Chapter 3

Springer looked shocked.

"I just hurt a woman who didn't deserve it," Jarrod said. "She was looking for sympathy and support and it sure wasn't going to come from you, and under the circumstances if I was gonna mediate between the two of you, it couldn't come from me either. Nat, I'm done with you. You clean up your own life, and if you can't do it, then you live with the consequences. If she gets a divorce, she can take you for all you're worth, and I just wish I could help her do it."

Jarrod walked out, and went after Emily to try to make up for what part he had just played in hurting her. His part as mediator was over now, and even if he couldn't be her lawyer because of his history with Nat, he could at least give her the name of a good attorney. But he couldn't find her. He couldn't see her on the street and he had no idea where she might have gone.

He tried the sheriff's office, but the sheriff said, "I haven't seen her and I don't want to."

Jarrod suddenly thought of something, and an alarm went off. "Do you know this Sarah Essen? Do you know where she lives?"

The sheriff gave him an address, "But you don't often find her there. She is the town – well, she gets around, especially after dark. You don't think Springer's wife has gone after her, do you?"

"I don't know," Jarrod said. "I just know I tried talking to Nat and Emily and it didn't go well and now I can't find Emily."

"Do you represent either one of them?"

"No, I'm just a friend."

"Then I suggest you stop being a friend and just stay out of the way. If Springer's wife has gone after Sarah Essen, I'll find out about it soon enough and I'll handle it."

Jarrod didn't like that. "I don't want to see Emily get into any real trouble over this."

"I'm sure she won't. There might be some hair pulling and screaming, but I don't think anybody will really get hurt."

Jarrod thought for a moment, but then said, "I think I'll try this Sarah Essen's place anyway. Maybe I can stop the hair pulling and screaming before it starts." Or anything worse, he thought.

Jarrod found his way to Sarah Essen's address, a flat above a noisy, seedy saloon. He climbed the stairs and knocked – and the woman he had seen at the hotel answered.

"Yes?" she said.

He could tell she was looking at him as a potential customer, probably the only types of people who ever knocked at her door, especially at night. But before he could say anything, another voice inside the room said, "Wait a minute, I know him."

And suddenly there was Emily Springer standing beside Sarah Essen. There was no sign there had been any hair pulling, any blows landed, not even any animosity. Jarrod was utterly confused.

"What do you want?" Emily asked.

"I was looking for you," Jarrod said. "I wanted to make sure you were all right, and it looks like you are."

"I'm fine," Emily said. "Go back and take care of Nat."

"Well, I told Nat I was through with him and he could find his own way through his marriage with you," Jarrod said. "Really, Emily, all I wanted was to give you the name of a good lawyer."

"So give it to me."

Jarrod gave her a name.

"All right," she said. "Anything else?"

They were giving him the bum's rush and he knew it. He had done what he wanted to do, and he shut off his curiosity about what they were up to together. None of this was any of his business anymore.

"No, nothing," he said and tipped his hat. "Good-bye. Good luck."

He headed back down the stairs and heard the door close behind him. Once at the bottom, he stopped, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. There were half a dozen things he could think of that they were up to up there together, none of which he wanted any part of at all.

He went back to his hotel room and locked himself inside. A bit of brandy would have been a nice nightcap, but he did not want to be anywhere that he might run into Nat or Emily, so he passed on the notion. He took his jacket and tie off, gave a glance through his notes from the business meeting he'd had earlier in the day, gave some thought about how his negotiations would go tomorrow – and then there was a knock at the door.

He sighed miserably. "Who is it?" he asked.

"Emily," her voice came.

Great. Here she is back in my life and at the door of the room where her husband was always enjoying himself with Sarah Essen.

When he didn't answer right away, she said, "I just want a minute of your time, Jarrod. I want to explain something."

Jarrod heaved a sigh and opened the door. He suddenly thought it was not a good idea to have a woman being seen entering 2B. God alone knew how many people were aware of what it was at least occasionally used for. But he ushered Emily in and closed the door behind her. "Go ahead," Jarrod said.

"I suppose you're wondering why I was in Sarah Essen's room," Emily said.

Jarrod held his hands up to stop her. "Emily, I don't want to know anything about this."

"Jarrod, I am going to head home on the train tonight, and I am going to sue Nat for divorce. I was just lining up Sarah as a witness for me," Emily said.

Sarah, Jarrod thought. They're on a first name basis. But he said, "Emily, I said I don't want to know anything about this and I meant it."

"I just didn't want you to get the wrong idea about the kind of woman I am," Emily said.

"I have no idea whatsoever," Jarrod said and moved to open the door again.

"Please, Jarrod," Emily said. "We've known each other a long time. Don't let what's happening between me and Nat get between you and me."

Now Jarrod was really getting to be nervous, because she moved toward him a bit and he was afraid she might actually come onto him for one reason or another. He opened the door. "Emily, you need to leave."

And there, in the hallway, passing by 2B and planning to spend the night in 3B, was Nat Springer. He stopped when he saw his wife coming out of his friend Jarrod Barkley's room, and saw Jarrod out of his jacket and tie. He got an ugly look on his face.

Oh, God, no, Jarrod thought. "Nat, this isn't what you think it is. She hasn't been here thirty seconds."

"There's nothing going on between me and Jarrod, Nat," Emily said.

"Then what are you doing in his room?" Nat asked.

"Explaining," Emily said. "Trying to explain to him what's happening."

"And I've been explaining that I don't care!" Jarrod said. "I was just asking Emily to leave and to leave me out of your marital problems, and now I'm asking you both to just go away!"

Jarrod took Emily by the elbow and gave her a soft push out the door, which he then closed and very loudly locked behind her. If they hadn't heard that, he was sure they heard him fall back against the door and give a loud grunt of frustration. He did not intend to open this door again before morning. Right now, 2B was his fortress, and it was going to stay that way while he got a good night's sleep.

XXXXX

At least in the morning he didn't see either one of them before he headed off to continue discussing the sale of the mining equipment, and at least those discussions went smoothly and concluded with a contract. Jarrod left the mine, done with everything he had come here to do, and he planned to get back to Cedar Grove. It was getting late, and he wanted to get off to an early start in the morning.

He put his horse up at the livery in Cedar Grove again and headed for the hotel, thinking that by now both of the Springers were back in San Francisco and out of his hair, but he was in for a surprise. When he went into the hotel and got his room key, he got a glance into the restaurant – and did a double take.

There they all were – Nat Springer, Emily Springer, and Sarah Essen. All sitting together at a table, talking, even smiling. Jarrod nearly dropped his work papers all over the hotel lobby.

"What?!" he actually said out loud.