Chapter 4

At breakfast with his brothers the next morning, Jarrod told them what was what and that he would be staying behind in Sacramento while they went home. They didn't like that very much.

"We'll stick around, too," Nick said flatly.

Heath said, "We wouldn't want to get home just to have to turn around and come back up here to help you out."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Jarrod said. "But give me time alone with Gwendolen at the saloon this afternoon. I don't think she's gonna be very happy if you two are right there in front of her knowing what she did."

"You got any idea what that letter says?" Nick asked.

"Not much yet," Jarrod said, "but it seems to be enough for Hill to think he can blackmail her with it, and that's what this is – blackmail."

"Then the law ought to help you," Heath said.

"The law doesn't like getting in the middle of domestic disputes, and it doesn't favor women much when it does," Jarrod said. "In this world, it's the woman who's guilty and the man who's innocent when it's man against wife – even more so if it's man against ex-wife."

"Do you have any idea what you're gonna do?" Heath asked.

"Not until I see what the letter says," Jarrod said, "but whatever I do, I have to protect Gwendolen."

"So it's possible you'll do nothing," Nick said.

Jarrod's eyes took on that look he got when he felt for someone and knew he had to do something to help them, even if it meant trouble for him. "Not likely," he said. "It might just take a while to figure out how to handle it, but I'll handle it."

"You are one stubborn Barkley," Nick said, shaking his head.

"Take it from somebody who knows," Heath said.

XXXXXXX

The saloon was fairly quiet when Jarrod met Gwendolen there, so they had some time to sit together and talk, so long as he kept buying beer. Gwendolen gave him a copy of the letter she had written to Abel, saying, "It might not be word for word, but it's pretty close."

Jarrod read it. It wasn't as bad as he thought it might have been. Gwendolen professed her love for him, but she said nothing about how he might have felt about her. Gwendolen was thoroughly embarrassed, even turned her face away to cry at one point. Jarrod read the letter over twice and said, "Yes, this was a mistake, Gwen. What has Abel said to you about it?"

"That he knew you and I were having an affair," Gwendolen said. "I never said that, and I denied it when he said it, but Abel jumps to conclusions he doesn't like and sticks there, just because he loves to fight. He loves to feel like he's the victim and has every right to fight back."

"This does explain his attitude toward me on the cattle deal he just did with us," Jarrod said.

"You're doing business with him?" Gwendolen was a bit shocked.

Jarrod nodded. "My brothers lined it up, before they knew about the divorce case," he said and he pocketed the letter. "I'm going to keep this but I'll burn it by tomorrow. We don't need another copy floating around."

"I don't know what you can do to help me on this, Jarrod," Gwendolen said. "If I thought you could do anything, I'd have come to you before now.

"When did Abel actually stop paying you?"

"Not long after he started. I had to find work almost right away, and I've been working different places around town. I came here only a couple months ago."

"Oh, Gwen, why didn't you tell me right away?"

"I was just too embarrassed. I'm so sorry I did this. I was just – I don't know."

Jarrod said, "Gwen, you're not the first client who's thought she was in love with me. I'm your advocate and your confidant. It happens. But you must understand, if you don't already, that it's not really love. It's need. It's dependency."

"I know that, Jarrod," Gwendolen said. "That's why I never sent you the letter. I knew it the minute I wrote it."

"Why didn't you destroy it right away?"

"I don't know. It was a keepsake. I should have burned it rather than just throw it away when I left. I should have known Abel would go through the trash. Oh, that man!" Gwendolen seethed and pounded the table once.

It drew a funny look from the bartender, so Gwendolen got up, and so did Jarrod. "Give me some time to think about this, Gwen," he said. "And you think about whether you want to try to bring Abel in legally."

She shook her head. "No. No court around here is going to side with me. And don't worry if you can't think of anything to help me. I've got to live with what I've done."

XXXXXXX

Jarrod left the saloon and went looking for his brothers, not having any idea where they might be. Sacramento was a big town, but he was sure they'd be somewhere close to the hotel or the saloon. They were not the types to go sightseeing, especially without telling him. As he looked for them, he kept thinking about what he could do to help Gwendolen and he kept coming up empty. He hoped his brothers might have an idea or two.

He ran into Nick and Heath coming down the street toward the hotel. "Where did you two get to?" Jarrod asked.

"Well, we were nosing around," Heath said. "Found out a couple things that might help you."

"Like what?" Jarrod asked.

"Come on, let's get some coffee," Nick said.

They went into the hotel café and ordered coffee. It was served before Nick started talking again.

"We took a hack over to the rail station," Nick said. "Hill did ship those cattle out last night, but we ran into his foreman who was there finishing up the paperwork. Had a nice chat with him."

"And?" Jarrod asked.

"We found out who Hill is engaged to marry," Heath said. "Her name is Cecily Carter, daughter of a prominent judge here."

"Judge Carter," Jarrod mused. "Yeah, I know him, but we're not good friends or anything. Just acquaintances."

"Maybe you can do him a favor," Nick said.

"We got to thinking," Heath said. "That pre-emptive agreement Hill mentioned, to set out what would happen if he and his new wife got divorced. What's to keep you from going to Miss Carter and suggesting she get you to draw up that agreement and have her hand it to him?"

Jarrod smiled. "I like it, but I doubt Hill would go for it. He'd probably just dump her."

"According to his foreman, Hill is head over heels for this girl and for her father's money," Nick said. "You wouldn't have to wreck him completely with the agreement. Not enough to make him dump the girl. Just enough to irritate him."

"And how is that supposed to help Gwendolen?" Jarrod asked.

"Well, we thought you'd figure that part out once we gave you the rest of the idea," Heath said.

Jarrod thought. "I wonder if Gwendolen knows this Cecily."

Nick shrugged. "They'd have been in the same social circles at some point. Maybe she does."

Jarrod leaned back in his chair and thought some more. He did some math in his head, and did some other figuring. "You do make me wonder what Judge Carter would think if I told him about this little deal we just concluded with Hill." He looked at Nick and Heath. "If it were my daughter about to marry a heel like this, if I didn't want her to dump him, I would want her to be protected."

"That's what we thought," Nick said.

"Now I just have to figure out how to get something for Gwendolen in here, too."

"You're a bright guy," Nick said. "You'll think of something."

Jarrod smiled, a wicked little smile. It would be very satisfying to get something for Gwendolen and needle Hill at the same time by protecting his new intended. But how to do it without completely messing up the intended marriage? He didn't want to get himself into a position where he'd be accused of inciting this Cecily Carter to breach her agreement to marry Hill.

Still, there was a seed of something enticing here. "We better wire Mother," Jarrod said. "I think I might be here for a while."