Chapter 3

Abel Hill was a happy man. His men had taken over the Barkley cattle and were driving them to the railhead even as he and the Barkleys completed their business at the bank. The two clauses in the contract the Barkleys objected to were stricken, Hill was watching Jarrod Barkley make a bank draft out to him for a quarter of the amount he had paid Jarrod three years earlier in his divorce and there was still enough in the deal so that the Barkley ranch enterprise made money, even if Jarrod took a hit he wasn't happy with. Hill didn't mind eating the other part of Jarrod's fee. It was worth the pleasure of seeing the anger in Jarrod Barkley's face.

Jarrod handed him the bank draft. "There, Hill," Jarrod said. "We're done with you."

Nick deposited the draft Hill had written him for the herd. Since Jarrod had an account at this bank, Nick put the money in there. That took a bit of the sting of this transaction for Jarrod, and Nick figured Jarrod would be over it by the time they got home and they adjusted his account there with the Barkley accounts there. Ultimately, the money would end up where it belonged, and Hill could feel like he'd gotten his pound of flesh out of Jarrod.

Hill grinned as he deposited Jarrod's draft into this account. "A pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen," he said. He shook hands with each of the Barkleys, taking a little longer with Jarrod and squeezing Jarrod's hand a little harder.

Jarrod was a stronger man and would like to have broken Hill's hand, but he let his manners rule the day and just made sure his grip was as strong as Hill's. Hill ultimately laughed a little and went out of the bank.

Heath said, "I could use a drink."

"You're not alone," Jarrod muttered. "Did you send the boys home already?"

Nick nodded. The men who had made the drive with them were already on the road back to Stockton.

"Well, then, let's check in at the hotel and I'll take you two to dinner at my favorite place that accepts grubby trail hands."

Nick and Heath both smiled. Jarrod was already beginning to get over this near fiasco.

Jarrod seemed even more like himself when they met in the lobby of the hotel, cleaned up somewhat but except for fresh shirts, still in their trail clothes. "What's this place we're going to and how did they let you in in your business clothes?"

They went out the door together and headed down the street. "I've been in Sacramento looking like the two of you before," Jarrod said. "I found this place six months ago when I was up here looking at some horses for you, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Nick said. "Nice job you did there, too, Counselor. We already have two mares in foal."

"That was a big favor you did us that time," Heath said. "Nick laid up with his bad back and me running the branding operation. We'd have missed out on those mares if you hadn't come up here."

"All right, you can quit buttering me up," Jarrod said. "I'm already through with Abel Hill. If I never see him again, it'll be too soon."

Jarrod led them into a bar on a back street where the clientele were regular working men. No three piece suits in this place, just farmers and ranchers being catered to by three bartenders and seven barmaids. "Ah, nice," Nick said.

Jarrod spotted a free table, and he and his brothers sat down. It was only a moment later that a barmaid came over, smiling but not really looking at them yet, saying, "Hi, there, fellas. We've got some good pot roast tonight if you're eating."

And then she and Jarrod saw each other, and they both stopped.

"Gwendolen!" Jarrod said, keeping his voice low even though he wasn't sure why he was doing it.

She looked nervous and kept her voice low, too. "Jarrod, I never expected to see you here. Call me Gwen in here, please."

"Gwen," Jarrod said. "Abel doesn't know you're here?"

"Oh, he probably does. He never comes in, but his men do."

Nick and Heath tuned in to their conversation even though the place was loud. But they didn't say a thing.

Jarrod stood up. "Can we go over in the corner there and talk for a minute?"

Gwendolen looked awkward. "Not a good idea right now. I get off at ten. Why don't you come walk me home and we can talk then?"

"All right," Jarrod said, and as he sat back down, he said, "how about three pot roasts and three beers?"

Nick and Heath nodded.

"Coming up," Gwendolen said and left to get their orders.

Nick and Heath eyed their brother, curious. Nick said, "Gwendolen."

Jarrod nodded. "That's Abel Hill's ex-wife, but what she's doing in here, I don't know. She got a decent settlement. She doesn't need to be working here."

Heath said, "Maybe she's just trying to fill the time, meet somebody."

"Maybe," Jarrod said, "but after our little deal with Hill today, I'm wondering if he's given her the short shrift, too."

"I suspect you'll be back at ten o'clock to find out," Nick said.

Jarrod nodded again.

"I don't suppose we need to tell you to be careful, what with the way she felt about you before," Heath said.

"No, you don't need to tell me," Jarrod said. But the way he said it showed he was becoming more troubled the more he thought about this.

Gwendolen brought the beers, and she and Jarrod exchanged uncomfortable smiles before she left again. Nick raised his beer and said, "Here's to – " And then he couldn't think of what to raise his beer to.

"Yeah, here's to it," Jarrod said.

XXXXXXX

At ten o'clock things were still pretty active at the saloon, so Jarrod waited outside until Gwendolen came out. She spotted him right away. He tipped his hat to her and then offered his arm. "I can tell you're going to get straight to the point," Gwendolen said, taking his arm.

They began to walk down the street. "How far is it to your place?" Jarrod asked.

"I'm in a boarding house over on Grove," Gwendolen said.

"A boarding house?" Jarrod asked. "Gwendolen, what's happened? You got a good settlement out of Abel. Why are you living in a boarding house and working in a saloon?"

Gwendolen kept her voice low. "You're not going to like what I'm about to say, but I don't want you to get involved in it. It won't do either of us any good."

"Just tell me," Jarrod said.

Gwendolen sighed. "Abel's quit paying me what he owes."

Now Jarrod was livid with the man all over again. "Why?"

Gwendolen stopped at a corner where no one was around. "He thinks he has evidence that I was unfaithful to him while we were married, so he just stopped, and I've been too ashamed and too broke to force him back into court."

"That isn't right," Jarrod said, "especially if you weren't unfaithful, and you didn't tell me about anyone else."

"That's because there isn't anyone else," Carol said. "Abel's evidence is all baloney, but I don't have the money or the will to fight him on it."

"Why didn't you contact me? Just because the divorce is finalized, it doesn't mean I won't still help you when there are problems."

Gwendolen slumped and sighed and looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Because the man he thinks I was unfaithful with is you."

Now Jarrod was shocked. "Me? Where did he get that idea?" And then he wondered if it was something Gwendolen said that gave it to him.

Gwendolen looked even more uncomfortable. "I was foolish and I wrote you a letter before we even filed for divorce, while we were still talking about it. I never sent you that letter. I don't know why I kept it – I was foolish. He found it. Jarrod, I'm sorry."

"When did he find it?" Jarrod asked.

"After the divorce, when I moved all my things out, I threw a lot away. He found it in the trash. I was foolish, I should have burned it or taken it with me – "

"What did it say, Gwen?"

She looked up at him. In the dim streetlight, Jarrod could see that her eyes were wet. "It said that I loved you. It said that I hoped after I was divorced that you and I might – well, there wasn't anything that should have led him to believe we were having an affair, but he decided there was enough that I wouldn't want the letter to come out. So he quit paying me, knowing that I wouldn't do anything about it."

Jarrod slumped. He'd had women he represented fall in love with him before, but it had never turned into anything like this. He didn't know whether to be more angry with Gwendolen for writing the letter and not destroying it, or with Hill for using it to destroy her. But then, he didn't know exactly what was in the letter.

"Where is the letter now?" Jarrod asked.

"I assume he still has it," Gwendolen said. "I can't imagine he'd throw it away. Jarrod, I'm so sorry, I couldn't fight this because he would have dragged you into it and I couldn't do that to you."

Now Jarrod felt almost guilty, to think Gwendolen was enduring life in a boarding house and a saloon just to keep him from being exposed to trouble for something foolish she had done. "Do you remember exactly what the letter said?" Jarrod asked.

Carol nodded. "Word for word."

They began to walk toward her boarding house again. "All right," Jarrod said. "I want you to write it out again tonight, and I'll take you to breakfast in the morning. You can give it to me then. We'll deal with this somehow."

"No, Jarrod, no," Gwendolen protested. "I don't want you involved. Abel is a mean and vindictive man and I don't want you to be in the position where he can threaten you."

"Don't worry. I have my brothers watching my back, and we know how Abel can be."

"Do your brothers know about me?"

"They know you divorced Abel and I represented you."

"I still want you to just forget about this whole thing."

"No," Jarrod said. "Abel shouldn't be allowed to weasel out of his obligations to you. You earned a better life than this and the court ordered you to have it."

"There are worse lives than working in that saloon. That's exactly where I was working when I met Abel."

Jarrod didn't know that. It had never come up. "Still, he owes you and he should be paying you. You write the letter out and let me think on this overnight. We'll talk again in the morning."

They turned a corner and Gwendolen's boarding house was straight ahead. Jarrod walked her up to the porch, where she stopped. "Jarrod, if we're seen together at breakfast in the morning, it could create more trouble."

"Then we'll talk in the saloon later," Jarrod said. "I'll come in, you can wait on me, it will all be above board and public. One more thing. I still consider you my client and I'll keep your business to myself, but I would like to talk this over with my brothers. Do I have your permission?"

"Would it help?" she asked.

Jarrod smiled a little. "They have some imaginative ideas sometimes, especially with men like Abel."

Gwendolen gave him a little smile. "All right. Jarrod, I'm so sorry about this."

Jarrod nodded. "Let's just see what we can do about it. What time do you go to work?"

"Noon," Gwendolen said.

"I'll see you shortly after that," Jarrod said. "Don't worry. We'll figure this out."

She squeezed his arm with a little nod and then went into the boarding house. Jarrod stood there for a moment and just shook his head. He had no idea how they were going to figure this out and fix it, but he was so mad with Abel Hill to begin with that he was determined to find the way to do it.