Read Online Desperate by Sylvia McDaniel - Free Book Online Page B

this ham back where it belongs,” she said quietly. “You took my money away from me when I’d done wrong. You need to pay for the ham.” She pushed her plate back, like she was done.
    Annabelle did the same, and they stared at Meg like she’d robbed a bank. What could she say? She’d been starving, worried they weren’t getting enough to eat, and desperate enough she’d taken what she needed at the time. It was her duty to take care of her sisters, and she was failing miserably.
    Zach looked at her sisters and then at Meg. “Ladies, there is no sense in this good food going to waste. I’ll talk to Tom tomorrow and see if we can set up some kind of payment arrangement. I’m sure Meg won’t steal again, will you?”
    There was a long moment of silence, as Meg sat there trying to decide if she would steal food again. What if they were hungry? With her working from early morning to dark and not receiving her paycheck, there was no way she could hunt or fish to put food on the table. She had so few options, and none of them included letting her sisters go hungry.
    There were only so many chickens out in the yard she could kill before they lost their eggs and the meat. She was working as hard as she could to feed them all, but it wasn’t enough.
    Laying her fork down, she glanced at Zach and then at the girls. “If I could earn a decent wage and get paid, there wouldn’t be a need to steal food. No need for us to all work at menial jobs, where we were treated less than respectably by our employers. You’re a man. You earn a decent living. You don’t know the feeling of going hungry.”
    Zach stared down at his plate. “No, I don’t. But I believe in right and wrong, and stealing is wrong. Are you that desperate?”
    Meg immediately jumped in. “Of course not. We just can’t find decent jobs that pay enough. I’ve been working for Ho Chinn for over a week, and I’ve yet to receive my money. If I could earn the same salary as most men, then there wouldn’t be a problem.”
    Zach picked up his fork and took a bite of the ham. “Is that why you wear men’s pants? Trying to be a man and earn a decent living?”
    Meg felt her stomach clench. Maybe she should just put up a wanted poster—the first man who bought her a dress won a complimentary steak dinner for two. She couldn’t allow her frustration with this question to reflect in her tone, but she was getting damn tired of repeating herself. “I wear men’s pants because a dress drags you down when you’re out trying to plow the garden or chase the cows or tame a horse. Skirts get in the way and can get you killed. I’m not ready to die.”
    They all stared at him like they’d reached an impasse in the meal. The sisters couldn’t get past Meg stealing their food; he couldn’t get past Meg’s pants, and she was suddenly thinking everything was lost. Why would he want to marry a woman who wore pants and stole hams?
    He looked around the table at the women gathered there. “You girls are on the hunt for a husband.”
    “Of course not,” Annabelle scolded.
    “What?” Ruby said, acting stunned. “I’m too young.”
    “You know I am,” Meg replied, staring him in the eye. She was not backing down. “I need someone to help me with the farm. Someone who’s willing to take on part of the responsibilities. Someone who will bring in some cash.”
    If he had a problem with what she’d said, then he shouldn’t have come tonight. He shouldn’t be here.
    Zach picked up his glass of water and glanced at Annabelle. “Let’s have that pie you were talking about. Then Meg and I will go for a stroll.”
    Annabelle smiled at him. “Coming right up, Sheriff.”
    *
    They stepped outside, and Meg glanced up at the stars shining overhead. A big round butterball of a moon stared back at her.
    Zach took her arm and placed it in the crook of his. They walked out into the yard where the cloudless sky shone brightly with stars and the coyotes howled with their