Chapter Three
Maria, who had been in the kitchen, stepped into the hallway and looked towards the entrance to her and Nick's home when she heard the door open. Nick and Heath entered and then the man she and her husband had thought long since dead. "Shaun Callahan!" She wiped her hands on the apron she'd put on and hurried the best she could to welcome their guest.
"Hello, Lou…I mean Maria." Shaun glanced at Nick, who was laughing just a little while Heath had a small smirk on his face as well. "As you two can tell," he looked back at Maria and grinned wide. "I still have a habit of calling people by the names they first gave me."
"I thought you were dead! What have you been up to?" Maria, who had given their visitor a hug, let go and stepped back.
Shaun shook his head as Nick and Heath both busted up laughing. Which, naturally, made it so Maria was looking at them as if to ask what she'd said that was so funny. Only when the two brothers were able to get their laughter under control did Shaun answer Maria. "If I could collect a dollar for every time I've heard that statement, I'd be richer than your husband." He then followed Nick into the living room where Resolve and Nick Jr were trying to teach Thomas to play jacks. Why they were doing that with a four year old was beyond understanding, but none of the grownups argued. Why would they when the two older boys were actually being patient with the younger one?
"Do any of you want a drink?" Nick asked as Shaun sat down on the sofa, as did Heath.
"I'll take a whiskey." Shaun answered, after thanking Nick for the offer. Heath also took a whiskey while Maria, who had sat down in the rocker near the fireplace, so she could keep an eye on Catalina who had fallen asleep on a small blanket that was spread out on the living room floor, declined. That is, she sat down and declined the drink after asking the children's nanny if she'd mind finishing cooking the food they'd be eating later.
Nick handed Shaun and Heath their drinks, got one of his own and then sat down in a chair that sat near the sofa. "What have you been up to? How did you survive the fall off the cliff when you were hunting?"
Shaun took a swallow of his drink and chuckled as if he was amused. "Is that what you were told? That I went hunting and fell off a cliff?"
Nick nodded. "Paul Campbell, your neighbor, came by the house just before my brother Jarrod arrived in Martinsdale." He went on to say how Paul had received a letter from the man Shaun had supposedly gone hunting with. "It gave the account in detail; he said he was sorry he couldn't retrieve your body and bring you home."
"With all due respect to Mr. Campbell, he's too gullible." Shaun finished his drink and set the glass on a small, round brown table that sat next to the sofa. "My hunting partner and I had an argument. He went one way; I went the other. Literally, I haven't set a foot in Martinsdale since that hunting trip."
"So," Maria prodded him and again asked what he'd been up to.
"Traveling," Shaun leaned back and threw his one leg over the other one while resting his elbows on the back of the sofa, letting the lower part of his arms hang downwards. "Been all over the good old U S A, seen a number of sites and met a lot of people. You know, no matter what anyone says, I think the human race is more alike than each individual wants to admit."
"I think you're right." Nick chuckled. "Why not tell us a few stories?"
Shaun shrugged and started sharing some of the funnier stories, said he didn't really care to relate the more serious ones. He got more than one laugh as he related the experiences, and would have shared more than he did only the laughter woke up Catalina. The young girl sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"I'm sorry." Shaun apologized as Maria started to rise from the rocker. "I didn't mean to wake the wee one."
His friend's use of the word 'wee' for little made Nick look at him and chuckle. "I think you're Irish blood is show…" Before he could finish his sentence, Catalina shocked everyone by running up to Shaun and hitting him on the leg.
"Catalina Maria Barkley!" Maria snapped firmly, but not overly loud. "That is uncalled for!" Then, due to the fact that - even though she was only two and a half years old - the young child was already talking amazingly well, Maria insisted that her daughter apologize to their friend. "Say you're sorry. That was not nice."
"NO!" Catalina again tried to hit Shaun. "Go away! Go away!"
Nick and Maria were appalled while all Heath could do was stare. He'd never seen his niece act this way. However, before any of them could say anything, Shaun was standing up and excusing himself…but not before he made sure they knew not to get after Catalina. "I told you what my life used to be like shortly after we met, Nick." Shaun sighed. "I also told you how I struggle to take things one day at a time. Children have a sixth sense, or I have found many of them do. Your wee one there, she senses my struggles and; obviously, it frightens her. I will go out on the porch and visit you there, if you don't mind. Then, I guess I will take my horse back to the livery stable in Stockton and find a room there."
"That is not necessary." Nick looked at his wife and children, especially Catalina-who had hid behind her mother's skirt. He rubbed his forehead and knelt down, gently pulling his young daughter out from behind Maria. "Catalina," Nick spoke gently, not wishing to frighten his daughter any more than she was. "Mr. Callahan is not a bad man. He is a friend to your mother and I. He will be visiting us and eating supper with us. You do not need to afraid. However, if it makes you feel better, you can stay with me."
Catalina said nothing, but she wrapped her small arms around her father's neck and held on tight. Nick stood up and, keeping his daughter in his arms made his way back to where he'd been sitting. The rest of the afternoon, he, Heath and Shaun visited. However, due to his niece's reaction to Nick and Maria's friend, Heath continued to keep a close eye on Mr. Callahan in spite of the friendly enough visit.
