"Yes."
"What did he have to say?"
"Not much," she hedged, taking a bite of egg.
"Clem, are you playing games with me?" he demanded scowling.
"Why would I do that?" she sweetly replied, dabbing her mouth and rising. "I'm simply trying to follow your lead as a guest in your house. Apparently you aren't interested in much conversation this morning. Now if you wouldn't mind taking me back to town, I'll remove my offensive presence."
Jasper sighed. "I'm sorry if I appear rude. I have a lot on my mind. Please take your seat and tell me what Adam had to offer."
"No," she snapped, gripping the back of her chair.
Jasper rose to tower over her and removed the chair from her hands, positioning it closer to his at the head of the table. "Sit," he ordered, "while you still can."
Clem considered her options. While she wouldn't mind marching out of his house in a huff, it was a long walk back to town and she wasn't exactly dressed for it. There was also the chance he would sit and take her over her knee. She didn't have much interest in that either. She sat, grudgingly.
"Thank you," he said with a slight bow before resuming his seat. "Now what did Adam advise?"
"That's confidential," she informed him.
"Then why did you bring it up?" he demanded, losing his patience at a rapid rate.
"I was simply trying to make polite conversation with a socially inept baboon," she replied, picking up her cup and taking a sip.
"Clementine," he growled.
"Oh all right," she hissed. "Lord, you're so bossy. Adam was going to make inquiries to the sheriff. He's also going to get a statement from the undertaker proving my father was murdered."
"Anything else?"
"I paid him the two hundred dollars I made from you and he's going to go to San Francisco and see what he can find out from the Bureau of Land Management. We need to make sure my father actually filed a claim."
"Is that all?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.
"No, that is not all," she snapped. "He found it quite amusing that I'd refused to marry you if you must know."
"I'm not surprised," Jasper answered frowning. "Clementine, do you need more money?"
"No, well I won't after you pay me for last night."
Jasper snorted. "It's you who should pay me," he shot back. "After all, it was you who did the begging," he reminded her.
"I just wish I could charge extra for that," she hissed, rising so fast her chair fell backward. "How kind of you to remind me of my shortcomings. Please add it to my list of flaws."
"It's not a flaw," he said sadly. "I'll get the carriage and take you back."
***
The ride was made in silence until they approached the outskirts of town and Clem reached over and placed her hand on his thigh. She could feel the tension in his muscles; see it in the stern set of his lips.
"I lied to you last night, Jasper," she admitted quietly. "It is personal and emotional with me. I didn't want it to be, I still don't, but it is."
"Then marry me, Clem. Let Adam and the law handle this. Sheriff Justice is a good man."
"I can't. You don't know what it was like. I'll never forget the shocked expression on my father's face when that bullet took his life. He wasn't a bad man, Jasper. Sure he made mistakes and he drank too much, but he was a good father. I owe it to him to find his killer."
"We'll find him, honey. I'll help you, but you don't have to do it this way."
"I wrapped his head in a burlap sack," she whispered, "so I wouldn't have to look at him as I struggled for nearly an hour to get his body over my horse. I knew the killer was still watching me, felt his eyes on me. The only way I got through it was to whisper over and over in my head, 'you'll pay; I'll make you pay'. And I will, no matter what it costs me."
"Even me?" he asked, finally turning to look at her. "Will he pay even if the cost is that dear?"
"You're done with me?" she questioned, looking away.
"I don't know, Clem," he replied truthfully, running a hand through his hair. "I love you, but I don't know if watching you take men to your room will kill those feelings. It will be slow torture for me, knowing they are touching you, watching them come downstairs with a satisfied smile on their faces as they tuck in their shirts. I don't think I can do it."
"I wish it was about the money," she told him, wiping away a tear. "I'd take yours in a heartbeat, but it's about so much more. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror each day."
"And you can do that being a whore?" he demanded, letting his anger show for the first time.
"Easier than I can knowing I let my father's killer get away with murder," she said truthfully. "I can wash away the touch of a man. I can go to church and pray for forgiveness for my sins. I can't wash away those memories or my vow, Jasper. I hope you can understand."
Jasper pulled up in front of The Red Petticoat Saloon and set the brake. Turning to her he took her face in his hands and kissed her gently.