Chapter Fourteen
Previously: For a moment, no one said a thing. Then Nick spoke up. "Like I told you outside; Heath and I may not be your cousins, but that doesn't matter. We'll still be here for you."
"As will I," Jim smiled, stood up and went to embrace his niece, promising her they'd find a way to get Timothy what was due him-without revealing the truth too soon. It was a promise Nick also made.
~oOo~
Ruth sat on the porch of Jim's home, her feet resting on the top step that led up to the porch, watching Heath and Timothy fixing the last part of the fence. Only when she heard the front door open and Nick's spurs hitting the porch, did Ruth turn her eyes away from Timothy. She couldn't help but smile. Nick had been keeping a close watch or eye on her and Timothy ever since he found out the truth; then again, so had Heath and Jim. After all the years of running and hiding the truth, it felt wonderful to have someone to share the load with.
Nick sat down beside her and rested his elbows on his legs as his hands hung downward- even though what he really wanted to do was wrap his arm around Ruth. "Heath, Jim and I had a long talk last night." He turned his head and looked at Ruth.
Ruth, who had heard the men's voices through the study door, even if she couldn't make out what they were saying, wasn't surprised by his words. Though, she did find herself feeling a bit uneasy. Their talk had to have been centered on her and Timothy, or Nick wouldn't be sitting next to her now saying such a thing. "And?" She prompted when he said nothing more.
"If you'll go for it, I'd like to send a wire to Mother and let her know you and Timothy will be staying with us for awhile. If you are right, and we feel strongly that you are, none of us think it wise for you and Timothy to remain here. While it's been a number of years since Kyle Randall traveled to Abbottsville, he just might do it in the next few months."
"But the money is in a bank, Carson City's bank to be precise." Ruth said with a torn look in her eyes. "How are we supposed to get what rightfully belongs to my so…I mean, my brother if we go to California."
Nick lifted his right hand and laid it upon her shoulders. "It's okay for you to continue calling him your son for right now, might be safer for awhile. When it comes to that money, and your suspicions, our elder brother Jarrod is an attorney." Nick explained as he went on to tell her that Jarrod also had connections with the Pinkerton Agency. "I'm sure he can get them to do a quiet investigation into your uncle and his activities, now and over the years, without raising any eyebrows."
"It's not one's eyebrows I'm worried about. It's their loose tongues." Ruth turned up the palms of her hands and then said, "Wonder if glue would work on gossipy lips." The playful look that appeared in her eyes had Nick removing his hand and chuckling; it didn't take Ruth but a split second to join him.
Once the two stopped laughing, Ruth shook her head slightly and said, "I still can't believe you're that soldier I used to talk to so much. Guess I should have got your name back then instead of being such a chatterbox." And she had been a talkative one at the time. Then again, he'd been so easy to talk to, unlike many of the soldiers the good preacher had hidden.
Nick shrugged his shoulders and gave her a smile. "That chatter as you call it helped me more than I can say. Though, I agree, it was a shock to realize I had met you all those years ago." Then, without thinking, he laid his right hand over her left one. "You're not alone anymore." He then told her that he, Jim and Heath wanted to talk to her later, after supper, as they wanted to talk to her more about Stockton.
Ruth had an uneasy feeling wash over, not because she thought Nick was insincere in his words, or that he wouldn't turn on her or Timothy or thought the three men would suggest anything that would not be in her and Timothy's best interest. No, she realized the only reason she was all of a sudden feeling uneasy was because she was starting to have feelings for Nick Barkley…and she wasn't prepared for that.
~oOo~
Timothy, who had glanced towards the porch a time or two, handed Heath another nail and said, "Mama likes your brother."
Heath turned his head and saw Nick sitting with his hand over Ruth's and then looked back at Timothy. He wasn't sure what to think about the look in the young child's eyes. Then again, maybe he did. "Someday she'll marry again. Whether she marries Nick, or someone else, is something I can't tell you." Heath gave Timothy a crooked smile. "But, she'll never stop loving you or taking care of you the best she can." Knowing Ruth was really Timothy's sister, Heath couldn't bring himself to refer to her as Timothy's mother…even if he did understand why no one was going to press the child to call her anything different.
"He's loud." Timothy handed Heath the last nail he had been holding.
Heath couldn't help but laugh just a little. Timothy might be talking more than he had when they had first arrived, but he still got straight to the point when he spoke. "Yes, he is." Heath said as he hammered the nail into place. "But he has a heart of gold. He'll do what he can for you and Ruth. I will too, as will Uncle Jim."
Once Timothy saw Heath was done with the fence, he asked Heath if there was anything else he could help him with. "No, but I heard Nick say he was going to do some things in the barn later. Why not go ask him if you can help?" Once again Timothy had Heath laughing as the boy walked away muttering that maybe he could find some clay to use as ear plugs first.