Chapter 12

"You lawyers and your finagling," Nick said, shaking his head. "I don't see how any of that is gonna make any difference to Henry."

"As president of the corporation, we could pay him a salary," Victoria said, beginning to think like her oldest son.

Jarrod nodded. "A base salary, plus a piece of the profits. If he had the day to day say in running the ranch, legally had it, his pride would be hurt a lot less."

"But you're assuming the ranch could get profitable again," Heath said.

"I am," Jarrod said. "And that's something we'd have to check into – how to get that done. We'd have to scuttle the other businesses Henry tried to get into, but it's possible some could be sold. And if we just concentrated on getting the ranch profitable again, maybe we can actually undo some of the damage."

"What about the value of the land?" Victoria asked. "Can we expect it to go up and cover what we put into it?"

"It might take a while," Jarrod said, "but yes, land value tends to go up over time, and it can go up substantially." He looked at his sister. "And if the corporation owns the land but Audra owns the corporation, and if we get it profitable again, it could be that piece of the future we want Audra to have for herself."

"Jarrod, that's a lot of planning and work to do," Audra said.

"Nothing more than I do all the time anyway," Jarrod said. "Let me talk to Henry and Will tomorrow. Let me hear them out. They might have some ideas for us to ponder, too."

As they were all heading to bed, Heath held Jarrod back for a moment and said privately, quietly to him. "Jarrod, I don't know if this makes any difference – I don't think it should, but if it does you oughtta know that last night when I rode out to where he worked with him, Will told me he was adopted."

Jarrod was a little surprised. "I didn't think he'd tell anybody that."

"You knew?" Heath said.

"Yes, I found out when I did Henry's will," Jarrod said. "It was one of my first cases outside the family."

"But nobody else knows, do they?"

"Nobody in the family does. Whether Henry or Will have told anyone else, I don't know. I'd keep it quiet for now, leave it up to Will and Henry who to tell and when, but whether it'll have any bearing at all on how we handle the Marvin ranch, I don't know. Will has been legally adopted, and he would inherit without question, just as you inherit here."

"It's not the legal part of it I'm thinking about," Heath said. "Will still seems to feel something of the odd man out about it."

"Are you willing to counsel him more about that aspect of it, if it's a problem?" Jarrod asked. "You're more qualified on that than I am."

Heath nodded. "I'll do whatever I can. But this is one big complicated situation, isn't it?"

"Not as complicated as it was a few days ago, when Will was gone and we didn't know where he was," Jarrod said. He gave his brother a pat on the back. "We fixed that, and I'm grateful to you for your help, and Nick. Now we just move onto the next part and fix that."

"One step at a time, huh?"

"One step at a time," Jarrod agreed.

XXXXXXX

It was the middle of the night. Victoria had been asleep, but something woke her up. She wasn't sure she knew what it was until she heard a soft knock on her door. She suspected who it was. "Come in," she said, lighting the lamp next to the bed.

Audra came in, closing the door behind her. "I'm sorry to wake you, Mother."

"But you couldn't sleep," Victoria said as Audra came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

Audra nodded. "Mother, I just don't like the idea of me owning the Marvin ranch, even if a corporation does and I own the corporation. I don't like what it would to our relationship."

"You haven't seen Will or Henry in a long time," Victoria said.

"That doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about them," Audra said. "Mother, this long trip and my talk with Eugene about his future and that he's seeing someone he might be getting serious about – well, all the way home on the train I was thinking about those same things. About what I want my future to be, and who I want to spend it with."

"And Will Marvin came to mind?"

"And others – Carl Wheeler, a couple others," Audra said.

"You're a beautiful young woman, Audra, from a wealthy family," Victoria said. "You can have your pick."

"If I own the Marvin ranch, I can't pick Will," Audra said. "I just can't own property that was promised to him once and still have any kind of relationship that doesn't end up with me being his boss. Whether it's Will I choose – and he hasn't even chosen me yet – whatever the future holds for me and him, I don't want to be his boss."

Victoria nodded. "I understand. We'll talk to Jarrod about it in the morning, before he goes to see the Marvins. But I think his idea that you have a piece of land of your own, before you marry, is a good one. Jarrod and Heath will lay claim to part of this land of ours themselves. You should too."

"I'd like to go see the Marvins with Jarrod tomorrow," Audra said. "If he's been talking to them about me taking over their ranch, I want Jarrod and them to know that I won't do that."

"You know," Victoria said, "a long time ago, a young woman bringing land to her husband when they married was often part of the deal."

"It's not that way anymore," Audra said. "Jarrod's explained to me that that sort of thing doesn't happen anymore and that whatever I own before I marry is mine unless I give it over freely to the marriage."

"If you were to marry Will and he gains the property after you're married, under California law as I understand it, it becomes what they call community property and it's partly yours anyway."

"That would be different," Audra said. "But that's not even important right now. Right now, I just want Jarrod to know that I won't take their property in my name or through a corporation or in any other way. I don't want that."

Victoria reached for her hand. "I understand, and Jarrod will too. You get some sleep now. We'll talk about it in the morning and work it out."

"I wish the Marvins didn't have to lose their ranch at all," Audra said.

"Henry borrowed too much on it and things didn't work out," Victoria said. "Whatever we end up doing, we will help the Marvins out. Jarrod is good at working people's problems out."

Audra finally smiled and kissed her mother's cheek. "Thank you, Mother. I think I can sleep now."

In the morning, Audra told Jarrod flat out, first thing, that she would not own the Marvin property, in her name or through a corporation or in any other way. If they Barkleys were to buy him out, it would be as a family, but without her.

"All right," Jarrod said. "I'll tell Henry that idea is off the table."

"Do we have to buy him out at all?" Audra asked. "Can't we just lend him the money or something?"

Jarrod shook his head. "He can't accept another loan. The property won't cover it, and he just won't do it. You have to admit, a loan would put a bigger strain on our relationship with the Marvins that you owning the property would."

"I guess you're right," Audra said. "Jarrod, when you go over there this morning, I'd like to go with you. I haven't seen them in a long time and I just want them to know the decision about me not owning their property was mine."

"All right," Jarrod said again, resigned. And he smiled a little. "It wouldn't hurt them for you to see Will again right now I guess, now that he's home and you are too. One thing they really need to feel like is that life is getting stable again. Seeing your pretty face will help that out."

Audra smiled a little. "Don't you go embarrassing me like that in front of them."

Jarrod gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry, I won't."