Scarlett

Making a Deal and Strange Feelings

"What?!" Scarlett yelled startling everyone in the room. "You were going to blackmail me into marrying you?!"

"There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this." Jasper said holding his hands up in defense.

"Oh, do tell brother for even I would love to hear this." Charles comments only to get an angry look from Scarlet. "Sorry, continue."

Looking back to Jasper, Scarlett waited to hear the perfectly reasonable explanation. Jasper sighed and decided he needed to be perfectly honest with her no matter how much she might not like to hear the truth from him of all people.

"Your parents do not have money, they are about to lose everything. If you marry me I can repay your debts and your parents won't be forced into the poor house." Jasper admitted as he plopped down on a chair in the room. "You did catch my interest and I do like you but I need a wife too in order to move up in my company so really we would be helping one another out."

Henry looked over at Scarlett to see that she wasn't taking the news well. Sitting down on the bed and taking a deep breath Scarlett tried to make sense of what was happening. How in the world could her mother be out of money? Her father had left them money and Morgan was supposed to be rich so how could this have happened?

"How? We had money, what happened to it?" Scarlett questioned.

"I don't know all the details but apparently one of your sisters was unfaithful and had a child that had to be given away and the parents paid off by your mother an Morgan." Jasper told the truth just as Morgan had told him.

"Allison, I should have known since she had gotten fatter the last time I saw her." Scarlett said through gritted teeth as Charles tried to stifle a chuckle. "That's it?"

"Well...Morgan lost a lot in a card game one night, my father told me because Morgan was so drunk he confessed it to my father." Henry admitted as he looked to Scarlett. "I don't know how much but my father said it was enough for a house."

Lies, she had been lied to all this time and now Morgan mostly wanted her to marry Jasper just so he could use her as another piggy bank. Scarlett stood and tried to come up with a plan. Jasper of course kept trying to convince her that it would be best to marry him and let him protect her mother at least and yes that did seem like a good idea but Morgan would still waste away all his money too.

"No, I need to finish my task first then I will talk about marriage but not before." Scarlett said looking out the window.

"Scar, we don't even know if that guy is still alive. Plus, you would be an outlaw, you'd have taken a life." Henry said really concerned about her welfare.

"Henry, you don't understand, he has haunted my dreams for 12 years, that man took my father from me and I will take his life." Scarlett said as she looked at Henry.

"However, if you get caught then he takes yours either by you hanging or him killing you." Charles spoke up as he stood from his seat. "You could have another outlaw do it, pay them to kill your father's murderer."

"Like that's not against the law Charles?!" Jasper said outraged by his brother's idea.

"It's better than her doing it!" Charlies retorted.

Scarlett sighed as she listened to the three men argue between themselves. It was at this point she noticed how tired she was. That wouldn't keep the trouble makers out of the saloon though. They all heard glass breaking downstairs. Running down the stairs Scarlett looked around and ducked just in time to avoid a glass being thrown her way. Looking up at the bandits or outlaws as they called themselves she saw them harassing the women and men with guns.