It was Saturday morning, and Rachel was sitting in a whicker rocking chair fixing a torn shirt of Cody's while Jesse was sitting on the top step of the porch whittling. She could tell he was upset. She wasn't sure what he was trying to make, but then again she didn't think he knew what he was making either.

Jesse had been moping around the waystation for the last few days, and finally earlier this morning she had dragged it out of him why he was so down. She hated seeing the lad hurting.

"Jesse, I'm sorry about Melissa. But I'm sure she'll come around. Just give her some time." Rachel paused in her sewing to watch Jesse's reaction. His demeanor didn't change any. He just kept scraping the heck out of the stick he had.

After Rachel finished darning Cody's shirt and sending Jesse to the bunkhouse with it, she decided it was time for her to meet this elusive salesman, Jake. So Rachel saddled a horse and rode into Dreamville. She sought out Teaspoon first. For if anyone would know where Jake was, it would be Teaspoon.

"Good morning, Rachel. What brings ya to town?" Teaspoon inquired as she entered the jailhouse.

"I want to meet that slimy salesman Jake. The one all the riders are talking about. Do you know where he is?" Rachel walked up to Teaspoon's desk.

"He's over at the saloon. That's where he spends most of his time. That is when he's not with Melissa or smooth talkin' the other ladies around town." Teaspoon disdainfully replied.

"Teaspoon can't you run him out of town. He shouldn't be going around with Melissa. She's going to get hurt by him. I know the type. They breeze into town, and then one day they just breeze right out again, breaking lots of hearts along their trail." Rachel stated.

"I'm sorry Rachel, but I can't. He hasn't broken the law. He hasn't so much as spit on the ground. The only thing he's done is woo the ladies, and as far as I know there's no law against that."

"Well, can't you make it a law. You�re the sheriff." Rachel sternly suggested.

Teaspoon grinned. "Rachel you know I can�t do that." Seeing the regret in Rachel�s face he continued, "A lot of the ladies like him and have been buying pots and pans from him. Not to mention I don�t think some of the men around here would like it if I ran him off before they tried to win their money back."

"He�s a conniving gambler. Several of the riders have lost money to him. There�s got to be a way to get rid of him." Rachel said as she headed for the doorway.

"Now Rachel," Teaspoon immediately stood up and followed after her, "I don�t think you should do anything rash. If he does anything . . . anything at all that is unmoral I shall ask him to leave. I promise."

Rachel stopped on the boardwalk, and Teaspoon stopped in the doorway. They both watched as Melissa was being escorted down the street with the unscrupulous Mr. Fresno. "Is that him?" Rachel inquired.

"Yep!"

"He�s going to hurt her Teaspoon. We just can�t sit back and watch it happen." Rachel really liked Melissa. They had become really close with all the time Melissa had spent at the waystation being good friends with Jesse.

"Rachel, honey, there�s nothin� we can do. I�ve tried talking to Melissa, and she won�t listen. I tried talking to him, and he won�t budge either. Jacy�s even forbid her to see him, but she doesn�t listen. She�s not listening to anybody but him. She�s growing up, and sometimes growing up means getting hurt to learn a valuable lesson."

"Oh Teaspoon." Rachel sigh.

"I�ve even tried to catch him cheating at cards, but either he�s very tricky or very lucky. But I wouldn�t bet on the latter. He�s won too many games for it to be just luck, but I just haven�t been able to catch how he cheats. No one else has for that matter." Teaspoon scratched his chin.

"I wish there was something we could do." Resigning herself to the fact that as of right now there wasn�t anything anybody could do she said, "Well, I�ve seen him. I don�t think meeting him is going to do Melissa any good. I guess I�ll head on home, Teaspoon."