The next morning, Jarrod comes down the stairs buttoning his sleeves and heads into the dining room for breakfast where he finds Audra and Victoria already seated at the table. "Mother, Audra." Jarrod enters kissing each of the women on the top of head. "How's our guest?"
"No change unfortunately." Victoria replies passing the food around. "Nick is with her now. After breakfast I'll go up so he can start the men working for the day."
"Heath back?" Jarrod asks unfolding his napkin in his lap.
"Not yet," Audra replies. "Jarrod, I'm worried about him. The way he stormed out. I've never seen him so upset before."
"He'll be ok honey," Jarrod soothes. "Heath is the type of man who needs time and space to work through things. It's just Heath's way. He'll be back."
"But it's not like any of this is his fault." Audra counters.
"Oh we know that." Victoria explains. "But Heath... well Heath takes responsibility very seriously. It's why he works so hard around the ranch. He can always be counted on to finish the job and do it right no matter what. When something happens on his watch, he feels a responsibility to fix it and make it right. And this is something he knows he can't fix. He needs to figure out how to come with terms with that."
"Well, Allison will just have to wake up and tell him it's not his fault then." Audra concludes. Jarrod and Victoria look at each other across the table sharing a surprised look at the ease and clarity of Audra's statement.
"Amen to that that little sister." Jarrod smiles.
Jarrod fills his plate with a slice of ham, two biscuits and gravy. "I think I will go into town today and send some telegrams to San Francisco. If Daniel's uncle's will was notarized and filed with a law firm, which I assume it was, I should be able get a copy of it. I'll also try to track down Daniel's sister. That is if you can do without me around here today."
"We'll be just fine here." Victoria replies confidently. "Besides, I think you can help Allison more in town than you can help her here. Nick said he would stay close to the house in case we need to fetch the doctor."
"How will you find Daniel's sister?" Asks Audra. "We don't even know her name."
"Well, all marriages are recorded in the county records. I'll start there." Jarrod explains in between bites of his food. "I'll look for a marriage license listing a woman with the maiden name of Waters. Waters is a fairly common name, but cross referencing it against the bride's birthplace of Colorado and marriage dates within the last 10 years should help narrow it down."
"I do hope you find her. She might be the only family Allison has left. Although, Allison did say she has never met Daniel's sister. I wonder how she will take the news of everything that's happened." Audra wonders aloud.
"I don't know how close Daniel was with his sister, but I assume she will reach out to help Allison get back on her feet again." Victoria thinks about how much she enjoyed her conversations with Allison the night before. How charming and easy she was to talk to. Then she thinks about her lying upstairs with the possibility of no family to claim her.
Victoria folds her hands under chin in thought and then looks at Audra and Jarrod. "We just need to pray she wakes up, and when she does, I for one am willing to help her however I can."
"Me too." Answers Audra squeezing her Mother's hand across the table.
"Sounds like I better go into town and get started then." Jarrod concludes.