Fan Fiction
I do not own the copyrights to The Big Valley
Unexpected Offer
(Families are Forever)
NOTE: I wrote this story out of respect to all the ranches that were once flourishing, but now are either struggling to survive, or have completely died out. Also, it was a way to pay respects to those I have crossed paths with who are loyal to those they love, but; for whatever reason, have had no one pass anything onto.
Scene 2
"Gene, settle down." Audra may have just turned seventy-one and having a few health issues, but if anyone had handed her a cane, or a walker, she'd have thumped them into the oncoming year. "Kingston will find her." The white-haired lady who had turned into a spitting image of her mother looked straight at her brother as she entered the front room of the old family home.
"Yes, you need to relax. He'll talk to her easy enough. You said you gave him an address." Heath assured his brother as he entered the room and sat on the couch. "If it's a wrong one, and he can't, I have other contacts that can help you. You just need to relax. I think, maybe you're doubting the character references you were given by those you talked to before you sent Kingston after her." Just the thought that his brother felt uneasy about the references made Heath nervous. Gene had a way of knowing things ahead of time; well, some things. If he was feeling that way now, it couldn't mean anything good. Gene's next words quieted down those fears.
"Those references didn't lie. She isn't a thief, liar or anything else." Gene wanted to tack on additional words, but any additional information would definitely be enough for his sister to question his and Heath's sanity. If his nieces and nephews knew, they'd probably asked the same questions. "I'm going to go check on the horses." The youngest Barkley walked out the door with his mind on the dark-haired, olive-skinned, woman from the store.
Audra watched as the door shut and then turned to look at her seventy-five year old brother. Concern was in her eyes as she said, "I'm worried about Gene; he's acting strange. I hope everything will be okay."
Heath smiled as he too started to leave the room. He knew his sister's concern was genuine, always had been. He might not be free to tell her what was really going on, but he could reduce the stress her face was showing.
"He's fine. If anything was wrong, I'd know it." He would do too. Even if he hadn't known exactly what was going on when it came to the woman Eugene had sent Kingston after, Heath would have known Gene was hiding something. The fact was that ever since they'd lost both Nick and Jarrod, Gene and Heath had grown closer than they'd ever been.
"Drop that and a swat on the bottom with more than just my hand becomes a viable option." Cordelia growled at her brother who had picked up an antique vase from of the front room shelf of the Hansen's family farmhouse.
"Ease up, big sis, it's just a vase." Tony plopped on the blue six-foot couch and propped his feet on the couch's arm rest. He didn't like how restless his sister was being. It wasn't like her and that made him uneasy. "What's with you anyway? You've been on edge ever since coming home from shopping."
"Ever see someone you feel you should know, are bound to see again, and find yourself not quite sure how to feel about it?" Cordelia wiped down the white, fake marbled, counter. Tony's sister didn't wait for an answer, but threatened to break someone's neck as she glanced out the window and saw Charger, the cattle dog a friend had given her the year before, play escape artist…again.
"I'll get him back even if he is your dog." Tony hopped up far more willing to work with an ornery cattle dog rather than his sister with the mood she was in. It was only when the door shut did Cordelia leave the kitchen and head outside herself.
A black stallion shook its head the woman's way as she approached the white wooden fence. "So, darling, think you could grow two hands and repaint this pathetically chipped wood?" Cordelia spoke to the horse who only rolled his eyes as if to say 'I'm a horse, and you're asking me to what?" The horse's owner would have replied to the look only a black sedan drove into the driveway.
"So, who's the rich guy?" Connie, the neighbor who was close friends with Cordelia had walked up to a shared fence, whispered low. She didn't want to give the stranger any wrong ideas and find herself in one very awkward situation. No, she'd be better off fighting a mule stuck in the mud than to do that one.
"I have no idea." Cordelia straightened up and answered as a tall thin man, with graying hair at the temples stepped out of the car. "But I'd say, we're about to find out." Silently she wondered if he was connected to the man watching her while she'd been shopping, and prayed this fellow getting out of the car wasn't a sign of trouble.
