Chapter 6

Jarrod left his hat on the table in the foyer and headed straight for the refreshment table in the parlor the moment he got home. Nick and Victoria were already in the living room, talking, drinking. Audra and Heath were not there, and before even saying hello, Jarrod poured himself some scotch and said, "Heath and Audra are up with Jack?"

"Getting him to eat something," Victoria said.

Jarrod downed a shot of scotch quickly and poured himself another. Victoria and Nick gave each other looks of that doesn't look good.

"What's happening in town?" Nick asked.

Jarrod joined them by the fireplace, sitting down heavily in his thinking chair. "Frances fired Jordan Williams," Jarrod said.

"Why?" Victoria asked, and not casually.

"I don't really know," Jarrod said. "Since she fired him, I could go talk to her myself and I did, but I didn't really learn anything about what she wants to do about Jack or anything else. Dr. Merar was getting to her place to see her as I left there, and after I did some searching I found the sheriff and asked him to keep an eye on her."

"You don't think she's going to do anything drastic, do you?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "I know she's alone, responsible for two sons and a baby yet to be born, and a husband laid up here. I know she's overwhelmed. It's like she's tossing everyone and everything away and I don't know what she's going to do. But, I don't want Jack knowing this."

"He knows Bridger left her," Nick said.

"How does he know that?"

"Word's getting around. Heath said he heard two of the hands talking outside while he was up there with Jack, and he could see Jack heard it too."

"He doesn't need to know how concerned I am about Frances," Jarrod said. "I'm hoping she hires Jordan back. If she has a lawyer and a doctor solidly with her, she won't be so alone, and that can only help."

"Should Audra and I go see her?" Victoria asked.

"No, Mother, no, not yet," Jarrod said quickly. "Let's give it a couple days and see if she gets a lawyer. She'll feel threatened if Barkleys keep parading in to see her. She won't feel so threatened if she has a lawyer."

"What if she doesn't get a lawyer?" Nick asked.

"Then I'll go see her myself again," Jarrod said, "to bring her up to date on Jack, every chance I get until she does hire another lawyer."

"You can't advise her legally," Victoria said.

"No, of course not," Jarrod said, "but I can update her on her husband's condition and ask her how she wants to be involved in his care. At least until she refuses to see me anymore."

Jarrod finished his second shot of scotch and got up to get another one. Audra came down from upstairs then, carrying a tray. She was going to go straight to the kitchen, but when she saw Jarrod was home she detoured into the parlor and put the tray on one of the small tables going in.

"Jack ate a bit," Audra said. "Heath is helping him clean up and get him ready for the night. He hasn't said any more words yet, but 'no' is coming out more clearly. How are things in town, Jarrod?"

Jarrod sighed and explained, finishing up with, "I suppose Jack's 'no' is still the response to the question of whether he wants Frances and the boys to come see him."

Audra nodded. "I don't think that's going to change anytime soon."

Jarrod shook his head and drank more scotch. "I don't think I've ever handled a divorce that was this big a mess before, and right now I don't have a clue how to clean it up even one little bit."

"Why don't we start dinner?" Victoria asked. "Before you have too much scotch and too little food to have a clue about much of anything."

Jarrod gave a little smile of embarrassment. He put his empty glass down on the nearest table and reached for his mother's hand. She took his, and they led Nick and Audra off to the dining room.

XXXXXXX

Dr. Merar came to the house before Jarrod left for town in the morning, saying, "I was hoping to catch you here," the moment he saw Jarrod in the foyer after Silas opened the door.

Silas asked, "Is there anything I can do for you, Doctor?"

"Not yet, Silas, thank you," Dr. Merar said. "I'll call if I need you."

Silas nodded and left them.

"How did it go with Frances last night?" Jarrod asked.

"Physically, she's quite well," Dr. Merar said. "Given her emotional state, I'm not sure how long that's going to last, though. Jarrod, I couldn't get her to consider another lawyer, and when I tried to get her to talk about Jack, she just wouldn't do it."

"Doctor, she has two sons who need care," Jarrod said. "At this point, I'm beginning to worry more about them than I am anyone else."

"So am I," Dr. Merar said. "They came home from their friend's house while I was there, and they look fine and well-cared for – again physically. Emotionally, they don't have the support of either of their parents right now."

"I talked to the sheriff about them last night," Jarrod said.

"So did I," Dr. Merar said. "I'm going to see Frances again today, and if she's still as lost in the weeds as she was last night, I'm going to have to see if I can't get the court to protect those boys."

"You're talking about the orphanage," Jarrod said.

"If someone doesn't take them in."

Jarrod said, "We could take them in here, if Jack will let us, but so far he hasn't wanted them to see him."

"He might change his mind if we have a frank discussion with him now," Dr. Merar said.

"But the what happens to Frances? If we take her sons away, what happens to Frances and her baby?"

"The ideal would be that you take all of them in here and get that family back together, but I'm not fool enough to think the ideal is going to happen easily or quickly."

"What about Mrs. Haley, the midwife?" Jarrod asked. "Do you think she might at least try to talk to Frances? She could use the pretense of getting ready to help her deliver her baby."

"I'll see if she's willing to try," Dr. Merar said. "But right now I'd rather try to see if Jack is up to getting his family out here, if you're willing to give them that little house you have on property, or something like that."

"We're willing," Victoria's voice came as she came into the foyer from the kitchen. "Nick, Heath and I talked about that last night. Of course, it's really up to Jack and Frances."

"Well, we'll go talk to Jack about that now," Jarrod said. "Doctor, we may have to do some arm twisting with both of them."

"And threatening," Dr. Merar said. "But their children may need us to do that."

Jarrod motioned the doctor up the stairs and followed him.

Heath was still with Jack, helping him get back into bed after shaving and cleaning up. "Good news, Doc," Heath said. "Jack has that right arm going good and did most of his shaving himself the morning. The left arm still ain't much, but he was able to steady himself and even stood up for a minute or so while he shaved."

Jarrod noticed the used wash basin and the chair at the wash stand. "I'll have Silas come clean up here once the doctor and I are finished."

"You did a pretty good job shaving, too, Jack," Dr. Merar said. "Now, let's have a good look at you."

"He hasn't eaten yet," Heath said. "Why don't I go down and get Silas to rustle up some of his scrambled eggs?"

Jarrod nodded, appreciating that Heath recognized he needed to leave while the doctor looked at Jack. Heath left the room and closed the door.

Jack looked at Jarrod solidly, as if he were surprised Jarrod was staying. Jarrod said, "The three of us need to talk after the doctor looks at you, Jack. We have some decisions to make."

Jarrod almost expected to hear Jack say "no," but he didn't. He could tell it was a conscious decision on Jack's part not to say it. Jarrod felt a little relief in that.

"All right," Dr. Merar said, opened his bag and took out the stethoscope. "Let's have a look first."