Chapter 2

"Mother!"

"Oh, Nick," Victoria said as she came in from the kitchen. Then she stopped. "I don't know why I keep bothering. You've been yelling at the top of your voice every time you come in the door since you were five years old –"

"And I'm too old to stop now," Nick said. "I need to talk to you. Are Heath and Audra here?"

"Right here, " Heath said as he and his sister came in from the library. "We could hear you too."

"Good," Nick said. "Come on into the living room. I have to tell you something."

Victoria grew anxious. "Has something happened with Jarrod?"

"No, no," Nick said. "Nothing like that." He turned toward Heath. "Remember Danny Mathews?" Nick asked him.

Heath thought. "Yeah, yeah, I do. That boy up in Rockville two years ago."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, well, he's in Stockton now. He came into Jarrod's office this afternoon."

"Wait a minute," Victoria said. And she dug through her own memory. "Rockville – Mathews – wasn't that the name of that woman who took Jarrod in when he was injured?"

"And lost his memory," Nick completed the thought. "This is her son, the boy Jarrod mentioned, the one we met for about five minutes."

"My goodness," Victoria said. "I wonder what he's doing in Stockton. Was his mother with him?"

"Not that I saw," Nick said, "but I didn't hang around to hear what he and Jarrod were talking about. I'd bet anything Jarrod will be bringing him home with him any time now."

"Well, we certainly have room for a houseguest," Victoria said.

"Jarrod told me about him," Audra said. "They took to each other pretty well."

Nick nodded. "He seems like a good kid. He's considerably bigger now and I'd bet anything he's brought a problem with him."

"What makes you say that?" Heath asked.

"He sure looked like he had something on his mind when he came to see Jarrod."

"Well, if he's seeing Jarrod professionally, then his business is none of our business," Victoria said.

"Unless he brings it here with him."

Victoria sighed. "Nick, you always expect the worst."

"Well, it seems to make things safer in the long run," Nick said.

"Until a problem comes up, if Jarrod brings him home, we'll treat him like any other houseguest," Victoria said.

"There's one other thing," Nick said. "He calls Jarrod 'Dakota'."

"That's the name Jarrod said Danny gave him," Audra said, "when he couldn't remember his own."

"Well, he can call Jarrod whatever Jarrod says he can call him," Victoria said. "Now, since we're all together and dinner is not that far away, why don't we share some time and conversation? Heath, would you pour me some of our red wine?"

"My pleasure," Heath said.

Heath wasn't even finished pouring when the front door opened and Jarrod came in, with Danny in tow. The young man looked uncomfortable, despite Jarrod's attempts to keep things casual. "Hello, family," Jarrod said as he put his hat on the table near the door to the library. He took Danny's hat and bag and put them there as well, and then he headed for the living room, ushering Danny along with him.

"Hello, Jarrod," Victoria said. "Is this Danny Mathews?"

"He is indeed," Jarrod said. "Danny, this is my mother, my sister Audra, brother Nick you've already met and brother Heath you met when you first met Nick up in Rockville."

Danny politely shook hands all around.

"I know you've heard me talk about Danny before," Jarrod said. "He and his mother and grandmother saved my life."

Victoria said, "We're very grateful for how you took care of Jarrod. I'm glad we're able to thank you in person."

"I think Dakota – sorry, Mr. Barkley – gave us a lot of what we needed then, too," Danny said.

"You will be our guest for the night, Danny?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Barkley, I will," Danny said.

And the rest of the evening was spent in social pleasantries and good food.

XXXXXXX

Jarrod made sure to get Danny settled in the guest room before he turned in for the night. As soon as he'd gotten to his own room and taken his jacket and tie off, there was a knock at his door that he fully expected. "Come in, Mother," he said.

Victoria came in. "Have I become that predictable?"

"Thoroughly," Jarrod said. "What's troubling you?"

"I'm a bit curious, why Danny has come here after all this time."

Jarrod shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't talk about that. He's a client, and I have to keep his confidences. But it's not a criminal case, so don't you go worrying about that."

"Good," Victoria said. And then she smiled and said, "Dakota."

Jarrod smiled again. "He's more comfortable calling me that, so I told him it was fine. It's how he knew me. It was another life ago. A lot of other lives ago."

"Yes, it actually was," Victoria said, remembering how many things had happened in just the past two years. "You never told me very much about that time."

"It was – difficult," Jarrod said, remembering, and his eyes showed that he was going back there in his mind. "They saved my life. They saved my sanity. They gave me a name and a life when I didn't have any. I haven't talked too much about it because – well, you know how it was when I got home. I still had a few holes in my head. For a while there, while I was trying to figure out who all of you were, who I was, where I fit in – I was part Jarrod Barkley and part Dakota. It was too tough to explain, and when I finally came back around to being all Jarrod Barkley, well, I just didn't want to talk about it."

"And to this day, there's still a small part of 'Dakota' in you, isn't there?"

Jarrod hadn't expected her to say that. "Yes, there is, especially lately. And I really don't want to give all of him up. I need him."

Victoria touched his arm. "Just be careful, Jarrod. You've had some hard times since you came back from Rockville. Don't retreat back into Dakota because being Jarrod Barkley has become difficult."

Jarrod said, "Danny was like a son to me, Mother. I may never have a son of my own. I really was sure that Beth and I – " Jarrod's voice closed. He had to swallow it open before he went on. "Danny and his mother helped me through a time in my life that was very hard. I believe I owe him and his mother some of my time and my professional expertise. They kept Dakota going until Jarrod found his way home. Maybe Jarrod can keep them going now, and if I have to call on Dakota to help, well, maybe there's still enough of him there to do it."

Victoria understood and nodded. "Will you be going out of town?"

"Yes. Danny and I have to head up to Sacramento in the morning."

"To see his mother?"

Jarrod saw genuine concern in his mother's eyes. He hadn't talked to anyone about Libby Mathews since he came home from Rockville. He never mentioned her feelings for him, even though Nick and Heath obviously knew what they were from Danny's grandmother, and from their older brother's actions when Nick and Heath found him. Libby hadn't told him who he was or who Nick and Heath were, and he tried to kill them. Nick and Heath were bound to have some uncomfortable feelings about him seeing Libby again, and they might raise some hefty objections if they knew he was going to go see her. But how could he keep that from them? It was going to be obvious where he was going with Danny when they left together in the morning.

And Nick and Heath had certainly told Victoria about what they knew about Jarrod's relationship with Libby.

"Yes," Jarrod said. "She has some legal problems. That's all I can say."

Victoria nodded, none too comfortably. She was used to her son keeping his secrets, but she didn't always like it. "All right. I trust you know what you're doing, and you'll keep yourself safe. And Dakota, too."

Jarrod kissed her cheek. "Don't worry. We'll both be fine."