“We’ll eat at the Harvey House once we get settled. Stay here and help when the bags come. We don’t know what to expect. There will be plenty of time to explore later.”
Gary pulled off his hat, giving an exaggerated sigh. He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “You aren’t happy unless you’re bossing me around.”
Susanna ignored him. “Father, the door is locked, and you have the only keys. I suggest you give me one set so that we each have one, since I’m going to be helping you keep the front desk.” She closed her parasol and gave him a smile.
“Of course. Of course.”
Father produced the two keys and handed one to her. He didn’t seem to know what to do with the other one. Susanna finally rolled her eyes and opened the door herself.
The smell of new paint wafted out the door as she walked inside. Everything was pristine and bright, painted in yellow with white trim. She made her way to the front desk. Uncle Harrison had told them they’d find the family living quarters behind it.
She tried the door to the right and found a closet with supplies and bedding. The door on the left, however, opened onto a living area.
“Here we are.” She looked around the room. There was ample space for two people, to be certain. Less for the four who had arrived.
“This will not do,” Mother declared. “There is only one large room that combines everything. We would have to have the cook in here, working in the kitchen, while we tried our best to relax ... or worse, entertain.”
“Mother, I do not believe we have the budget either for a cook or to entertain.” Susanna knew this change of financial solvency had wounded her mother dearly. Gladys Ragsdale had always believed herself to be upper society, and the fact that her husband had lost all of their money was something she could not reconcile.
“You are determined to kill me.” Her mother collapsed onto a cushioned chair. “This isn’t even comfortable, and this town is in the middle of nowhere. It feels like a furnace in here.”
“I’m sure once we get things organized,” Susanna’s father began, “it will be better. The nights will cool off surprisingly fast. Everyone says so.”
Mother’s disgruntled huff suggested otherwise. “We don’t even have electricity.”
“But they are putting it in very soon.”
“There are two bedrooms in the back,” Gary announced. “They’re very small. Both have two little beds.”
“I told Uncle I would pay for a separate hotel room, but he wouldn’t hear of it.” Susanna began taking off her black gloves. “I’m to have room 101.”
“A room to yourself? How very spoiled.” Her mother’s tone was accusing.
“I suppose you and I could share one of these bedrooms and Father and Gary the other, but it’s hardly appropriate for Gary and me to share a room at our age.” Susanna wondered what her mother would say to that idea.
She didn’t have long to wait.
“This is uncalled for, Herbert. We cannot live this way. I won’t live this way!”
“And where will you go?” Father asked, finally reaching the end of his patience.
Everyone looked at Mother, which only increased her discomfort. She burst into tears and made a dash for one of the bedrooms.
“Oh, look, we have a private bath,” Gary announced, opening the final door.
“Yes, Uncle Harrison said there would be one,” Susanna replied. She set her purse and gloves aside and began to unpin her hat. With that accomplished, she put it with her other things and went to the windows. “We need to open these and get a bit of air in here. That’s bound to help our moods.”
The baggageman arrived, and Gary hurried off to help with that. Susanna raised the first window and moved on to the next.
“Your mother is very upset, and I cannot blame her,” Father said. “She had the best of everything in Topeka.”
“And perhaps one day she’ll have the best of everything again,” Susanna declared. “For now, however, we must be patient and work hard. She has never had to do that, and it will not come easy to her.”
Her father shook his head. “I was so sure of that investment. If I hadn’t been, I never would have risked the house and everything else. You must understand. It was a sure thing.”
Susanna straightened. “What I understand is that itwasn’ta sure thing. Had it been, you wouldn’t have lost everything and be standing here now in San Marcial, New Mexico.”
“No, that’s for sure. Your mother is right—it is a godforsaken place.”
