Chapter 8

Jarrod rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair he sat in, the one behind the large desk in the library. He'd been at these contracts all day – contracts with the state to use prisoner labor for picking the peaches and pears in the fall. They were standard form contracts like the ones you always got from the state for prisoner labor, but they were slightly different this time than they had been the last time he reviewed such contracts. He had to look more closely at what he was reading, and it was murder on the eyes.

Maggie came in with a tray with coffee and two cups. "Time for a break," she said. "You've been at this too long." She set the tray on the coffee table by the sofa.

Jarrod checked his watch. "Good Lord, it's past four o'clock. I'm sorry, I had no idea."

He got up and joined his wife on the sofa. They exchanged a long, relaxing kiss, before Maggie poured him a cup of coffee. "I think you ought to put that work aside for the day. We need to get ready for dinner – and I for one would like to spend a little relaxing time with my husband."

"Did you have a nap?"

"Yes. I woke up about half an hour ago. I'm all rested and bright-eyed, which is more than I can say for you."

"Yeah, this stuff really does get to my eyes. I will gather it up and put it away after we have coffee, and we can spend a couple hours before dinner just being together – maybe on the back porch swing?"

They shared another kiss as Maggie chuckled. "We have to have a swing at the new house, you know, and I want it on the back porch, for memory's sake, and so we can look at the grove from there."

"That's a wonderful idea. Now, for some peace and quiet and coffee."

"MOTHER?!"

Maggie's eyes flew open, and Jarrod sank into himself. "Nick is home," Jarrod said.

And Maggie laughed. "I've never heard him announce himself like that."

"Well, he was behaving, for your sake, I think, but he probably just forgot himself since he's been away for – what, four days maybe?"

"Should we go greet him?"

"No, he can come to us, and maybe – just maybe – if he doesn't do it, we'll go track him down in a while."

Jarrod relaxed and drank his coffee, and Maggie joined him.

XXXXXX

"Mother?! Where is everybody?!"

Nancy found herself laughing at Nick's boisterous entrance to his home, but she hid it. He had carried her carpetbag in and dropped it by the table in the foyer.

Victoria came downstairs at his bellowing, saying, "Nick, I swear they can hear you in San Francisco – "

And then she saw Nancy. Victoria looked startled, which made Nancy lose a bit of that smile, uncertain again as to how she was going to be received.

But Nick dove right in. "Mother, this is Nancy Tyler. Nancy, this is my mother."

Victoria came down and offered her hand, and a warm smile now that she'd been introduced. "Hello, Nancy, it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Barkley," Nancy said.

Nick said, "I met Nancy on that trip to Placerville last February. She lost her father a couple weeks ago, and I invited her to spend a few days with us while she thinks about what she's going to do now."

Victoria said, "Oh, I see. I'm so sorry for your loss. Please, come in, sit down. Nick, would you go get us some coffee?"

Nick grunted and headed for the kitchen, while Victoria put an arm around Nancy's shoulders and directed her to the parlor settee. Nancy was a few inches shorter than Victoria, but Victoria could feel muscles in those shoulders. Her life had been a working life.

"So, I take it you have no other family?" Victoria asked.

"No, Mrs. Barkley," Nancy said as they sat down. "My mother died when I was a child, and I had no brothers or sisters. Nick saw that I was a bit at loose ends, and he kindly invited me here. He thinks the world of you and his family."

Victoria smiled. "That's nice to hear. I suppose he told you about his brothers and sister."

"Yes, he did. He's pretty excited about his sister's wedding."

"We all are. It's less than three weeks away now. Audra is beginning to show all the signs of absolute terror."

Nancy laughed. "I suspect you'll all survive. From what I hear, you have a strong and loving family, and terror flees from your door rather than enter it."

Victoria loved the way Nancy put that. Where did Nick find this lovely and literate young woman? "How did you meet my son?"

"He was taking a prisoner to Placerville last February, and in the middle of a blizzard he knocked on my front door looking for a roof over their heads. I couldn't refuse them. Nick and I actually had a lovely evening together, talking, sharing coffee, even doing the dishes."

"You got Nick to do the dishes?"

"He seemed to enjoy it."

Nick came back in with a tray of coffee and cups just as Nancy was explaining that. He got an astonished look from his mother. "You never enjoyed doing the dishes when you were a boy."

"It was one of my chores early on," Nick said as he put the tray on the coffee table and sat down in one of the armchairs. "I hated chores."

They took coffee together and chatted for quite a while before the front door opened and Heath came in. He was dirty and dusty, but on seeing they had company he came into the living room, saying, "Hello."

Nick got up. "Nancy, this is my brother Heath. Heath, this is Nancy Tyler."

Heath nodded to her. "Forgive me if I don't take your hand, but I'm pretty dirty from the range. Think I'll go clean up and change for dinner. I'm very pleased to meet you, Miss Tyler."

"Nancy," she said. "I'm pleased to meet you, too."

As Heath took off upstairs, Nick asked, "Where are Audra and Jarrod and Maggie?"

"Audra's off at Carl's," Victoria said. "Jarrod's been working in the library, and Maggie took some coffee in there a while ago."

"Which we finished and were heading out for the back porch swing," Jarrod's voice came as he and Maggie came in, hand in hand, from the library. "We heard you come in, Nick, so we hid."

"Your loss," Nick said. "Nancy, this is my brother Jarrod – he's MUCH older than I am – and his wife Maggie, who must have lost her mind when she married my brother."

"Hello," Nancy said with a laugh.

Jarrod took her hand as Maggie said hello. "It's nice to meet you, Nancy," Jarrod said. "If you will excuse us until our little social hour, we will be outside enjoying the fresh air."

Jarrod and Maggie went on toward the back porch as Nancy looked at Victoria curiously. "Social hour?"

"We share drinks and conversation before dinner," Victoria said. "It gives us a chance to catch up with each other, and to relax before dinner."

"That's a lovely idea," Nancy said.

Lovely, Nick thought. That's what you are, lovely. That's what I want, lovely.

"Lovely," Nick said, looking at Nancy.

Epilogue

Jarrod and Maggie drifted back and forth on the back porch swing. The air was sweet, and Jarrod's eyes were getting back to normal after all that staring at small print all day. He thought he could almost fall asleep here beside his wife, holding her hand, feeling her closeness.

"I think I could spend the rest of my life on a porch swing," Maggie said wistfully.

"Not a great place to have a baby," Jarrod said with a smile.

"And once the little bugger comes along, our porch swing days might be interrupted."

"No," Jarrod said. "We'll just bring him along. A child ought to grow up on a porch swing, I think. How have you been feeling today? Any less tired?"

"A little bit, I think, but this is going to be a big baby, Jarrod. He's already a lot to lug around."

"You're sure it's going to be a 'he'."

"Yes, I'm beginning to be very sure. Jarrod Thomas Barkley Jr. I'm beginning to wish he'd get here."

"You're scarcely halfway there, and you really don't want him to come early."

"No, you're right, I don't. I'll just be sure to get plenty of rest and eat well like the doctor told me. We'll let Jarrod Jr. show up when he's good and ready."

Jarrod rested his head back with a sigh. "Are you happy we've made the move here?"

"Oh, yes," Maggie said. "It's so beautiful here. Your relationship with your family is so lovely. Jarrod Jr. is going to grow up with a lot of love around him. This is where we all belong, all three of us."

Jarrod kissed his wife. "Yeah, I guess I've learned that lesson for sure now. I belong here – with you, with them. This is where I want us to be – where I want to be."

Maggie returned the kiss, and they relaxed together in the swing and dreamed sweet, sweet dreams.

The End