Sins of Summer Read Free Page A

womenfolk.”
    “Blaming
him!
That’s typical of you, Louis,” Dory said scathingly.
    “We’ll be moving on.” Ben’s terse voice broke in. “If it wouldn’t be asking too much, I’d be obliged if we could stay in the
     barn until the storm blows itself out.”
    Dory came around the table. “I apologize for my brother’s rudeness. Let Odette stay with me and Jeanmarie until you’re settled
     in another job.”
    “Don’t worry about Odette, ma’am. I have the offer of another job down on the Saint Joe, less than a day’s ride from here.”
    “Malone!” Louis shouted, making Ben wonder if the man ever spoke in a normal tone. “Is that goddamned Malone after you?”
    Ben ignored the question and helped Odette into her coat.
    Louis Callahan took off his mackinaw. “Waller, I was a bit hasty,” he admitted grudgingly.
    “Only a bit?” Dory’s green eyes were large with mock concern.
    “A man can’t be too careful about his womenfolk in this country,” he said with a meaningful look at his sister. “We’ll fix
     up quarters for you and the girl.”
    “We’ll be moving on.” Ben steered Odette to the door. “About the barn?” He left the question hanging.
    “Wait. It’s best we talk this over,” Louis said, pulling the cap from his head, which was bald except for a fringe of thick
     graying hair around the edges. “I ain’t a man to go back on my word. I said you’d have private quarters and they’ll be decent.”
    “I’ve never worked for a man who considered me unfit to step foot inside his home.”
    “You’d understand if you knew the circumstances here.”
    “Your family affairs are none of my business. I came here to do a job and move on.”
    “There’s no womenfolk at Malone’s,” Louis said quickly.
    “There are,” Dory declared stridently. “You’re lying and you know it.”
    Both men ignored her.
    “We’ve been where there were no women before.” Ben was settling his hat on his head.
    “Stay. Dory would be company for your girl. And I’ll pay half again more than you asked.”
    Dory suddenly let out a peal of contemptuous laughter.
    “Hush up,” Louis snapped.
    “Why would you pay more than I asked for in the first place?” Ben asked.
    “Because I need that engine working and a flume built,” Louis said, glaring at Dory as she continued to laugh.
    “I’ll tell you why he’s suddenly desperate to keep you.” Dory’s eyes sparkled with laughter. She didn’t appear to be at all
     cowed by her huge older brother. “You said the magic words—you said you’d work for Malone over on the Saint Joe.” She burst
     out in laughter again. “That was enough to make Louis roll over and play dead.”
    “We need to talk in private,” Louis growled.
    Ben looked down at Odette’s tired, pinched face. He couldn’t let his pride stand in the way of what was best for her. If the
     man was willing to pay half again the money he had offered, and with what he had already put away, it would be enough to set
     up a carpentry business for himself. Settlers were moving in by the droves, and there was bound to be a great demand for furniture,
     doors, window frames and flooring. He liked the mechanical work with the donkey machine, but he liked woodworking better.
    Hell, he didn’t have to like the man to work for him.
    While Ben was mulling these thoughts over in his mind, he glanced at the child sitting at the table. Jeanmarie was perfectly
     still. Only her eyes, blue as the sky, betrayed anxiety. They shifted from her mother to her uncle as she waited patiently
     for the scene to end. Memories of himself cowering in the corner while his aunt and uncle battled verbally and physically
     flashed into his mind, and he felt once again the confusion this child was feeling.
    “Well, Waller. Are you willing to talk it over?”
    Ben looked once again into Odette’s anxious face. Out of the blue the responsibility of caring for her had been thrust upon
     him. What had followed