Gary shook his head. “I’ve never been good at anything.”
Owen frowned. “You will be. Maybe I need to figure out a different way of teaching you.”
By the look on Owen’s face, Gary knew he’d won. Somehow, he was just going to have to show Owen that he could manage this job. He didn’t want to end up with someone else telling him what to do. At least this way, Owen was interested in Susanna, and that gave Gary a tiny bit of leverage. After all, Owen wouldn’t want to ruin his chances with Susanna by causing trouble for her brother.
“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?”