Chapter 4

Sunday did remain quiet. The next morning, when Heath went in to help Jack get the day started, he was surprised when Jack lifted his left arm at the elbow, gave a short wave in greeting, then laid it down again.

"Well," Heath said. "There's a good sign. You feel like using that arm to steady yourself and shave yourself this morning?"

Jack gave a smile on the half of his face that would work, and then he said – a bit garbled but understandably – "No."

That made Heath laugh a bit. "First try at a word is 'no.' That's a good place to start. Ready to try 'yes' yet?"

Jack still smiled as he said another garbled, "No."

"All right," Heath said. He came over and said, "You ready for me to lift you up? I really don't want to shave you with you lying down if you're ready for a try at sitting up."

Jack lifted his left hand up and down twice.

Heath took him under the arms, and Jack helped him push him up, using his good right arm. Heath adjusted the pillows behind him, and he was fairly upright. "Oh, Jack," Heath said. "It does my heart good just to see you sit up. I've been feeling pretty bad about you getting sick on my watch like that."

"No," Jack said again, and this time he shook his head, only to the right but that was something.

Heath understood. "If you're telling me not to feel guilty, I think that'll have to wait until you can say the actual words. But that's gonna come, Jack. I got a real good feeling that's gonna come."

Jack attempted a nod, and he managed it a bit, but raised and lowered his left hand twice at the wrist to be sure.

When Heath was finished helping Jack with his ablutions, he came down to see to breakfast for him, but ran into Audra heading from the library to the kitchen. "How is he doing?" Audra asked.

"A bit better," Heath said. "I left him sitting up."

"I'll take him some breakfast."

"Call for me if you need me."

Audra nodded. "Jarrod's pacing the library. It might help if you told him how Jack is doing."

Heath nodded and headed straight for the library, where he found what Audra said he'd find. Jarrod was pacing up and down, from the desk to the French doors and back again. He stopped when Heath came in.

"You can relax a little," Heath said. "He's sitting up and staying there, and he can say the word 'no' now."

Jarrod gave a slight smile and a little chuckle, but there was something wrong with it.

"You oughtta be happier," Heath said.

"I'm happy," Jarrod said. "It's good he's improving. But that raises another issue."

"This divorce thing?"

Jarrod nodded. "As his function returns, his legal competency returns, and I woke up during the night thinking about that. It means the big decision – to file for divorce or not?"

"Well, I don't think he's ready to make that decision yet."

"No," Jarrod said, "but it's coming. You just confirmed it. I need to be ready for it."

Victoria came into the library with a tray of coffee. "Well," she said, seeing Heath. "Audra gave me your good news. Jack has a bit more function back."

"Yeah," Heath said and noticed the tray Victoria was carrying had two cups. He knew what that meant around here. Victoria wanted to have a talk with Jarrod. Heath headed for the door. "I got a couple chores I can tend to in the barn. Just call if you need me."

Victoria gave him a smile as he left, then she turned her attention to her oldest. "I know you didn't sleep well. I suspect you probably need a little more coffee."

"I'm afraid you're right about that," Jarrod said as his mother put the tray down onto the coffee table by the couch.

Jarrod noticed the two cups. Victoria sat down and poured coffee into both cups. Jarrod got the message and sat down beside her.

Victoria lifted one of the cups. Jarrod lifted the other more slowly. Victoria sipped and asked, "Can you talk about any of it?"

Jarrod sipped. "I'm just trying to figure out when to talk to Jack about the divorce again, now that he's progressing a bit faster than we expected, and what to do with whatever he says."

"He doesn't want to see Frances," Victoria said. "I suspect that means he does want the divorce."

"But he's not legally competent to file yet, and there's still no guarantee he ever will be," Jarrod said. "If he does become competent, of course I'll do whatever he decides. If he doesn't, we have another decision to deal with."

"What do we do with him as a man?" Victoria said. "If he doesn't become competent, it means he'll need constant care."

"And he shows no interest in letting Frances provide it, even if she is willing to," Jarrod said.

"There are places that will care for people in Jack's position. Perhaps we should be looking into them soon. We certainly can't keep him here forever."

"No, of course not, but I'd like to give it a little more time, at least a full week like the doctor said."

"We've already agreed to do that," Victoria said. "What are you hoping to accomplish in that week?"

"I'm hoping Jack will improve more, maybe to the point of becoming competent."

"And being willing to see Frances?"

Jarrod sighed. "I'm not sure that time will ever come."

"If he doesn't become competent, it's going to be her decision what happens to him, isn't it?"

"In a sense. She can divorce him for non-support and then any actual say in his care ends. Or she could not divorce him and still have some decision power. No matter how we look at it, she has some kind of say in what happens to him, and since I can't talk directly to her, I can only gauge what she thinks through what Jordan Williams says."

"No wonder you've been pacing," Victoria said. Victoria put her cup down. "I know you can't tell me why Jack wants a divorce, but according to Nick and Heath and various other people I know, there are rumors running around town. About Frances and Bill Bridger. About the father of her baby."

"You're right, I can't tell you why Jack wants a divorce," Jarrod said. "And I can't confirm or deny those rumors, even to you. What I can say is that I don't know if they're fact or just rumors. Time will tell on that one."

"Perhaps," Victoria said. "But one thing is clear. If Jack and Frances are still married when the baby is born, Jack will be its legal father."

"And that complicates things even more," Jarrod said. "If Jack doesn't recover sufficiently and Frances doesn't get a divorce – who is going to support her and that new baby and the boys?"

"Well, we can only take one step at a time," Victoria said.

"I'll talk to Jordan Williams about what Frances wants to do once this week goes by," Jarrod said and frowned. "That may prompt her filing for divorce."

"There's probably another thing you ought to be doing as Jack's attorney," Victoria said.

Jarrod nodded. "I know. Getting the courts to make me his guardian if Frances isn't interested in caring for him. Finding a place to take him. And also finding out where the money will come from for some institution to take him. That means talking to his bank."

"You haven't done that yet?"

"No. Like you say, one step at a time. That's a step that can wait until at least a week goes by."

"Unless Frances makes her decisions quicker."

"Yeah," Jarrod sighed. "I'll go into town after lunch and see Jordan. Maybe he'll have seen Frances and have something new to say."

XXXXX

"Yeah, I've got something new," Williams said when Jarrod found him in his office that afternoon. "I went into the Empire when it opened this morning – for coffee, not for liquor, though I wish I had taken a nip."

"What's happened?" Jarrod asked, his stomach sinking a bit.

"Well, the rumor I heard in the Empire was that Bridger dumped Frances yesterday," Williams said. "He's gotten word of the divorce coming. He wants nothing to do with her or any of her children, especially not the baby."

Jarrod grumbled. "He denies it's his."

"I went to see Frances after that," Williams said. "She wouldn't say anything about Bridger but she doesn't want a divorce. Absolutely told me to fight it tooth and nail."

"That figures," Jarrod said. "It's pretty likely she's gonna be the only one who wants that baby and she'll need some means of support. Even if Jack gets the boys in a custody fight, he's not going to want that baby, given he believes it's Bridger's."

"That baby's due in two or three months," Williams said.

"I know," Jarrod said.

"Do you think Jack will be competent by then?"

"I have no idea. Nobody does, not even the doctor." Jarrod huffed in frustration. "In an ideal world, I'd like to get Jack and Frances back together, get Jack working again, and get them to make their marriage work after this near destruction, but this isn't an ideal world."

"Well, until they're willing to see each other again, we can't even hope for any of that, but for what it's worth – I wish we could see all that happen too. For those boys, and for that baby."

Jarrod nodded and headed for the door. "If anything changes with Jack, I'll let you know. And no, I'm not about to go looking for Bridger. He's Frances's problem – and yours."

Williams put his hands up. "Not mine. Not until my client tells me he is. Take it easy, Jarrod. I'm sure I'll be in touch."

"I'm sure I will be too," Jarrod said as he went out.

It wasn't three hours later, as Jarrod was preparing to go home, that Williams came to his office and announced, "She just fired me."