That realization didn’t sink in until the next day, when Emile Julie from the New Orleans City Council arrived to collect the same cattle that Lola had sold to the French. She’d sold the herd twice and pocketed the money. When Julie discovered that Dal no longer had the steers he had paid Lola for, a gun battle erupted. Dal was wounded and one of his drovers died that day. And that was only the beginning of his troubles.
Emile Julie bought a full page in the New Orleans newspaper in which he swore that no one cheated him and lived to brag about it. He publicly vowed to kill Dal Frisco and Lola Fiddler if it took the rest of his life to do it. The crazy bastard meant what he said.
The instant Dal rode into New Orleans, dodging Julie’s henchmen, he went to Lola’s flat on Royal Street, but the rooms were bare and Lola and the money were long gone.
Yeah, he thought, he had a few things to discuss with Lola Fiddler Roark. But not right away. He’d let her stew a little more, let her wonder if he still wanted to choke the life out of her.
Chapter 5
“Please, Ward, just listen.” Wringing her hands and stumbling over her skirts, Les followed him down the porch steps and into the front yard. “We don’t need Pa’s inheritance. We’ll have the general store. I’ll work beside you, and we’ll build it together.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “I can’t do this.” Halting, she covered her face, shuddering and remembering the steers thundering into the branding corral. She could still smell the hot stink of cowhide, and she was going to have nightmares for weeks about horns that had looked as sharp-tipped as needles.
Ward stopped beside his gig, and even in the darkness she saw his knuckles turn white when he gripped the side door. “That’s exactly what your father predicted, remember? He said you’d end up selling sugar and pickles if you married me.” Stepping forward, he clasped her shoulders and shook her until pins flew out of her hair. Then he lowered his face next to hers. “You’re going on that cattle drive, Les, and you’re going to make it work.”
“I can’t!” She steadied herself by gripping his lapels. “Don’t make me do this!”
For a minute she thought he was furious enough to strike her, but she was so wild and frantic inside that she didn’t care if he did. “I can’t! I can’t do it!”
The edge of hysteria thinning her voice must have reached him because instead of shouting or raising his hand, he hesitated and drew her shaking body into his arms. Petting her, smoothing back her hair, he spoke next to her ear in a tone heavy with patience.
“Les, calm down and think. You’re a Roark, too good to work in a general store. You can’t end up wearing a soiled apron in a general store, I won’t allow that. We deserve better.”
Usually when he talked about the difference in their status, it led to an angry explosion about how she was marrying beneath herself, followed by accusations that she thought she was better than him. Then he had to show her that he was just as good, had to prove that her name didn’t impress him. He had to punish her for being a Roark, or maybe he had to punish her because he wasn’t a Roark. She didn’t know what went through his mind when he struck her.
But tonight he didn’t react as she expected.
“Les, honey, listen to me. We deserve that money. Now I know it’s going to be difficult for a refined woman like you to actually work a cattle drive, but you just have to do it. For us. We’ve got to prove that your pa was wrong.” Resentment sharpened his voice. “We’ve got to get that money and show everyone that I’m just as good as your pa.”
She dropped her head against his shoulder and wept in despair while he talked and talked. Other people had controlled her life for as long as she could remember, why should this time be different? No one ever seemed to care what she wanted. And she always went along, letting other people tell her what to do.
“Are you listening?” He gave her another shake.
“Is it just the money, Ward?” she asked suddenly, astounded by her unexpected bravery. “My sisters think you only want Pa’s money.” He could so easily prove them wrong. All he had to do was tell her that it didn’t matter if she walked away from the cattle drive.
He was quiet for so long that she started weeping again. Of course it was the money. Why else would he want to marry her? She wasn’t beautiful like Alex and Freddy, and she lacked their confidence and strength. She would never have found the courage to run off like they had. She had no skills, had difficulty making a decision. Whatever she did, it seemed to be wrong.
“I wish you hadn’t said that, Les, because I’m not sure you’ll understand the answer.”
Even the man she planned to marry thought she was too stupid to understand a plain answer. And maybe he was right. She didn’t know anymore. If she was as smart as she used to think she was, then Ward wouldn’t always be criticizing her.