Page 49 of Inventions of the Heart

“I am, to my everlasting shame. My next chore is speaking with a lawyer about how to protect myself from my husband and stop what he’s threatened to do to my girls.”

Laura thought of Jilly and her profound resistance to marriage. Had Edgar done more to her than threaten? Or were his threats just really good ones? Or was it something else?

“I’m Trey Irving, the US Marshal assigned to your case.” He had a full mustache, and his hair was as dark as his eyes. His suit looked clean and was of good quality. A successful man to Laura’s way of thinking. That had to be a good thing in a lawman—unless he took bribes.

He led them into an office in the capitol building. Much more humble than the governor’s, but still an impressive room. He sat behind a desk and gestured for the four of them to sit in chairs he had drawn up in a semicircle in front of his desk.

“I always get my man. The governor calls for me when he wants things handled just right. He sent a message down here to me with instructions to listen to your story.”

“Horace Benteen is a powerful man in this state and a fierce adversary of the governor.” Mama took charge. “He believes he’s above the law, and he fears no one.”

“I’ve heard of Benteen.” Nodding, Irving said, “There is no question that we need to handle his son just right. I’d like to spend time with you first so I know what I’m facing,then I’ll go and get Jarvis and bring him back to Sacramento. And the governor ordered me to fire the judge who’s running things in Dorada Rio while I’m down there. The governor is already appointing a new judge. If a man wants to be on Horace’s payroll, he’s going to work right at his side and not from behind a judge’s bench.” The man’s dark eyes glinted. “I may do more than fire him. If I can find enough evidence, I may arrest him, too. A corrupt judge makes everybody’s life harder.”

“Not Benteen’s life,” Margaret said with cold anger.

“Maybe Benteen’s life will be harder than he expects. Bribing a judge is against the law. If the judge testifies against him—and he might to lessen his own sentence—Horace might go to prison.”

Then Marshal Irving asked all the questions they’d already answered to the sheriff in Dorada Rio and to the governor. They knew the story by heart. But Marshal Irving was good. He drew out information they hadn’t thought to provide before. And they explained more about Annie’s ranch and her husband’s death.

The marshal looked grim when they talked of murder. And angry when they talked of Jarvis attacking Jilly and Michelle.

“It’ll be hard to get a murder charge to stick to Horace Benteen, but if we could, it’d be a hanging offense.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he killed his wife. She was a young woman, Horace’s third wife. The other two died unexpectedly. The third was next thing to a hermit, and I wonder about abuse.” Mama hadn’t spared herself the details of Edgar’s cruelty.

Laura’s tension worsened with every word her mamaspoke of Edgar’s abuse. She felt like a clock wound too tightly. She hadn’t heard most of this before. Caleb sat next to her in a matching oak chair with a smooth, satiny finish and sturdy, flat armrests. He reached across the space between them, his left hand to her right, and laced his fingers through hers. She glanced at him and closed her hand tightly around his. Some of the tension eased, replaced with sadness.

“The brazen way he stole Annie’s ranch is very telling.” Mama was a different woman now. Laura hadn’t really noticed how she’d changed over the year of her second marriage. But this woman, this brilliant, confident woman, had gone into hiding.

Laura’s spirits lifted. Whatever Edgar had put Mama through, she wasn’t crushed. She was still Laura’s lively, feisty mother.

Laura thought of how she’d grown to dread taking over the onerous duties of helping run Stiles Lumber. Made more onerous now with Michelle’s abandoning Laura to marry Zane.

For the first time, it popped into Laura’s head that Michelle had given it up quite easily. Was it possible that Laura wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be a titan of industry?

But Mama. Maybe the weight of running a business hadn’t been overwhelming to her. Maybe she liked it. Right now, she seemed energized by the fight to defeat Edgar, bring Benteen to justice, and wrestle back control of Stiles Lumber.

Marshal Irving finally seemed to have exhausted all his questions. “Thank you for taking time to help me see all the aspects of this case.” He rose, and they all followed suit. He went to the door and held it open for them. “You can geton with your own activities. And I’ll get this investigation up and running.”

Mama reached out and clutched the man’s arm. “Two of my daughters are still at the Two Harts Ranch by Dorada Rio. Be careful that my girls don’t end up in the crossfire when things come down to a fight.”

“No harm will come to your girls, ma’am. I swear it.” He stood at the door as they left. Then he followed them out and left the capitol building with determined speed.

Laura had to fight the almost giddy hope that was blooming in her heart. Between Uncle Newt’s outrage and his obvious hatred of Benteen and now Marshal Irving’s vow, Laura felt more optimistic than she had in a long time.

Their next stop was to see a lawyer about severing Edgar’s rights over them.

The lawyer, recommended by Uncle Newt, read Michelle’s proxy papers and wrote up legal papers to support the girls’ having majority ownership of Stiles Lumber, sole access to the accounts, and veto power over any decision Edgar made.

Preventing Edgar from having any power over Jilly was the hardest to figure out.

When Mama explained things, the lawyer was blunt in his explanation of what lay ahead of her and the limits of the law when it came to a husband and wife.

“I’d recommend divorce, ma’am.”

Mama’s shoulders sagged from the weight of what she was attempting, and by the end, her teeth were clenched to keep from berating herself for getting into such a mess.

Caleb had helped Mama feel less dreadful about asking for the divorce, but she couldn’t seem to go ahead and just say it was what she wanted to do.

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