Deborah Camp by To Seduce andDefend

me. I have a mind to tell her that manners are —.”
    “You are going to leave her be,” Zach said, motioning her to move along the path and away from the house. “We don’t need to be riling her up until we can get some information out of her.”
    “That’s why I’m here. I simply want to sit down with her and get to the bottom of what happened between her and Charles.”
    “She isn’t in the mood to talk about it – especially with you.”
    “Why not me?”
    “Because she knows you are here to claim that land and she isn’t going to hand it over to you, pretty as you please.” At the street he looked left and right. “How did you get here?”
    “I walked.”
    He shook his head as he gathered the reins of a horse tethered in front of the house. “Can you ride a horse?”
    “Not without a sidesaddle,” she said, still stinging from Luna’s cold shoulder. “I have no problem walking back to the boarding house.”
    “Well, I do.”
    He looked past her and Jennie heard the sound of an approaching vehicle just as Zach lifted a hand high into the air.
    “Hey there! Is that Mrs. Gladdens?”
    The buggy came to a stop and a woman wearing a lace-trimmed bonnet peeked out from beneath the canopy. Her voice was soft and her accent was from the Eastern seaboard.
    “It certainly is, Counselor Warner. I’m on my way to the dry goods store.”
    “Would you be so kind as to allow Mrs. Hastings here to ride with you?” Zach turned back to Jennie and motioned her forward. “Mrs. Jennie Hastings, this is one of my other clients Mrs. Sarah Gladdens.”
    “Hello. Pleased to meet you,” Jennie said, coming closer until she could see the woman’s lightly lined face and deep-set dark eyes. “I don’t mean to impose. I can walk.”
    “It’s no imposition. By all means, join me.”
    Zach escorted Jennie around to the other side and steadied her as she climbed up into the buggy. The scent of roses wafted from Sarah Gladdens as she scooted sideways on the tufted, leather seat to give Jennie more room. There was a refinement about the older woman. She wore a black dress with shiny ebony buttons marching down the front of it. Jennie wondered if Mrs. Gladdens, too, might be a widow.
    “Come by the office tomorrow afternoon, Mrs. Hastings, and I will be happy to discuss this issue with you further.” Zach touched the brim of his hat and nodded toward them. “Goodbye now, ladies.”
    The buggy set off and Jennie tamped down her irritation with Zach. She realized her gloved hands were balled into fists. She flexed her fingers and willed herself to relax.
    “Counselor Warner is handling my divorce … or he will be in three or four weeks,” Mrs. Gladdens said, handling the reins expertly. “You have to live here for ninety days before the court will accept your divorce petition.” She sent a quick smile to Jennie. “But you probably already know that. Is that why you’re here, too?”
    Jennie glanced at her and smiled. She was even older than Jennie had first thought. The dark brown hair peeking out from her bonnet was streaked with white. “No. I came here to claim the land my late husband left to me.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. I just assumed …”
    “That’s okay. I assumed you might be in mourning because you are dressed in black.”
    She glanced down at her dark clothing and gave a short laugh. “So I am. Do women still do that? Wear black for months or even for a whole year?” She glanced sideways at Jennie’s periwinkle blue dress. “I see that you don’t follow that custom.”
    “I did follow it for a month. Where did you live before you came here?”
    “Boston. How about you?”
    “St. Louis.”
    “Have you been here long?”
    “I actually just arrived yesterday.”
    “Is the land you inherited near Guthrie?”
    Jennie nodded. “Yes, but we’re staying at the Philpot Boarding House for now.”
    “We?”
    “I have a five-year-old son.”
    “How nice. My son and daughter are back in Boston