“Insurance company? You mean there was fire insurance?” her father asked, sounding more than a little hopeful.
“There was. However, the company feels confident that the fire was deliberately set. That makes it impossible to pay out until they have a done a complete investigation.”
“Investigation.”
“Yes. They are going to send a man down here to look over things. However, since the repairs have been made, I imagine he’ll simply interview the staff and fire crew.”
“Interview us about what?” Father asked.
“What you know about the fire, of course. Where you were and why you weren’t on duty. Things like that.”
Susanna thought her father might be sick. He looked so pale and uncomfortable. She took that opportunity to see to Mother’s tray. It broke her heart to imagine her father guilty of setting the fire, but his appearance and fearful voice left her little doubt that he had done the deed. What would happen now?
16
On Sunday, Uncle Harrison took them all out to the Harvey House for lunch. Susanna took the opportunity to remind her parents that she’d be leaving for a few days.
“I’m taking the train in the morning.”
“Where are you going?” her mother asked.
“I told you last week. I’m taking a few days off and going to Albuquerque. I’ll be back on Wednesday. You’ll have to see to the cleaning and laundry, Mother. Father will have his hands full with running the hotel.”
“What?” Her father looked at her as if she were speaking in Spanish.
“I told you last week that I was taking this trip and that the responsibility for the hotel would fall to you two.”
“They can manage it,” Uncle Harrison said, motioning for the waitress to bring more coffee. “This was their responsibility to begin with.”
“I know nothing about cleaning a hotel and doing its laundry,” Mother said, shaking her head. “I cannot learn it now—certainly not in time for your trip. You’ll have to cancel.”
“No, she won’t. I’ve been after you to accept your responsibility, Gladys, and now you will have to.”
“I’m much too weak to do so. I feel I’m coming down with something.”
“Well, that is a pity, but the rooms will still need to be cleaned, and the hotel is fully booked tonight. All of the rooms will need attention tomorrow and the days after that.”
Mother began to sniff and then to cry in full. “I want to go home,” she said, pushing back from the table.
Susanna’s father got to his feet and helped her from her chair. He glanced at his brother, then at Susanna and Gary. “I’m sorry. I must see that she gets home safely.”
They walked away before anyone could speak.
Susanna watched them weave through the crowded dining room. She felt her anger stir. “I knew they’d do something to ruin this for me.”
“No. You will go on your trip as planned,” Uncle Harrison said. “I will see that everything is taken care of. I can hardly force them physically, but I can punish them financially.” He pointed a finger at Susanna. “But you cannot interfere to make it ineffectual.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I plan to cut back on your father and mother’s monthly stipend. Money seems to be the only thing they respect, and since your father has hardly been at work the last two weeks, he won’t be paid for it.”
Susanna knew they would be after her to make up for the loss. Her mother was still busy ordering finery from her favorite stores via catalogues, and Father went through money like nothing had ever changed.
“I don’t know if I can be strong enough, Uncle Harrison. They nag, and Mother whines in such a way that it’s hard to ignore.”
Gary nodded. “You’ve no idea. I was glad to join Susanna at the hotel and escape it. I didn’t even realize how bad it had gotten until I left.”
“That’s often the way it is. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. That’s what I wish your father and mother could learn. They’ve lived a life of wealth and comfort, and if your father had only listened to me—come to work for me—he could still be living it. Instead . . . well, they have this.”
The Harvey Girl brought dessert. Susanna asked her to prepare her parents’ dessert to take back to the house. It would be simple enough to wrap the apple pie in waxed paper. The thought brought to mind her picnic along the river with Owen. She took a bite of her pie and smiled at the flavor and memory.
Uncle Harrison all but inhaled his piece. Gary, too, was quick to devour his, even though he’d eaten his entire meal and half of Susanna’s.
When his pie was gone, her uncle sighed. “Look, I don’t have high hopes when it comes to your parents, but I feel I have to try this last time to reform them. Especially your father. If I can at least get my brother to see right, I will happily put him back on his feet.”
“You will?” Gary asked. “Does he know that?”
“I told him if he proved himself to me by changing his ways, I would use part of my own inheritance to see him re-established.”
“You told him that and still he’s making a mockery of this?” Susanna had known her father was being stubborn about things and her mother . . . well, Mother was impossible. But for her father and mother to know that things could be so different if they’d just mend their ways . . . it made no sense that they should continue to be so defiant.
“I’ve explained it to your father many times since he lost everything in Topeka. He simply will not receive correction, nor advice.” Uncle Harrison shook his head and looked more sorrowful than Susanna had ever seen him. “I’m afraid to say this might well be the end of our family as we know it. I told your aunt that it broke my heart, but I might have to give your father what’s left of his inheritance and cut all ties.”
“No!” Susanna shook her head emphatically. “I couldn’t bear for that to happen. We’ve so little family as it is.”
“But I cannot help your father go on making those unwise decisions. Even your Aunt Helen agreed it was foolish. You might as well know that I’ve cut your father from my will. I’m leaving everything to Helen and to you two.”
“What?” Gary perked up at this. “You’re not leaving Father anything?”
Uncle Harrison sighed. “How can I? It would be foolish, Gary. He would have it squandered in less than a year at the rate he’s going.”
“You can’t take Susanna to Albuquerque,” Lia protested. “It’s a dirty town with nothing of interest for her. It’s much too wild. You cannot leave her to wander it alone—even during the day.”
“But she’s already planning to get away. She needs this time away from her parents,” Owen said.
“There’s not even a Harvey House there yet. I know they have plans for one, but it hasn’t been built, and the hotels around the railroad aren’t that great. Let her come with me and the boys. Since LeRoy is going with you to Albuquerque, we’re going to the ranch. Susanna could come too. She’d have a lot more fun with us than sitting in a hotel room in Albuquerque.”