Then she would grind the coffee beans and throw together a quick noon meal of cush and bacon. Cush was leftover corn bread crumbled and cooked until crusty then served drowning in salty gravy. Once she had the cush on the fire, she’d put tonight’s beans to soak and check to see if there was anything quick and interesting among the food tins.
Sometimes she waited for Grady to dig the fire pit, but more and more frequently she fetched her sharpened spade, dropped to the ground, and dug the pit herself rather than waste time waiting for the remuda. It no longer bothered her that Luther, Caldwell, or Ward might arrive and see her squirming around on the ground. She didn’t care what they thought.
Today, Ward arrived before anyone else and Alex was glad for once to see him. It meant Les wouldn’t have to wait for Grady to untie her from the seat and help her to the ground. Ward spread a blanket over the grass and took Les a drink of water. Since no one else had arrived yet, he brought Alex an armload of kindling and wood from the cooney.
“How else can I help, sister?”
“I can manage, thank you.” She stared at the wood and frowned, then pulled herself off the ground and onto the crutch.
“Shall I bring down your wheelchair?”
“Grady will do it when he rides in.”
“At least I can set up the pot hanger and hang the coffeepots.”
“I don’t need help or want it,” she said sharply. “You know the rules.”
Immediately he took offense. She saw it in the way his face pinched and his shoulders stiffened. But she wasn’t Les. His posturing didn’t move her to apologize, it only annoyed her.
“I’m trying to lighten your burden, sister. And there’s no one to see.”
In addition to his other disagreeable qualities, he had just revealed himself as a cheat. She lowered her worktable, then gave him a frosty glare.
“I choose to abide by the rules whether or not there’s a danger of someone catching me cheating,” she said coldly.
A plum-colored flush climbed his cheeks. “It would be better for all concerned if we could be civil to each other. Very soon I’ll be the head of this family.” He stared at her, letting his words sink in. “You and Freddy would do well to remember who will be managing your affairs.”
“I beg your pardon! You will never manage my affairs, Mr. Hamm.”
“I believe it’s customary that—”
“Never,” she repeated angrily. “Marrying Les makes you her husband, it does not make you the head of the Roark family, and I will never recognize you as such. If you press the issue, Mr. Hamm, I’ll tie up the entire inheritance for years if need be, I’ll use every legal means available. I promise that you will never manage one cent of my money.” His presumption outraged her.
“I may have to challenge that view. For your own good.”
He was such a despicable cretin. “This is not the Dark Ages. You’re not marrying one sister and gaining the assets of three.” She gave the wheel on the coffee mill a savage turn. “I have two excellent attorneys in Boston, Mr. Hamm. Should you pursue this reprehensible course, I will instruct them to destroy you. And by heaven, I will enjoy it.”
He jerked backward from her expression. “You think you’re so superior!”
“Yes, Mr. Hamm. I do.”
“Well, we shall just see, won’t we? We’ll just see about that!”
Instantly she thought of Payton lying dead in the rain, and she almost stumbled. How dare she hold herself above Ward Hamm? His crimes were pettiness, unpleasantness, greed, an inflated opinion of himself. Her crime was so much worse.
“If you’re so superior,” he hissed at her, “then why is Les so ill? She has two more days! That’s all. Then she has to go back on the line.”
“She can’t,” Alex said flatly. “I’m sorry that Les will have to withdraw from the drive. She’s worked hard and she deserves better.” Every word she spoke was true. “But I’ve done everything I know how, and she’s still dangerously ill. As I’ve told you before, Les could die. Her wound has closed in some spots, it’s seeping in others. Her fever rises and falls, but it doesn’t fall enough. What she needs is a few weeks in bed with someone knowledgeable nursing her. If you care for her, Mr. Hamm, don’t wait. I urge you to put Les in your wagon right now and drive ahead to Waco. Put her in a hotel and find a doctor as quickly as you can.”
“Oh you’d like that, wouldn’t you, you and Freddy.” His eyes closed into slits and spittle flew from his lips. “Then the two of you could split her share. I see right through this.”
Alex jerked upright and stiffened. If he had been closer, she would have slapped his sweating red face, would have raked her broken fingernails down his cheeks. “How dare you!” The urge to do violence was so strong that she felt faint with her need to strike him.
“If I have to tie Les onto her saddle, she isn’t leaving the drive. You aren’t going to get our share!”
Rage immobilized her or she would have swung her crutch at his head.