Jarrod sighed as he tried to help Abby with her bath but there was more water on the floor and soap on him than on Abby or in the tub. He angrily thought again if he ever saw Danny Wells there would be hell to pay.

Abby giggling brought him from his thoughts as she pointed at his head. "You have soap on you Mistah Jay," Abby laughed again.

Jarrod felt the top of his head and sure enough there was soap and for the life of him he had no clue how it had gotten there. He recalled the scary scene at the pond a few days ago and ever since then he made a game out of bath time. Jarrod chuckled in spite of himself and said, "How did you put soap in my hair little lady," the attorney questioned.

Abby shrugged her shoulders and said, "It was an accident," although Jarrod saw her smile mischievously.

Jarrod shook his head and laughed as he continued washing Abby. Thirty minutes later Abby was cleaned and dried off as Jarrod waited for her to dress in clean clothes. He was looking forward to soaking in the tub after Abby fell asleep later tonight and enjoy the wine he had ordered earlier. Sleeping on the ground had done a number on his back and he wondered how in the world his brothers did it as often as they had. The thought of his family brought a frown to his face.

He knew his family would be searching for him but Jarrod had been extremely careful in not leaving any details or clues around that anyone could find. It broke his heart as he was sure his mother was worried sick about him but it had to be this way. He wondered if they were still in San Francisco or had went back to the ranch. He surmised they were still in San Francisco staying at his townhouse while Nick and Heath drank his finest whiskey. What he would do for a large glass of scotch right now...

The knocking on the door interrupted Jarrod's thoughts as he hurried towards the water closet. He stuck his head in and made sure Abby knew not to come out until he came for her. He grabbed his gun as the knocking started up again.

"Who it is?" Jarrod asked through the closed door.

"Room service," was the timid answer on the other side.

Jarrod knew he had not ordered room service, "I didn't order any room service. You have the wrong room."

He heard some rustling behind the door as he cocked his gun and pointed it at the door. The timid voice spoke again, "It's me Mary, the waitress from the restaurant, I met you and your daughter at lunch."

Jarrod frowned and wondered what in the world she was doing. He knew it could be a set up so he slung the door open with the gun pointed at Mary.

Mary's hands shot up to her mouth as Jarrod startled her. Mary could not help but take in the good looking stranger's appearance. His dark raven hair was askew and she thought it looked like dried soap in his raven locks. His shirt sleeves were rolled up his to elbows but it was soaking wet and clung to his body. As her eyes drifted down she could not help but blush a very deep crimson as she noticed a rather large wet spot on his trousers.

Jarrod watched her and noticed her eyes take in his appearance and stopped at his trousers which made him look down. He rolled his eyes as he noticed a large wet spot in his crotch area.

Jarrod grabbed her arm and drug her into the room as he looked down the hallway. He barked, "What do you want?"

She showed Jarrod a few children's books and said, "I overheard your daughter say something about books and I thought she may like these." Mary tried to keep her eyes on the strangers face but she couldn't help but look at his body; she could tell he was in very good shape.

"Ah, well thank you, I'll make sure she gets them."

Mary pointed to the gun Jarrod was still holding and asked, "Do you always answer the door with a gun?"

Jarrod noticed the young waitress was enjoying his embarrassment and said, "You interrupted bath time and I wasn't expecting anyone so you alarmed me," he placed the gun on the bureau.

"Oh well I'm sorry about that but I was on my lunch break and these books were left by some people passing through and I thought your daughter would enjoy them." She meekly handed Jarrod the books as she once again gave him a good once over.

Jarrod glanced at the books and said, "Thank you, I'm sure she will." Jarrod cleared his throat as it was apparent the young lady was in no hurry to leave and was enjoying Jarrod's embarrassment. "If you'll excuse me I would like to change out of these wet clothes," he waved his hand downwards at his shirt.

Mary's facial color turned even redder if that was possible causing Jarrod to smirk. "Oh, ah, well of course, I'm sorry." She turned to leave and stopped. "Will you and your daughter be coming down for dinner?"

Jarrod gave her his most charming smile and said, "Yes we will."

Mary smiled and said, "I can't wait to see you," then she froze in horror when she realized what she had said.

Jarrod laughed at her embarrassment and said, "At least we are both able to find some humor in this."

Mary smiled shyly and said, "Until later," and quickly left.

Jarrod let out a sigh of relief as he closed the door. When he turned around Abby was looking at him from the water closet. "She likes you Mistah Jay."

Jarrod chuckled and said, "And what do you know about that little lady?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders and jumped on the bed to look at the new books.

Jarrod just shook his head as he locked the door and got his clean clothes to change into. "Don't open the door," he told Abby as he went to clean up.

After Jarrod was dressed he decided he wanted to check out any recent newspapers to see if there was anything about him or Abby. As they walked through the lobby Jarrod caught sight of Mary and winked at her causing her to blush once again. He laughed as he shook his head and walked out with Abby.

He decided the best place to start was the general store. He picked up the most recent San Francisco paper and glanced through it quickly not seeing anything. He had promised Abby she could get two more books and another outfit since they had ruined one of her dresses when they had their mud fight. As they did their shopping Jarrod was listening to the shopkeeper talk to another customer and all they did was gossip. He continually was watching the street as Abby tried to decide which dress she wanted and listened to the other customers talking.

After an hour of hem hawing back and forth Abby finally decided on a dress much to Jarrod's delight. He thought wryly it must be a female thing of not being able to make up their minds or taking forever to get ready.

He spotted the post office and sheriff's office on the other side of the street and walked slowly as he glanced at the boards to see if he could see anything that stood out to him. He strained his eyes but as far as he could tell he did not see anything, but the attorney knew that did not mean anything.

As they made their way back to the hotel Jarrod stopped by the train station to look at the schedule. The train they needed would not be leaving for another two days but he was still worried about purchasing the tickets when he remembered Mary.

She seemed quite taken with Abby and he wondered if he could possibly ask her for help. He would talk to her more tonight and see what he could find out before approaching her.

"Mistah Jay," Abby called.

Jarrod looked down at Abby and smiled, "Yes little lady."

"I hungwy."

Jarrod frowned at her and said, "Again? We just ate a few hours ago?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders and smiled which melted the attorney's heart. He could not deny her anything. He bent down and scooped up her in his arms, "Well then I guess we need to find you some fried chicken, huh?"

Abby grinned as she excitedly shook her head yes while Jarrod laughed at her. Jarrod decided to go back to the hotel restaurant so he could try to talk to Mary while Abby ate.