The waning of what has been an extremely long afternoon does not help to bring any type of peace to the Barkley mansion. The family, still reeling from the arrival of Phil Archer and the threat he has levied against them, have scattered in search of isolation and a much-needed respite from the discussions that have been non-stop since their guests' departures. Discussions that have yielded not hope but despair as the family tries to find a plausible excuse for Nick's behavior.

In his study, Jarrod repeats the conversation over and over in his head. He knows that Archer's threat of prosecution will not be easily resolved should Heath choose to press charges. The law is on Archer's side no matter what Nick's reasons for shooting Heath had been, and Nick's reasons do little to explain his actions.

"I DUNNO, Jarrod! I saw the gun pointing at Gene and I reacted!" Nick storms over and pours himself another shot of bourbon. He can feel their stares on his back but chooses not to turn around and see the disapproval in their eyes.

"Surely, Heath did something to make you think he was a threat to Gene." Jarrod walks over to stand in front of Nick. He needs to understand the full picture and to do that he needs to read Nick's unspoken language. "Did you see him walking up after tying off Gal?"

"Yeah, I saw him" Nick throws back the drink and pours another.

"Did he look angry?" Jarrod's frustration is growing. How can he help Nick if he is unwilling to tell him what happened?

"NO!" Nick blurts out. He gulps down the next shot, sets down his glass, and begins fiddling with the button on his cuff, a nervous reaction that Jarrod has never seen from the over-confident Nick. He turns away from Jarrod and heads towards the fireplace, the whole family watching. "No, he didn't look angry."

"Well, how did he look?"

"He looked, well… he looked…"

"Yes, he looked what!" Jarrod's patience is gone. He walks over to stand directly in front of his brother. "Please, Nick you have to tell me."

"HE LOOKED HAPPY, okay. He looked happy." The gasps that escape from Victoria and Audra echo through his ears crushing his soul.

"You shot him because, for the first time since he has been on this ranch, he looked happy?" Gene's voice is laden with rage as he walks in. This brother who only hours earlier he had given the benefit of the doubt to, the one he believed would never shoot a man for no reason, shot their brother because he looked happy.

"It made me angry!" Nick turns towards Gene. "Then I saw his gun pointed at you and you looked terrified, so I reacted. Alright, I reacted. That's what happened."

Jarrod runs his fingers through his hair and stares out into the empty room realizing that nothing is going to be discovered tonight. He needs to talk to Heath and that won't happen until at least tomorrow and then only if Heath is up to it. Getting up from his desk he decides to head upstairs to clean up before dinner.


Audra storms out of the house at Nick's admission and heads for the one place she finds solace, the stables. Something she discovered early on that she has in common with her new brother. The brushing, talking, and feeding of the horses has always had a calming effect on her, so whenever she needs to settle her thoughts she finds herself there, and after the events of the day there was nothing she needed more.

When she sees Luke bringing in Gal, she runs over to intercept them and take over her care. It is the least she can do for Heath after what happened. She knows how much he loves his mare and getting her settled will help her feel closer to him.

Slowly running the brush along Gal's side, she smiles when she thinks about the first time she surprised Heath in the barn. He had been doting over his little mare, telling her all about his day and how she was the best horse there. Audra had not heard him speak more than maybe two words so she decided to hide in the shadows and listened intently to his soft drawl. He told Gal all about them and about the house. He told Gal jokes and even laughed softly at his own silliness causing Audra to laugh out loud and be discovered. At first, he thought she was laughing at him, the poor bastard, but she quickly put his fears to rest. This was the beginning of their growing friendship.

"He is going to be just fine," Audra tells Gal as she runs the brush down her back, "you'll see, and until then, I will come out and take care of you just like he would." She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a couple of sugar cubes. "I know Heath will say I'm spoiling you. But you deserve to be spoiled." She giggles and then abruptly stops as reality comes tumbling down upon her.

She leans her forehead against Gal's side. How could Nick shoot Heath for no reason? Isn't he her big protective brother with a heart of gold, the one she can always turn to? She feels the tears begin again, their long journey down her cheeks strung with confusion. His shocked expression at the slap she delivered is in the forefront of her mind. She expected him to explode, which is his way, but instead, he looked lost, almost submissive. That is not Nick. Nick doesn't hold back for anyone, not even his little sister. For him to have allowed her to strike him, without defense, means he too is struggling under the weight of what he has done. He is lost and unable to find his way back. He needs her help just as much as Heath.

Determined to help them both, she takes a deep breath and wipes away her tears. She quickly says goodbye to Gal and moves to put the brush away. Standing resolutely, she heads back to the house wanting nothing more than to mend what is broken. Nick is her big-hearted brother and she is even more determined to get through to him.


Standing alone in the hallway, after following his mother upstairs and watching her walk into her room, Nick leans on the frame of the door to the small room beside his that looks out over the corral. He watches as Gene delicately wipes down Heath's face and neck while softly talking to him. He is sure the family doesn't want him anywhere near Heath but he is warring within himself to understand what happened and those garbled thoughts lead him here to this room. He looks out over the pale and restless boy whom his sister had passionately reminded him did not ask to be born and tries desperately to understand why the answer isn't this simple for him?

"Audra!" Victoria yells shocked by her daughter's behavior.

"Answer me, Nick!" Audra steps up face to face with her stunned brother. "Well?"

"Audra, I…" Nick gently rubs his check unsure of how to respond to his irate sister whose blue eyes, that had always glowed with adoration, now spurned him.

"It's not his fault! He didn't get a choice and he had every right to come find his family!

Her words ricochet around his heart slicing holes in his armor weakening its foundation. He knows she is right, none of this is Heath's fault or Heath's doing, but it is easier to hate Heath than to accept what his father did. His father, a man who built an empire with hard work and passion, did not shun his responsibilities or betray his wife. That is not the man who raised him. That is not the man he admired above all others. And yet, it is, and that fact tears Nick apart. That fact decimates the legend that Nick has formed around the fallen Thomas Barkley. A legend Nick is not ready to let go of.

The sounds of screams coming from just inside the room pull Nick out of his self-reflection. He walks further into the room and sees a frantic Gene trying to calm a thrashing Heath.

"NO! Please...no." Heath cries out to the phantoms of his nightmare. His restlessness is increasing as his head begins to move back and forth and he fights gallantly to escape the covers.

"Shh Heath, its okay. No one is going to hurt you," Gene soothes. Heath's words send chills through Gene as he tries to calm his little brother. He looks up as Nick enters but then immediately turns back to the obviously distraught Heath. "Just calm down, Heath, you're safe."

"Matt...NO PLEASE… don't hurt..." Heath's screams funnel through the house and bring the rest of the family running in. As Jarrod enters, he glances at the motionless Nick and quickly moves to sit on the opposite side of Heath trying to help Gene calm him. He worries that the spastic movements will pull out Heath's stitches or somehow injure him further. Audra and Victoria stand off to the side comforting each other.

"What's wrong with him? What happened?" Audra asks as she shoots an accusatory look at Nick who simply looks away unable to meet her eyes.

"I don't know. He started getting agitated and I was trying to calm him down. He's having a nightmare and I think the laudanum is making it harder for him to wake up," Gene says as he wrings out the cloth and tries again to use the cooling effect of the water to ease Heath's dreams.

"Away...stay away... don't touch..please" Heath begs. His hand curls into a fist as he twists and turns sending lashes of pain through him.

"Heath, wake up. You're dreaming. No one is going to hurt you." Gene tries again, louder this time. He grabs Heath's face and tries to wake him.

"NO!... NO!...please...no more…" The hands on his face send Heath into a frenzy. The blatant fear tears at the family as they flash back to the scars they had witnessed earlier that day. They know he has suffered horribly and it seems he is reliving whatever happened in his dreams. Unable to ignore her mother's heart any longer, Victoria moves in beside Heath and begins to run her fingers through his hair. She coos in his ears hoping the softness of her voice will have a calming effect that will break through his delirium.

"Heath, sweetheart. You're safe here. No one is going to hurt you," Victoria repeats over and over as her fingers gently run through the thick blonde hair just like she has done so many times before for her own children. Slowly, Heath begins to settle, his breathing eases.

"Mama… here?" his voice breaks and his tears fall through his closed eyes, "Mama?" He says one more time as he sinks limply back into the pillows.

"Yes, sweetheart. Just rest. No one is going to hurt you." Victoria gently takes the cloth from Gene and wipes down his face. She glances up at her children who are watching with reverence as she allows her gentle heart to revoke her feelings of betrayal. She turns back to Heath and begins to hum a lullaby and watches as his features soften and he is lulled back to a deep sleep.

Victoria looks down over this boy, so close in looks to her Tom, and so innocent in all of this. He is just a victim, like herself, and he has suffered his entire life because one man, her husband, decided to break his vows and never check back. She is far from ignorant of the stigma associated with those born out of wedlock.

Victoria picks up the familiar hands of the boy on the bed and weeps.