A/N: This story takes place right after Tom's death.
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Rubbing his face wearily, Jarrod sat back in his chair with a sigh. He glanced at the clock and was surprised to see how late it was. So focused on trying to make sense of the jumble of papers that were his father's records, he must have missed the clock chiming midnight. Everyone else was probably long asleep, even Nick who was out on the range with the herds.
Jarrod slowly got to his feet and stretched before picking up the lamp. With Nick away from the house, it fell to him to make sure everything around the ranch proper ran smoothly and that meant being up at the crack of dawn. And he wasn't going to burden their mother with it just because he was only going to get five hours sleep. Their father's death had hit her harder than she let on and she had her hands full with the house, the condolences that kept coming in and the two young ones. Though it would probably do Eugene good to have a purpose and Jarrod decided to give his thirteen-year-old brother more responsibility in making sure the stock in the yard was taken care of.
It didn't matter that he wasn't ready for this, Jarrod told himself as he made his slow way up the stairs. He was the eldest and subsequently head of the family now that Tom Barkley was gone. He'd never let his father down before and he certainly wasn't going to start now. But the extra responsibility and lack of sleep was wearing on the young lawyer. Maybe once he got all the business records sorted out, he and Nick could take a day off and go fishing. Sitting on the riverbank, drowning some worms and not thinking about anything for twenty-four hours sounded like a little slice of heaven and Jarrod vowed he'd arrange it when Nick got back.
He paused before he got to his room, wondering if he heard something. He'd almost decided it was his imagination when he heard it the muffled noise again and this time he knew it was coming from his sister's room.
"Audra?" he called softly, tapping on the door. "Honey, are you all right?"
He barely made out the reply of, "I'm fine," a reply that didn't sound fine at all. Jarrod opened the door and set the lamp on the dressing table before walking over to the bed. His blonde sister's face was streaked with tears and Jarrod sat beside her. With a sob, Audra flung herself into his open arms. He held her tightly as she cried against his chest, stroking her soft hair.
"Shh," he whispered. "I've got you, honey."
"I was so scared, Jarrod," she sobbed without looking up. "I had a dream and everyone was gone. I was all alone."
"I won't leave you, Audra," Jarrod murmured into her hair. "Don't worry, you're not alone." He didn't need to tell her he understood; to know that her big brother had suffered from the same nightmare more than once since their father died wouldn't help her at all.
Audra eventually looked up. "Would you… would you stay with me tonight, Jarrod? Please?"
Jarrod gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and nodded. "Of course I will. Come on, let's get you settled." He held up the comforter so she could crawl underneath and carefully tucked it around her before lying down and putting his arms around her. He kissed her lightly. "Now get some sleep."
Audra nestled against him and it wasn't long before he was rewarded with the sound of deep, even breathing. Jarrod finally closed his own eyes. It didn't matter if his sleep wasn't as sound as it would be in his own bed, all that mattered was that his sister felt safe and loved.