“Come on.” Owen motioned to Gary. “We need to punch out the rivets on the boiler that came in this morning. I’ll show you what we need to do.”
“You won’t be sorry, Owen. I’ll do well. You’ll see.”
“You gonna join us at the pool hall?” Empty asked Gary after the whistle blew at the end of the workday.
“I might, but I’d rather play poker. I made a nice sum the other day,” Gary replied. “Say, you guys ought to come over to the hotel first. I bet we can get my sister to serve up something to eat. She’s been cooking for me at the hotel, and she’s pretty good. I happen to know she has an applesauce cake just waiting for my attention.”
“Applesauce cake sounds mighty good, but I’d rather have a steak,” Bill Foxtail declared.
Gary shrugged. “We’d probably have to bring her the steaks, but that’s simple enough. We’ll swing by the butcher’s and get some steaks. It’ll be harder for her to say no that way.”
He grinned. Maybe this way she’d get to know his friends a little better and stop focusing on Owen.
The men made their way to the butcher and ordered three steaks. As an afterthought, Gary ordered another smaller steak for his sister. No sense in showing up without something for her as well.
Gary’s mind was still on the things he’d said to Owen earlier. He didn’t know why he’d acted that way. He felt so confused lately. He hadn’t known about Susanna having money, and it was starting to bother him that she’d allowed the family to end up in San Marcial when she could have kept them in Topeka. Of course, Uncle Harrison was to blame as well, but the two of them seemed unfeeling about the family’s future. Especially where Gary was concerned. He was on the threshold of manhood and finding his place in society. He’d never appreciated that before now, but when he thought of how much it might have benefitted him to find a wealthy girl to marry, well . . . it made him angry to think he’d been denied that.
They reached the hotel and found Susanna just coming downstairs. Gary frowned when she smiled at him. She really did care about him. He knew that much. She had always been there for him.
“To what do I owe this visit?” she asked, looking at the three men standing behind her brother.
“Hey, Susanna.” Gary forced a smile and motioned to his friends and the paper-wrapped meat. “We came to ask you a favor.”
Susanna gave him a hesitant look. “What do you have in mind?”
“We were hoping you might cook for us. We bought some steak. Enough for you too. And maybe you’d let us have some applesauce cake too.”
Susanna glanced at the clock. “I suppose I can cook the steaks. I don’t have much else to go with them, though. If you want to run and get an onion and some potatoes, I can fix that up as well.”
“I’ll go get ’em,” Herc said, turning for the door. “Ain’t nothin’ I like more than fried onions.”
Empty and Bill exchanged a look and nodded. “Sounds good,” Empty said.
“I told you she’s a great sister. She’ll make someone a good wife too.” Gary looked at Susanna, thinking of the three men he’d brought home with him. A frown crossed his face, however, rather than a smile. None of these three were good enough for her.
Gary pushed the thought aside. It wasn’t like Susanna was quick to make decisions. Maybe she’d see that his friends were a lot of fun and just want to spend time with them. But that really wasn’t appropriate for a young widow, was it? He bit his lip. Why was he acting like this? Susanna was her own person, and he’d never tried to interfere in her life. But before there had always been Mark. Mark had been there since Gary first had memories. Mark was a good man, and he’d always been kind to Gary.
“Well, since your friend has gone for the potatoes and onions, why don’t you guys get cleaned up?” Susanna suggested.
Gary stared at her as if really seeing her for the first time. She was a good woman, and here he was trying to cause trouble for her. He should never have brought the guys to her for supper. Now if they did like her, he’d have to find a way to dissuade them from pursuing her.
“Come on, guys, let’s go get cleaned up.” He looked at Susanna. “We won’t get things dirty here. We’ll go down to the river.”
“I would appreciate that. When your friend gets back, I’ll tell him where you’ve gone. By the time you’ve managed to clean up, I should have things ready.” Gary nodded and motioned his friends outside just as his father came in the front door.
“Father,” Gary said with a nod. Empty and Bill gave Father quick nods as well as they shuffled out the door.
“What are you doing here?” his father asked.
“The fellas and me came to ask Susanna to fix us some steaks.”
“Steak? Who has money for steak?”
Gary laughed and dug into his pocket “I do. I made a nice bit playing cards last night. Here’s the money I borrowed.” His father looked at the wad of money in Gary’s hand as he peeled off several bills and handed them over. “I’m good at cards.”
“I used to be pretty good at them myself.” His father looked at the money in his son’s hand. “Why don’t you help me out now? I need to get four hundred dollars together. There’s an investment in a silver mine south of here that I’d like to get in on. If you’d spot me the money now, I’ll see to it that you get it back doubled.”
Gary shoved his money back in his pocket. “No. I’ll go with a sure thing.”
“That’s hardly fair, Gary. I’ve done everything for you.”
Gary shook his head. “You’ve done nothing but ruin my life. I would be at the university instead of working as a laborer if you hadn’t been so foolish. You don’t even care. You’ve never cared about me—or Susanna, for that matter. You only care about your next scheme.”
Father looked shocked, but it didn’t stop Gary. He had no idea where Susanna had gone. He supposed she was setting things up to cook in their little kitchen.
“You know that isn’t true, Gary. I only ever cared about making money because of my family. You know I’ve done all I can to keep our family living the life we were meant to live. It’s your uncle’s fault that we’ve failed and ended up here.”
“No, it was your fault. I know that and so does everyone else. You’re the only one who seems incapable of accepting the truth.”
“How dare you talk to me that way? Everything you have is due to my generosity. You wouldn’t even be here if not for my willingness to keep you living at home.”
“So put me out. Uncle Harrison wants me here at the hotel to protect Susanna. Yet another thing you failed to consider.” Gary wasn’t sure where all of this rage was coming from. He was angry at Father for their change of fortune. He was angry that he’d been shamed along with the family name. Things should have been different—would have been different—had Father only been reasonable.
“I have the onion and potatoes,” Herc said, coming through the open front door.
Gary went to his friend and took the vegetables. “I’ll get Susanna fixing them. You go on with the others to the river and get cleaned up.”