Chapter 2

Barton looked at him, with that same look of familiarity he'd given Victoria earlier. "I'm not Jeb Barton, Nick," Barton said. "He is. I'm Jarrod Barkley. I'm your brother."

"Now, wait a minute – " Nick started for Barton with rage in his eyes.

Jarrod held up a hand – awfully calmly, to his family's thinking. "Wait a minute, Nick. This man's been badly injured and been suffering for years. Just go easy on him."

But Nick was not so accommodating. "All right," he said, glaring at the man he thought was his older brother all these years, "if he's Jarrod Barkley, just who are you?"

Jarrod felt like he'd been punched in the face. "He's not Jarrod Barkley, I am," he said flatly.

"No," Barton said, just as flatly. "We traded memories for days before I had that stroke, and as soon as I was out of the way and you were healed, you took my place. I've known that for years."

"Then where have you been?" Nick asked.

"Recovering from my stroke."

"Jeb, you're just wrong," Jarrod said.

"No, I'm not," Barton said. "As Jeb Barton, you had a nothing life – no family, no home. So you took mine and left me to live out yours."

"Wait a minute, wait just a minute," Victoria said, getting up and putting herself between Nick and Barton. She looked carefully from Barton to Jarrod and back again –

And for a moment her whole world turned upside down. This stranger who had just come into their lives looked so much like both Jarrod and Nick that it sent her head swimming for a moment.

Nick saw it and steadied her. "Get out of here," he said to Barton.

Barton didn't press anything. He simply nodded and said, "I'm staying at Mrs. Tate's boarding house in Stockton," looking at Jarrod long and hard. "I think you and I need to have a long talk."

Barton smiled and nodded to the ladies, and then left without another word.

"Sit down, Mother," Nick said and guided her back to the settee. Audra sat down quickly beside her.

Then everyone looked at Jarrod.

He felt that punch in the face again and suddenly felt like a complete stranger. "Wait a minute, you can't believe -"

"Of course not," Victoria said quickly. "I know my own son, and it's you."

Jarrod breathed again.

"Jarrod, I haven't been here for long," Heath said. "And I'm still trying to figure out who's who. I'm not saying I believe this guy, but what's this all about?"

Jarrod flashed angry eyes at Heath for the doubt he thought he was hearing, but then he eased off. Heath was right – he hadn't been here long and it was small wonder he was unsure about what Barton had said. Jarrod looked away and stared blankly in front of him. "The man was badly injured. He's right, we were in beds next to each other, we both had head wounds, and we traded memories about ourselves to keep our brains clear, but his didn't stay clear. He didn't have a family or a home, and I think over the years as he came out of that stroke, he just convinced himself that he had mine. I think he really believes he's Jarrod Barkley."

"That's crazy," Nick said. "Why are you defending him?"

"Because I DID know him, Nick, and it just as easily could have been MY life that went that way! I could have been spending all these years dealing with a stroke!" Jarrod yelled.

Victoria got up and between them and raised her hands. "Enough. You two will just get louder and louder and not accomplish a thing."

"Well, let me ask one thing," Jarrod said, still staring angrily at Nick. "Do any of you believe him?"

"What?" Audra asked.

"Do any of you believe that I AM a fraud, and that this man is really your brother and your son?"

They all looked startled.

"Of course not," Nick said quietly.

Too quietly to suit Jarrod.

Victoria said again, "I know my own son," and she stared hard at Jarrod. "Let's put that part of the question away. I don't want to hear about it again."

Jarrod hung his head. "I'm sorry, Mother. I didn't mean to upset you."

Victoria said, "Why don't the three of you get cleaned up for dinner? I can't talk about this right now."

The men all nodded and trudged upstairs, but they didn't say a word to each other as they did.

Victoria sighed and went back to the settee. As she sat down, Audra shook her head, looking confused. "Why would that man come here and say he was Jarrod?"

"I think Jarrod's right," Victoria said. "The man is injured and confused, and alone. He remembered the stories Jarrod told him, and they're all he's had to hang onto all these years."

Audra sighed. "That's so sad."

Victoria watched her sons disappear upstairs. She was thinking about a couple other things that unsettled her. She knew her son – HER Jarrod – and knew he was not about to let Jeb Barton be cast adrift. Regardless of who was Jarrod and who was Jeb, the man she'd known as Jarrod all these years would want to help one way or another.

But more unsettling – Nick's suspicions had been aroused. Nick would let go of a suspicion even less willingly than Jarrod would turn his back on another human being in pain. She wouldn't accept that Nick could suddenly believe Jarrod wasn't really Jarrod – but could he?

XXXXXXX

Dinner went very quietly, and Jarrod finished fast and put his napkin down. "I need to go back into town," he said and got up from the table.

"Tonight?" Victoria asked.

"Tonight," Jarrod said, got up, came to kiss her and then left without another word.

Heath gave the first big sigh. "This whole thing is getting to him a lot more than he's letting on."

"You don't think he really is a fraud?" Audra said.

"No, I don't," Heath said quickly. "But what I think doesn't count much. I didn't know him before the war, and I'm just now getting to know all of you. He could be the fraud and how would I ever know?"

Audra said, "Well, I didn't know him before the war either, not really. I was too small. But he's Jarrod! I know him as well as I know myself!"

Nick didn't say anything. Victoria eyed him. "If anyone here has any real doubts, I think we best air them and address them while Jarrod is out of the room."

No one spoke up at first, but Nick finally put his fork down. "I don't doubt Jarrod either, not really, but there is one thing I know about him. He can keep a secret like nobody's business, and none of us can deny that."

"And just how do you think we can clear this up if you do think we should have doubts?" Victoria asked.

"I don't know," Nick sighed. "I guess I think Jarrod should get the benefit of the doubt until we know more about this Barton fellow."

"You can't be suggesting we talk to him some more," Audra said.

"I don't know what I'm suggesting," Nick said.

"Why don't we have the sheriff check this Barton fellow out?" Heath asked. "If he is pulling a fast one on us, he might have done it somewhere else."

"And if he really believes he is Jarrod?" Victoria asked. "Just how are we supposed to clear things up then?"

"You're all acting as if Jarrod's word means nothing to us," Audra said. "He's been with us since the war was over. If he wasn't really Jarrod, we'd know by now."

"I agree," Victoria said, "but I'm not sure we all do."

Nick looked up, knowing he was the major Doubting Thomas at the table. "I just don't like even the suggestion that there's a con man who's been playing us for all these years."

"Nick, you can't believe that," Victoria said.

"No, I can't," Nick said. "And I don't like the feeling, but – "

Nick couldn't finish.

Victoria said, "You realize, if you pursue this as if Jarrod has been lying to us all this time, and it turns out he hasn't been lying, you will be putting a very large dent in your relationship with your brother."

"I realize it," Nick said quietly. "That's why I'm not suggesting we do that. But what I think might happen is that Jarrod will pursue it. And where is that gonna lead? He might just talk himself into believing Barton has a point, or that we doubt him whether we really do or not, and all the consoling in the world isn't going to ease his mind."

"This is insane," Victoria sighed.

"That's exactly what it is," Nick said. "And Jarrod and his old head injury are caught in the middle. Whether he really is Jarrod Barkley or not, I know him well enough to know I don't want him coming out hurt in all this."

"I think we all agree on that," Heath said.

"So what do we do?" Audra asked.

"Get the sheriff to look into this Barton fellow," Heath suggested again. "Reassure Jarrod all we can that we believe in him."

Nick was still scowling.

"What do you disagree with, Nick?" Victoria asked.

Nick hesitated, then shook his head and said, "Nothing."

Heath pulled away from the table. "I'm gonna go into town and talk to the sheriff now," Heath said.

Nick started to get up. "I'll go with you."

"No," Victoria said.

Everyone looked at her.

"Not with the doubt rolling around in your head, Nick," Victoria said. "You had best get your own mind settled before you go trying to settle Jarrod's, because he can see right through you. He's always been able to see right through you."

Nick had to admit that was true. He gave a sideways nod.

Heath got up. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Victoria said, "Talk to Jarrod while you're in town."

Everyone looked at her again.

"He should know we're not doing anything behind his back."

Heath nodded. "All right," he said and left.