Chapter 8

Jarrod said quietly, "Arthur, why don't we go back to your cell, give these people some privacy?"

Martin nodded, and Jarrod and the sheriff went with him back into the cell block. Davison followed along. Martin went into the cell, but Sheriff Madden did not lock him in.

Then suddenly Jarrod found the sheriff and Davison focusing on him, not on his client. Jarrod knew why. He also knew Martin wouldn't understand that, but at the moment, he was incapable of explaining.

"Look, if Joe goes along with this, I'll drop the charges right away," Davison said. "But maybe, Jarrod, you and I ought to just get out of here right now."

Jarrod nodded. For him, getting out of here was more than a good idea. To say he was moved by what was happening in front of him would be an understatement, but to say he was hurt and jealous would be an understatement too. "Arthur, Fred, I'll be in my office," he said quietly and went out with Davison.

They passed by the two people in the office, now silently in each other's arms, just holding one another. Jarrod and Davison went out into the street but didn't even exchange good-byes. Jarrod just strode away fast, heavy, to his office and up the stairs. His secretary wasn't there, since he was supposed to be in San Francisco, and he was very grateful for that right now. He let himself in, closed the door and locked it behind him. For a moment he just stood there and got himself together, but the memories washing over him, seeing the reunion between Joe Payson and his lost wife, were almost too much.

Memories of Beth. Memories of making love with the woman he'd looked for all his life. Memories of her dead in his arms.

No memories of Cass Hyatt or Rimfire. That wasn't what his feelings were about right now. Right now he had watched another man get his beloved wife back from the dead. He felt that man's joy deep in his heart – but he also felt his own pain deep in his heart, maybe deeper than he had felt it yet.

Beth was dead. She wasn't coming back. There would be no joyful and moving reunion for him and her. Never.

He sat down at his desk and took a photo out of the lap drawer – the photo he'd had taken of him and Beth on their wedding day in Denver. He ran his fingers over her face. He remembered how it felt to touch her when she was alive, when she was in his arms, when she was in his bed –

He cried. He suddenly realized that he had barely cried at all since Beth was killed. At the time, his anger was so out of control that it shoved all the tears right back into him. Now – now another man was getting back the love he thought he'd lost forever. Now Jarrod had only the photograph.

Beth was dead. She wasn't coming back. There would be no joyful and moving reunion for him and her. Never.

Jarrod didn't know how long he'd been sitting there before he heard the knock on his door. He came up out of the fog and remembered he told Sheriff Madden he'd be here in his office. Jarrod quickly put the photo away, wiped his eyes with both hands, and said loudly, "I'll be right there."

He kept getting himself under control as he went to the door and unlocked it. He opened it to find Arthur Martin standing there.

"Arthur!" Jarrod said, surprised, and then not surprised. He actually found a little happiness to make him smile. "Come on in."

Martin came in, saying, "Don't worry – I didn't escape."

Jarrod closed the door. "Either you put up the bail or Joe Payson dropped the charges."

Martin turned toward him. "More than that. The sheriff sent for the prosecutor again, and Mr. Payson actually begged the two of them to drop the charges and let me go. Mr. Payson and Carol went on home. They're gonna be all right."

"Thank God for that," Jarrod said.

"Carol and her husband told me something I didn't know. Carol didn't know either when she asked me to turn to you if I got into trouble, but Mr. Barkley – I know you lost your wife not long ago. I know how hard this all had to be for you, and I'm so sorry."

Jarrod shook his head. "However hard it was for me, to know Carol and Joe are back together and to help you get out of trouble – to meet you and know everything you did and risked to help Carol – " Jarrod extended his hand. "Right now I'm probably the third happiest man in Stockton – behind you and Joe."

Martin shook Jarrod's hand. "I'm free to go back to San Francisco, and I'm gonna catch the first train out, but I owe you your fee – "

"No, no," Jarrod said quickly. "If you owed me anything, you already paid it by all the time and care you've given Carol. I did very little in this. I feel like I ought to pay you. But Carol is going to come back to San Francisco for that surgery."

"She told me she was," Martin said. "I'll be there to help her through that if she needs me. Right now, I just want to get back to my life. Thanks for all your help."

"Thank you," Jarrod said. "You're a fine man, Arthur. I hope you get every happiness you're entitled to in this life."

"Oh, maybe I can't go singing all my happiness from the rooftops, but I can sing this part of it." He started to head for the door, but as Jarrod opened it for him, he said, "By the way – Mr. Payson asked that you give him and Carol a few hours together but you come by their house this afternoon if you can. They have a lot of talking to do and a lot of time to make up for, but they said they wanted time to thank you properly for all your help."

"I'll go by later," Jarrod said. "Do you need money to get back to San Francisco?"

"Oh," Martin said, startled, then smiled. "I hadn't even thought about that. I had my train ticket already bought but I lost it somewhere along the way."

"Let me buy you a cup of coffee and a train ticket," Jarrod said. "Like I said, I feel like I ought to pay you for all you've done. A cup of coffee and a train ticket isn't enough – "

"No, it's more than enough," Martin said. "And if it isn't, just getting Carol home finally is all the payment I ever needed."

XXXXXXX

It was three in the afternoon before Jarrod felt like he needed to go to the Payson house to see Joe and Carol. It took that long to work up the calm – how strange, to have to work up being calm, he thought. But he did it.

He got his grief and jealousy out of his system, without the aid of alcohol. After seeing Martin off on the train, he went back to his office. He stared at the wedding photo of himself and Beth. He looked out the window at people going about their regular lives. He read some of the Bible, some of the passages that often gave him comfort when he needed it.

He made peace with himself, with his past, with his jealousy and with all the feelings of "if only." By the time three o'clock rolled around, he was ready to see Joe and Carol.

It was Joe who answered the door when he knocked, and he answered with a smile, an assurance, a peace that bolstered Jarrod's own. "Joe," Jarrod said. "How are you doing?"

"Come in, Jarrod," Joe said.

Jarrod went inside, removing his hat, leaving it on the table in the foyer.

As he closed the door, Joe said, "Carol's in the parlor. She's anxious to see you."

Jarrod went straight in and found Carol relaxing on the sofa. She was not wearing the bonnet. Her scar was easy to see, but she was smiling nonetheless. "Don't get up," Jarrod told her right away.

She beckoned him to sit beside her, and he did. She grabbed his hand. "If you hadn't come into my life again, I wouldn't be here," she said. "I can't thank you enough."

Jarrod shook his head. "No need to thank me. All I did was tell you what you needed to hear." He looked up at Joe, who was sitting down in an armchair that faced them. "And I knew what Joe needed to know, that you were alive and you still loved him. You needed to believe that too."

"And it cost you," Carol said.

Jarrod shook his head again. "No. It just makes me very, very happy."

"We've talked a lot," Joe said. "Carol's going to have that surgery on her leg but I'm going to pay for it and accompany her to San Francisco for it."

"Do you want me to do anything with your apartment there?" Jarrod asked.

Carol said, "No, we'll use it while I recover. Then we'll give it up."

"Well, that makes sense, but don't give Arthur Martin up."

"Oh, no, never!" Carol said. "We're going to be spending time with him and his friend who helped take care of me."

"I know the some of the story there, Carol," Jarrod said. Some, but not all, and he would not go into details of what he did know now.

"So do I," Joe said, "and under the circumstances I certainly don't want to do anything about it. I hope you don't either, Jarrod."

Jarrod smiled a little. "I don't really know enough to do anything about it. I intend to keep it that way. Carol, you've been one very lucky woman – to go through what you've been through, to find the courage to come home again. And Joe – " Jarrod struggled for a moment with his feelings again, but he stood up and extended a hand to Joe, who also stood up. "Joe, you are one very lucky man. I wish you both the happiest of futures and I hope you'll let me continue to be part of it."

"You bet we will," Joe said.