Do Not Tell Mother About This Either
Chapter 1
Nick made one of his "you've got to be kidding" faces and laughed one of his "you're out to get me but I'm onto you" laughs at the same time. "No, no, no," he said. "You're just dangling this little trip in front of my eyes because you don't want to have to go into Darbyville by yourself."
Jarrod shrugged. "Darbyville" was Nick's favorite nickname for New Orleans, since Jarrod's look-alike cousin Jack Darby visited and created havoc for Jarrod and the rest of the family. Now Jarrod needed to go to New Orleans, Darby's hometown, on business, and he suggested Nick come along and they add on a little vacation together. Jarrod had taken Heath to New York City a while back as a treat and Nick had been jealous at the time. Jarrod honestly meant this New Orleans trip to be the gift of a good time for his younger brother, but Nick smelled a rat. He was sure Jarrod wanted to take him as protection for whatever chaos Darby or his mere existence was going to create for Jarrod.
But Jarrod said, "Nick, I've been to New Orleans a few times before and never run into any kind of trouble connected with Jack Darby. I never even knew the man existed, and nobody ever treated me as if they thought I was him. It's a big city. Our paths never crossed and probably won't cross now. But, if you don't want a free trip to a fun place – "
"Free?" Nick asked.
"I'm paying for it," Jarrod said. "It's all on my dime, since I have to go there for business, after all."
"What business?" Victoria asked as she and Audra knitted and watched the men play pool after supper.
"One of my clients in San Francisco wants me to go there and negotiate a deal for sugar," Jarrod said. "He'd do it himself, but he's developed some health trouble and can't travel."
"How long will you be gone?" Heath asked after taking a shot at the eight ball and not sinking it. "I gotta know how long I have to run things while Nick's gone."
"I'm not going anywhere," Nick said.
Heath grinned his lop-sided grin. "Sure you are. I'll tell you why while we're out with the herd tomorrow."
Audra and Victoria looked at each other. Audra said, "Did either Heath or Jarrod tell you what went on in New York when they went there?"
"Not a word," Victoria said. "And I decided it was best not to ask."
Nick suddenly looked a little more interested. "How long will we be gone?" he echoed Heath's question.
"About five or six days travel each way," Jarrod said. "I'll need at least one negotiation day and then a day to draw up the paperwork. Then we can enjoy ourselves. About three weeks, give or take, I'd say."
Nick felt a sour rush go through him again. "Unless we run into Darby."
"We won't run into Darby," Jarrod said. "Tell you what. You talk to Heath tomorrow, then you and I will talk tomorrow night and discuss some of the ways you might spend your vacation. You'll like it, Nick. And you never go on vacation, when you darned well ought to."
Nick looked toward Heath, who said, "Don't worry about me. I've had my fun with Big Brother. Something tells me you never have done anything like this."
"I haven't," Nick admitted.
"You're always telling me I work too hard, when you're the one who won't take time off," Jarrod said.
"All right," Victoria said, "but whether Nick goes with you or not, Jarrod, I don't want to deal with too many details when you get back."
Jarrod smiled. "Mother, I wouldn't dream of telling you anything you didn't want to hear."
Nick was starting to smile now, that candid and very satisfied smile that snuck out of him when he wasn't thinking about who was looking. Jarrod and Heath looked at each other with equally sneaky smiles, and Jarrod winked. Heath laughed.
XXXXXXXX
Out with the herd the next day – and in fairly quiet privacy – Heath told Nick about his and Jarrod's trip to New York, how they agreed they would not tell Mother anything about what they were doing, how they escaped a couple of dangerous situations and met some fine, fine women and most of all, how much Heath loved it. "It gave us time to get to know each other," Heath said. "Gave me a chance to help Jarrod with that bad time he was having after Beth – because he was still having bad times, and don't be fooled, he still is."
"I know he is," Nick said. "Jarrod's problem has always been how close to the vest he keeps his feelings, good and bad. Sometimes I think if he'd just talk to us, he'd feel better, but it's not his way. Probably because of that lawyer oath of his – he keeps everybody else's secrets so he just ends up keeping his own, too." Nick heaved a sigh, and then smiled. "Yeah, I ought to go to New Orleans with him. It would help him out – and when he loosens up, Pappy can be a lot of fun."
Heath laughed. "He deserves some fun, and so do you, Brother Nick. Jarrod was right when he said you work too hard. McCall and I can keep this place running for a few weeks. You and Jarrod need to get off and be brothers again for a while."
Nick's smile faded a bit. "You don't think this Darby thing is gonna turn out to be a problem once we get on his turf, do you?"
"I don't know," Heath said, "but I wouldn't let that worry me. Jarrod was right about New Orleans. It's a big city. You probably won't see hide nor hair of him, and if you do – " Heath shrugged. "Jarrod handled him before."
"With a lot of help," Nick said.
"You'll be there to help him," Heath said. "Quit worrying and throwing up roadblocks. Go to New Orleans. Take your monkey suit."
Formal wear. Not Nick's favorite, though he knew he looked devastatingly handsome in formal wear. It itched, and he had a tendency to get coffee and liquor and food stains on it. Aw, but what the heck – "Yeah, you're right," Nick said. "Okay. New Orleans it is. Look out, Jack Darby. The Barkley boys are coming to your town now."
XXXXXXX
Jarrod arranged for the private family car to be available for the trip to New Orleans, and he and Nick were off in only a few days. Neither one of them was sure how well being cooped up together on a train for five days or so was going to work out, but they each arranged to bring along their own diversions, and they played cribbage and other card games. Being the more settled of the two, Jarrod made sure to keep tabs on Nick when it looked like he was about to climb out of his skin from pure cabin fever and take him, or send him, up to the lounge car for a drink and to socialize.
Jarrod's only problem was the trip through the Salt Flats and through Colorado, places that made him remember his trip with Beth from Denver to Stockton when they were first married, when the world was bright with promise that was gone now. Nick understood when Jarrod grew quiet and took his cigars out on the back of the car. Jarrod wanted to be alone, and while Nick didn't know for sure it was memories of Beth taking him off somewhere, he suspected it was. Nick left him alone, and as they left Denver and continued on to Chicago, Jarrod loosened up again.
It wasn't long before they were on the last leg of the trip, from Chicago down through the Mississippi flatlands. As they enjoyed a game of cribbage, a couple of cigars and a brandy after dinner, Jarrod said, "I have a suite for us reserved at a small hotel in the French Quarter. It's not far from where I'll be meeting with the men I have to meet about that sugar deal, and while I'm busy, there's plenty for you to do to keep yourself entertained."
"You trust me to stay out of trouble, huh?" Nick asked.
"No," Jarrod said with a sigh and a twinkle in his eyes. "I expect you'll get into trouble a few times on this trip. It's who you are, Nick. I'll come bail you out."
"I may surprise you, Pappy, and be on my good behavior," Nick said.
"Then you can bail me out," Jarrod said. "I trust Heath told you all about some of the things I got him into in New York."
"Well, the only trouble he thought you got him into was when you had to make a run for it to get away from some of the low life on the east side and that character who tried to rob you," Nick said. "The rest either wasn't your fault, or it was the good kind of trouble."
"You and I can look out for each other," Jarrod said. "And one thing I did learn from our dear Cousin Jack Darby and took to heart. I've got a thousand dollar bill sewed into the lining of my coat."
Nick's eyes grew wide.
Jarrod's eyes twinkled. "Mad money."
Nick began to laugh a little. "What other quirks did you pick up from your long-lost twin?"
"Nothing too damaging, I hope," Jarrod said.
Nick grew thoughtful. "I wonder how long it's gonna take before somebody mistakes you for him."
"Ah, Nick, that's not going to happen," Jarrod said. "New Orleans is too big a city, and we don't even know if Jack is there now or when he was there last. We won't run into any trouble."
Nick nearly choked on his brandy. "Sure we won't," he croaked as the brandy burned his throat.
Jarrod laughed. Secretly, he too wondered if he was going to get through this trip without Darby intervening one way or another. But he wasn't going to let it worry him too much. Time would tell – and maybe, in the back of his mind, he was looking forward to being as irritating to his cousin as his cousin had been to him when he came to California. It was a tantalizing idea, but one he wouldn't admit to Nick or anyone else, not yet, anyway.