“I won’t give up, but . . . well, Owen may give up on me. I just don’t seem to understand the things he wants me to do. I’m trying, though. I really am.”
“Did you tell him that?” She brought the coffeepot and placed it on a hot pad near Gary. She quickly retrieved her own breakfast plate and joined him at the table. “I’m sure if you’re honest with Owen, he’ll be patient with you. Besides, today is Saturday—so just a half day. You won’t have to work quite so hard.”
Susanna offered a short prayer, and they dug in. Gary noted the time and began to eat a little faster. Susanna wondered what Owen thought of her brother. It wasn’t like he’d ever worked before. Surely Owen would remember that. Still, should she say something to him when they were next alone?
Gary was soon off to work, and moments later Susanna’s father appeared, ready for his workday. He was late but seemed in a surprisingly good mood. Susanna took the opportunity to ask a favor.
“Father, later today some of the women are getting together to quilt. They’ve invited me to join them so I can learn. I don’t know how long it will last, but I assume I won’t make dinner with the family. I wondered if you would consider returning to the hotel after dinner this evening and keeping the front desk for me.”
“Of course. I’d be happy to. I think the time away from your mother will help her to calm down.”
“Is she out of sorts even now that Uncle Harrison has returned to Kansas City?”
“She’s worse than ever.” Father shook his head and sighed heavily. “I think she hoped to change Harrison’s mind when he was here, but you know from what transpired that this was never even remotely possible.”
“Uncle Harrison only wants you and Mother to change your ways.”
“It isn’t his right to run my life,” her father replied, turning the guest log to check the names. “Just because he’s been more successful—had better breaks—doesn’t mean he’s smarter than me.”
Susanna could hear the misery in her father’s voice. How did one face their failures without acknowledging their inadequacies?
“We all make mistakes, Father.” She tried her best to tread carefully. “Even you.”
“I admit that I made a mistake. I should have done things differently, but it’s too late to change things now, so why dwell on it? Harrison would have me wallow in it and cover myself in sorrows. How am I to move forward if I can’t seek another means of financial gain? How can I redeem myself?”
“Uncle is giving you a chance to redeem yourself by managing this hotel. He believes you and Mother should work to make it a success and prove yourselves.”
“To whom? Him? I already know I’m fully capable of great things. I’ve had a life of great gains and losses. I’ve lived with great successes. Losses too, of course, but I’ve always bounced back.”
Susanna shook her head. “The only way you came back from those losses was because Uncle Harrison paid your debts.” She winced a bit, realizing her words would hurt.
“But it’s my money he used! He thinks I don’t know that.”
“Don’t know what, Father?”
“About the separate inheritance. Our father didn’t trust me, so he left my money in Harrison’s care.”
Susanna hadn’t realized her father knew about this and wasn’t about to admit she knew. “Why do you think he did that?” She hoped reflection on the matter might help him face the truth.
“He enjoyed controlling me. Harrison too. They think me incapable of managing my own affairs, but it isn’t true.”
“But it is. You lost everything because you refused to be counseled on this last investment.”
“That’s not true. I listened to their counsel. I simply didn’t accept that they were right.”
“And you were wrong. Wrong in such a way that you lost your home, Father. Your home of over twenty-five years.”
“Only because Harrison wouldn’t cover the bank note. It was petty and childish of him. He loves seeing me humbled.”
“Why would he love that? Why would he purposefully seek to humble you when he’s the one who begged you not to invest in this last venture? Perhaps you don’t remember, but I was there when he told you how dangerous it was.”
“He’s always been an alarmist.”
“He’s always managed to come out on top with his investments.”
Her father looked at her, and his expression saddened. “So he’s convinced you as well.”
“Convinced me of what? The situation speaks for itself. The losses are indisputable. Uncle Harrison has had no call to convince me of anything.”
Her father shook his head. “He’s convinced my own children that I’m unable to manage my own affairs. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he were arranging to have me put away in a madhouse, and then what will happen to your poor mother?”
Susanna clung to her patience. “No one is trying to have you put away, Father. Uncle Harrison only wants you to come to your senses and learn to invest wisely before all of your money is gone.”
“I’m sure that’s what he told you,” he said, shaking his head, “but just look around you. He’s brought us here so that no one will realize what he’s doing. He will have his way unless I’m able to get together a sizable amount of money and find a reasonable investment. I’m sure I can earn back our home and clear my name. If only I can lay my hands on several hundred dollars.”
Susanna’s heart nearly broke for him. She gave him a hug and headed back into her living quarters. It felt like a hopeless cause.
That afternoon, Susanna put aside her concerns about her parents and focused instead on learning to make her first quilt block.
“This is a very simple block. A nine-patch,” Mrs. McGuire explained. “It’s an easy one for you to learn first. We’ll teach you a number of squares. They’ll all be different, and once you have enough, we’ll help you put them together for a sampler quilt. That way you’ll have something to look at when you decide you want to make, say, a quilt of all nine-patch.”
Susanna paid close attention as the women advised her on threading her needle, on taking the smallest of stitches, and on keeping a clean quarter-inch seam. By the time they took a break for a little supper, Susanna felt fairly confident of her ability to make a straight stitch line. When the end of the evening neared, she had made not one, but two nine-patch blocks.
“I’m amazed by how pretty they are,” Susanna declared as she finished ironing the squares.
“There are all sorts of tricks you can use with different fabrics,” Mrs. Lewis told her, stepping up to take the iron as Susanna finished. “I think you’ll find yourself quite good at this. You seem to take to it well.”
“I can’t imagine making my own big quilt, but I’m so excited to learn.” Susanna was already imagining the quilt laid out on her bed. She had so enjoyed this evening with the ladies from church.
Lia came to admire her pieces. “Are you glad you came?”
“Oh, yes!” Susanna held up her two squares. “I’m so happy.”