on her food. What could she possibly say? It was as if her father lived in a world of his own making.
After supper, Susanna cleaned up, knowing no one else would. She put away the food and clean dishes, then went to her mother to say good-bye before heading over to the hotel.
“Everything is put away, Mother. I’m hoping to speak to Lia tonight to see how soon she can start working for you.”
“Oh, I do hope it is soon. I simply cannot abide a dirty house, and of course there is no one to fix breakfast. Your father had to bring breakfast from one of the local cafés this morning. It was greasy and cold by the time it reached me.” Mother gave a little sniff.
“You can always eat cold ham and make toast. We have sliced bread.”
“I wouldn’t know how to make toast,” her mother protested.
“Well, perhaps it would be a good idea to learn.” Susanna kissed her mother’s forehead, then headed for the door. “I’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”
Father was looking over a letter that had come in the mail when Susanna bid him good night.
“I’m heading out,” she said.
He glanced up, but there was no offer to see her safely back to the hotel or even to thank her for taking care of everything. Her parents really were the most self-focused people she’d ever known.
“Your uncle Harrison is coming to see how things are going. He wants to make sure we have everything we need. I’m going to speak to him about these arrangements. It really is a deplorable town, and it’s criminal for your mother and I to have tolive this way.” He looked down at the letter. “He really is quite unkind to imagine this will work.”
Susanna shook her head and headed for the door. There was no sense in even offering a reply.
The day had cooled to a pleasantly warm evening. Susanna wanted to contact Lia and arrange whatever she could for her services. Again, her conscience was pricked at the knowledge that she was only furthering her mother’s spoiled behavior. Still, it was Susanna who would suffer if she didn’t arrange for a maid and cook. It would fall to her own shoulders and double her workload. She sighed. Helping at the hotel was far more work than she wanted as it was. She had hoped her mother might see the need to offer a hand, but of course that was the furthest thing from her mind.
A few blocks down Main Street, Susanna noted the crossroad she wanted and turned left. Lia had said their house was at the end of the road. Susanna admired the small adobe house. Two boys were racing circles around two men in the front yard.
One of the men was Owen Turner. When he spied her, he smiled and gave a wave.
“How nice to see you again,” he said, coming to greet her. “Come meet the gang.”
The two boys came running and clamped themselves onto Owen’s legs. “Now you have to carry us,” one of the boys declared.
