Chapter 2

Sheriff Madden had counted Jarrod Barkley as one of his closest friends for years. There had been several times he despaired for the man's safety, but he never thought he'd live to see this – his old friend dead in his bed with a bullet in his chest, his bride stone shocked in the living room, his mother holding tight to nearly loose ends and his brothers as close to murder as they could get without actually committing it. The sheriff looked up at Dr. Merar after the good doctor had examined Jarrod and said, "A bullet wound, straight to the heart. He never had a chance. If it's any consolation at all, he never knew what hit him."

The sheriff shook his head. "It's no consolation at all, not to anybody. Can you take the bullet out? I'll need it for evidence."

"Have you got a suspect?"

"Cass Hyatt. I picked him up as soon as that Barkley hand got to town and told me Jarrod was dead. Man had the idiocy to claim it wasn't him, but I have his rifle and I'll want to see if it's the same kind of bullet."

"All right," Dr. Merar said, "but I'd rather do it in town, if the family is going to let the undertaker take him."

Sheriff Madden shook his head. "When his father died, they took care of him out here. I expect they'll take care of Jarrod here, too."

"All right," the doctor said and began to get some instruments out. "Fetch me that towel over there. They don't need to see any more blood around here."

Sheriff Madden brought the towel over and handed it to the doctor. As he did, he looked at the face of his old friend dead in front of him, cold and distant, as if there had never been a man there who gave impassioned speeches in courts of law, and who laughed and loved and married that woman downstairs.

The doctor saw the distress in the sheriff's face. "You go on, Fred. I'll be down as soon as I'm through. Go on back to town and I'll get the bullet to you there."

Sheriff Madden nodded and went downstairs. Victoria and Beth were still on the settee, exhausted now but still holding onto one another. Heath was by the fireplace. Nick was pacing around. Everyone looked up when the sheriff came down.

Sheriff Madden took a deep breath. "The doc is extracting the bullet so I can compare it with Hyatt's rifle," he said. "If it's the same kind of bullet, and I think it will be, I might be able to get Hyatt to confess."

"You better," Nick said, "because if you don't and he goes free, I'm gonna have him."

"Nick – " Victoria warned.

Nick looked at her, saw her holding a limp Beth in her arms. Beth didn't need to hear any of this now.

The sheriff hung his head. "Victoria – I just don't know what to say. You know I loved Jarrod like a brother."

"I know, Fred," Victoria said. "He loved you, too." Her voice closed on the words.

"Why don't I send the undertaker out?" the sheriff said. "You all need some help out here."

"We'll take care of him," Nick said.

Heath said, "Nick and I will make the coffin. We'll have it ready for services at the gravesite by tomorrow afternoon. Maybe you can tell Reverend Johnson we'll need him out here then."

"But we don't want a lot of people, Fred," Victoria said. "Not now. A memorial service later, but Audra isn't even here now. The family will just see to him tomorrow. And you and Dr. Merar of course, if you can come."

"I'll come," Sheriff Madden said. "I better get back to town and question Hyatt some more, but I'm hoping the bullet will tell the tale."

Victoria started to get up, but the sheriff held his hand up and showed himself out.

Nick and Heath stood staring at their mother and their sister-in-law. There just wasn't anything to say. This whole thing was so unreal. In the morning they'd had breakfast together, like any other morning, and now Jarrod was dead upstairs.

"Beth," Victoria said, "I'm going to have your things taken to a guest room. It'll be morning before we can move Jarrod – " She ran out of words.

Beth wiped her face, nodding. "I don't know what to say. I don't know where to go. I don't know – " She ran out of words, too.

Nick came over to her and knelt in front of her. "You don't go anywhere," he said. "You stay right here with us. We're family."

Victoria nodded.

Beth still felt numb, and awkward at the same time. "You barely know me," she sobbed.

"All I need to know is that my son loved you and you loved him," Victoria sobbed. "We can talk about the future in the future, if you want to, but Nick is right. Your last name is Barkley now. You belong here, and this is your home now as much as it was last night."

Beth buried her head into her mother-in-law's shoulder. Nick stood up and turned toward Heath. "We have work to do," he said, and Heath knew that meant a coffin to build, a grave to see prepared, and a brother's body to tend to.

Victoria knew, too. "Next to your father," she said.

Nick nodded. There was never any question about that.

XXXXXXXXX

Victoria would have seen to preparing Jarrod for his burial after the doctor left, but she had to stay with Beth. Beth couldn't be left alone, and she was not ready to care for her husband's body. "Mrs. Barkley," Silas said to her. "I'd be honored."

Victoria understood. When her husband had been killed, it was Silas who helped her sons prepare Tom's body for the funeral. Nick and Heath would be finished with the coffin in a few hours. Silas and the two of them would take care of Jarrod, and Silas could get started now.

Victoria took her houseman's hand. "Thank you, Silas. Please, start whenever you're ready. I'll send Nick and Heath up when they come in."

Silas nodded and went upstairs.

Victoria went back to the library, where Beth lay now on the sofa, asleep, exhausted, alone. Victoria didn't want her to be alone. She sat on a chair facing the sofa, watching that sweet, beautiful face, now all contorted in nightmares. Victoria couldn't control her tears, but she could keep them quiet for now. She didn't want to wake Beth. She just wanted to be with her.

She suddenly saw something on the desk, something she'd never noticed before, the back of a picture frame that seemed unfamiliar. Victoria walked over and picked it up – and fell apart. It was a photo of Jarrod and Beth together, smiling, holding hands. Their wedding photo. Jarrod hadn't shown it to her yet. It was just here, where he worked so often, where he could see it.

Victoria went back to the chair and just sat there, holding the photo close to her, crying. My son is dead, she thought over and over. My son is dead. She cried silently and didn't even notice when Beth woke up.

Beth sat up slowly, lost in the fog of sleep and the unreality of the night coming on, the night after her husband was murdered. She was in strange surroundings and with a strange woman she barely knew. How could any of this be real? Wasn't she supposed to be in Denver teaching school? Where was she?

She made some noise that attracted Victoria. Victoria quickly put the photo down and came over to the sofa, sitting down beside Beth and taking her in her arms.

"Oh," Beth said. "I thought Jarrod was here – "

Victoria cried. "No, Beth. He's not here."

Beth's beautiful face screwed up. "Oh, Victoria. I don't know what to say to you."

"To say to me?" Victoria asked. "There's nothing you need to say to me."

"I loved Jarrod for a week," Beth said. "You loved him for a lifetime."

"The week and the lifetime are over, but never forgotten," Victoria said. "We'll remember him and love him and go on."

Beth suddenly felt a terrible truth wash over her. "I can't stay here."

"Of course you can," Victoria said. "You were part of this family the minute you walked through the door. Your place is here now."

"But I – " Beth said, and she didn't know how to say the rest. She didn't know these people. She didn't love these people. She didn't even know if she wanted to stay here. No, she knew. Right now she wanted to be almost anywhere else.

Victoria understood. "I know we're all strangers and all we had in common is gone now. But you are in no position to go anywhere yet, and you won't be for a long time. And by then, God willing, you will feel more like part of this family. Don't run away, Beth, not yet. Stay here. We had our love for Jarrod in common, and that still exists, even if he's gone."

Beth ran her hand through her hair. Her hair combs had long ago disappeared, and she didn't even care what mess she might look like. Right now, she was just lost and confused, but this kind woman, the mother-in-law she scarcely knew, was reaching out to steady her. Beth took Victoria's hand. "I loved him so much, Victoria. Please believe that, forever. I loved him."

Victoria pulled her close again, and they both wept. "I know," Victoria said.