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On the train ride East, Garrett did his best to hide his misery. It didn’t help that they were forced to ride Jim Crow out of Cheyenne. Vernon, who apparently had never traveled far from the District, was outraged when the conductor directed them to the gambling car.
“I want to speak to whomever is in charge!” he’d demanded.
“I’m in charge,” the man responded. “So, take yourself to the gambling car with the rest of your kind. Or get off the train.”
That left the light-skinned lawyer red faced and sputtering. Melody finally hooked her arm in his and led him away. “Come on. We’ll be fine.”
Now, a day and a half out of Cheyenne, Garrett sat in one of the booths by the window watching the train take him farther and farther away from Spring, while cigar-smoking gamblers suckered rubes out of their meager funds, and rouged up good-time girls promised quickdelights on the small platform outside the car—for a price.
His mother had asked after him when he’d met them at the boardinghouse on the morning they’d left Paradise, but he told her he was fine. He knew she hadn’t believed him, but she hadn’t pressed for the truth.
Now, as she came to sit opposite him, she eyed him with concern. “What’s going on with you, Garrett?”
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t lie to your mother,” she said with gentle humor. “The Good Lord doesn’t like it.”
He smiled and sighed. “Just need to figure some things out.”
“Such as?”
He didn’t respond.
She did, saying, “A mother’s job is to be nosy, so tell me what’s wrong or I’ll have your father be nosy on my behalf.”
“Lord, help me.”
She folded her hands. “I’m waiting.”
“I love Spring very much, but she doesn’t want children.”
“And?”
He was confused. “But I do.”
“Then let Spring go, and find a woman who wants what you want. Simple solution.”
“But—”
“Is she willing to change her mind?”
“She said no.” And he searched for the words to convey his thoughts. “I’ve never met a woman who didn’t want children.”
“There are plenty, believe me. Some of whom have given birth only because of the expectations of society and husbands.”
“But think of how wonderful it will be to hold the family’s first freeborn child.”
“That will be a joyful occasion, but that child will apparently not come from you and Spring, Garrett.”
He gazed unseeing out at the passing landscape.
His mother asked, “Suppose she was unable to have children. Would you be so at sixes and sevens over that?”
He thought about it and admitted, “Probably not.” And had a small clarifying moment. “I never thought about it in those terms.”
“You may want to. Ask yourself, do you want Spring because you love her or because of her potential to breed?”
“Because I love her.”
“Then you have your answer.”
And he did.
The next day when the train pulled into thestation in Omaha, Nebraska, Garrett gathered his belongings and prepared to tell his family goodbye. He’d return East before the trees turned in autumn but now he had to return to Spring and set things straight with her. His father wanted to contest the decision but his mother gave him her blessings. Garrett hugged Melody and while doing so whispered that she find someone she actually loved and invited her to come to Wyoming when she had the chance. As for Vernon, Garrett thanked him for footing the bill for the train tickets and vowed to help Hiram reimburse him as soon as possible.
And with that, Garrett left the train. Luckily for him, a train heading west was leaving within the hour. According to the conductor, they’d pull into Cheyenne in three maybe four days, depending on variables like weather and track conditions. He sent a hasty wire to Odell to meet him in Cheyenne but to not let Spring know. He feared she’d take off again and it would be winter before they had a chance to speak.
As the train with his parents continued its journey east, Garrett’s westbound train left the station at the same time—and he didn’t have to ride Jim Crow. On the empty seat beside him was a day-old Chicago newspaper someone hadleft behind. Leafing through it, some familiar faces caught his attention and he smiled reading the caption beneath:Dastardly embezzlement gang jailed for attempted robbery.“I hope they lock you up and lose the key, Mr. Avery Jarvis, or whatever your real name turns out to be.” He placed the newspaper in his bag to show to Paradise sheriff Whit Lambert in case he hadn’t been informed.
