Chapter Fourteen

Hope stood on the porch and sighed as she saw Jarrod walking out of the barn. She still could not believe an attorney as famous and well off as he was had insisted on sleeping in the loft. Jarrod's decision to do that naturally had made it so Nick, who she could see working on a fence off in the distance, had stopped staying at the boarding house.

"Good morning," Jarrod smiled as he walked up to his sister-in-law. "I don't suppose Heath is around."

Hope eyes held compassion in them as she shook her head. "Jack had breakfast extra early and rode into town. He had some paper work to get done before he goes to the Peterson ranch. I've got breakfast waiting for you and Nick." She looked in the direction where Nick was working. The rancher had just started walking towards the house. "Come on inside."

Jarrod felt as if someone had thrust a knife into his heart once again. He had spent hours trying to figure out why Heath was so angry at him, to the point of avoiding him at all costs. He knew Nick's warning…to remember that he was Heath's half brother and not his father…had something to do with it, but what? He'd never thought of himself as Heath's father.

While a part of Jarrod wanted to chase after Heath, he knew all he could do was wait. That being the case, he did as his sister-in-law said. Soon he was standing in the living room once again looking at the pictures hanging on the wall or sitting on the fireplace mantle. He wasn't sure how long he stood looking at the pictures before he heard Nick hollering at him to hurry up and get into the kitchen, as the food was ready and he, Nick, didn't want to eat cold food.

As Jarrod sat down he couldn't help but look upon Morgan who was seated in his high chair next to him and think, 'Derringer and you had to have been born around the same time. The two of you could be growing up side by side now'. The thought increased his determination to stay in Martinsdale, even if it meant sleeping in his brother's barn loft until the two of them worked things out between them… the same way Heath and Nick seemed to have done.

"Thanks," both Jarrod and Nick said as Hope set their plates of food before them, and then sat down herself.

"It's a pleasure, kind of nice being able to cook for two of my brothers- in-law." Hope smiled as she replied to Jarrod and Nick; as an orphan, she'd always wondered what it would be like to cook for an extended family.

"Would you be offended if I asked for you to tell us more about yourself?" Jarrod asked after they'd been eating for a minute; he'd been curious and wanted to know more about the woman Heath had married after leaving the family.

Hope shrugged her shoulders as she laid her fork off to the side of the plate. "Not much to tell. My father was a trapper up in the Nevada Mountains. My mother was from the Paiute tribe. My mother was killed by a bear when I was ten; my father brought me to California to live with his sister, thought I'd be better off with a mother figure to raise me." Hope shook her head. "Might as well kept me up in the mountains for the way my uncle treated me even if my aunt did do her best by me. Anyway, I moved here to help a friend with her café when I was eighteen, even if the town is slowly dying. Looking back on it, it was simply a move to get away from my uncle even if I did adore my aunt. We actually still write each other."

"And Heath?" Jarrod glanced at Nick and then back at Hope, "I mean, I've been told he saved you from an attack by a drunkard, but …" he paused wondering if he really had the right to ask about the courtship; still, he wanted to know. He needn't have worried as Hope was more than happy to talk about her and Heath's whirlwind courtship…at least, she'd been told by more than one person six months was too fast; guess they didn't know some of the couples she did.

"I don't know if there's really such a thing as love at first sight, but let me tell you," Hope smiled wide as her eyes started sparkling, "there sure is instant attraction. After he pulled that drunkard off me, fought him and chased him off, Heath turned around to see if I was alright. I thought for sure someone had picked me up and put me on cloud nine for the feeling that washed over me at that moment. At the time," she paused and then sighed, "I didn't think I had a chance with him, but he surprised me and pursued me. We went to any dance or celebration the town had, went on horseback rides and picnics and then," she chuckled as she glanced at Morgan while rubbing her hand over her swollen belly, "he caught me, or we caught each other depending on how you want to look at it."

Jarrod chuckled as he remembered his and Sarah's courtship. "I'm glad he found you. He deserves a good woman by his side. Maybe, someday, we can find one for this rabble-rouser." He joked as he nodded towards Nick, who simply gave a 'harumph' and said he was doing fine single.

The three might have continued talking only the kitchen door opened and Heath appeared in the kitchen doorway. Jarrod, Nick and Hope stopped talking and found themselves holding their breath until Heath looked straight at Jarrod and nodded towards the door. "We need to go outside and take a walk."

Jarrod saw the simmering anger in Heath's eyes and wondered just what was coming. Though, he didn't ask as he was just glad Heath was finally ready to talk to him. Jarrod stood up, excused himself and then followed his brother out the door.

Nick looked at his hand. It was no longer wrapped, but he still had a nice scab on the side of it. He couldn't help but wonder if Jarrod was about to feel Heath's very justified wrath also.