“Lia, Mrs. Ragsdale wants to hire someone to work for her. I know you were talking about taking on a job. Perhaps you would like to discuss what Mrs. Ragsdale has in mind?”
“Oh, yes please. I can cook and clean and mend and do laundry. I’m only looking for a few hours each day while my boys are in school, however.”
“That sounds very suitable to what would work for us,” Susanna’s mother declared. “I’ll let Susanna arrange it all. You may give her your references.” Mother all but waved Lia away from her.
Susanna stared at her mother for a moment, then turned to Lia. “We can discuss it after this. I don’t want to spoil the party atmosphere with talk of work.”
Lia nodded. “I nearly forgot. I brought a pound of coffee. I left it by the door.” She hurried away, then returned with a bag in her hand. “I know it’s not much, but LeRoy says coffee is a staple of life that you can never have too much of.”
Susanna laughed. “Sounds like great wisdom. My father drinks his weight in the stuff. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.” She took the bag and held it while Lia helped herself to the table of food.
“Here, I can put it on the table for you with the rest,” Sylvia Payne said, coming to take the coffee from Susanna. “I’ll have my husband bring everything over to the Medford house after supper.” She laughed. “I guess it’s the Ragsdale house now, but we all knew it as the Medford house for the longest time.”
“It’s a lovely little house, and it stays so nice and cool.”
Sylvia nodded. “I often tell Mr. Payne that if we’re going to remain here for many years, we should get an adobe house. The heat can be so unbearable, as I’m sure you are realizing.”
“Yes.”
Susanna cast a glance at her mother, who seemed to be fading as woman after woman tried to make it a point to converse. If only they knew what a snob her mother truly was, they’d never make the effort. It was probably good they didn’t know. How she wished her mother could realize the value of just being honest about her situation. Susanna wasn’t sure, however, that her mother was capable of comprehending the truth. Neither of her parents seemed to live in reality. Uncle Harrison had made it clear that until they could accept their lot, they would go on believing themselves wealthy and capable of great waste and risk. She was supposed to be the voice of reason helping them see the truth. Unfortunately, she’d done nothing but perpetuate the problem by buying them a house and now arranging a maid.
But the latter was for herself as much as anyone. She couldn’t continue with the additional workload. She sighed.
“You sound tired,” Lia said, coming to stand beside her. “Is the heat starting to get to you?”
“The heat has been difficult, I’ll admit.” Susanna smiled. “I don’t really mind it, though. I’ve never cared for the cold and much prefer this desert heat and dryness.”
Lia nodded. “You’ll have to be careful about your skin. You’re so very white. It’s a beautiful color, but you will no doubt burn, and the dryness will make it rough.”
“I do burn and freckle.” Susanna liked Lia. She was outgoing and full of life. “I plan to be very careful with parasols and large-brimmed hats.” She smiled and changed the subject. “I hear that you have children.”
“Yes, two boys. Emilio and John. They are my joy.” Lia’s entire face lit up as she talked about them. “Their father’s too. I’m sure you’ll get to know LeRoy. He works in the department next to Owen’s.”
Susanna couldn’t help wondering what she meant by that comment. It seemed everyone had already decided that she and Owen would be a couple.
“I think your mother is taking ill,” Sylvia said, pulling on Susanna’s sleeve. “The heat, poor thing.”
Susanna handed her plate to Sylvia. “I’d best get her home.”
“I’m not sure how you can manage it. She’s all but fainted dead away. I don’t have a cart, but there is a wheelbarrow. I could get my gardener to take her home in it.”
Susanna almost choked on her reply. “If she cannot walk, we will consider that.”
Sylvia nodded and hurried from the room. Susanna made her way to her mother, who was being fanned by three women.
“She just seemed to take bad,” said one older woman. Susanna couldn’t remember her name. Matilda . . . Mary . . .
“Thank you for giving her such good care.” Susanna leaned down to whisper in her mother’s ear, careful that no one else could hear her. “They’re going to take you home in a wheelbarrow if you’re unable to walk.”
Susanna straightened as her mother’s eyes popped open. “Oh my. I’m feeling a bit better.” She waved the women away. “I’m sure I can manage for myself, but I should go home to lie down.”
“Don’t overdo it, Mrs. Ragsdale. You are among friends,” Agnes Lewis, the pastor’s wife announced. “We’ll take good care of you.”
Gladys Ragsdale got to her feet. Susanna was certain no one would ever be allowed to take her home in a wheelbarrow. Not if her mother still had breath in her body. Susanna kept a look of sober concern fixed on her face when what she wanted more than anything was to burst out laughing at the very thought.
What a day.
Owen looked at the work Gary was doing and shook his head. “You aren’t pounding in the right places. See how Herc and Empty are doing it? They heat the iron, then Empty puts the block hammer in a specific place. It’s all about getting the proper shape. You can’t just put it any old place. Then Herc comes with the sledge and makes hard hits to form the metal. It’s a precise operation.”
“It just looks like you’re hitting it over and over without any real change,” Gary said.
“It’s a subtle change, but it’s lining up properly with what we need it to be,” Owen declared. “Sometimes it’s not immediately evident what’s being accomplished. Kind of like when God is working on our hearts.”
Gary frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know about that, but it seems to me there has to be an easier way to get this metal shaped like you want it.”
“There are machines that can bend metal and shape it, but this requires precision, and doing it by hand is the only real way to have it turn out the way I need it. Now, please, stop trying to cut corners.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You’re trying to come up with a better way—an easier way—but sometimes good things take effort and time. Just trust that we’ve been doing this long enough to know what’s needed.” Owen gave him a smile of encouragement. “Now, pick up your sledge, and let’s try again.”
The afternoon seemed to drag by. Gary was constantly heading to the water bucket for drinks of water, and then, of course, he needed the privy. He was sweating no more or less than the others, but he was clearly more uncomfortable. Owen had assumed this would be the case, since Gary had never worked a job—particularly one in the desert heat with railroad ovens. It was a harsh initiation, but he had asked for it, and Owen had warned him.
By the time the whistle was blown to end the workday, Owen could see that Gary was more than happy to follow the boomers off for cold beer and female company.