Chapter 13

When Jarrod and Audra rode over to the Marvin home together, it reminded each of them of the times they came over when Therese was alive, when Jarrod was talking to Henry about the railroad spur and Audra was cajoling Will into helping her with a charity function. They didn't talk about those times though – they were bad enough. This was a different bad time.

As they dismounted, Henry and Will both came out of the front door. Henry still looked tired and old, but he did have a sparkle in his eye now that Will was back. Will had a smile that grew broader when he saw Audra.

"Good morning," Jarrod said. "Look who wandered home yesterday too."

"Hello, Mr. Marvin," Audra said, reaching for Henry's hands.

Henry smiled, even if it was a little awkward, as he took her hands in his. "Welcome home, Audra. It's good to have you visit again."

"Hello, Will!" Audra said with a smile. "I'm so glad you've come home, too."

"So am I," Will said.

But everything was a little tense, because of the talking they all knew they had to do. Jarrod tried to start easing things up. "Henry, Will, we want to talk to you about some of the plans we've talked about to help you out of your financial troubles. We want to offer a different idea, and Audra wanted to help explain why."

"Come on inside," Henry said.

Will took it upon himself to get coffee for everyone, and they sat down at the dining room table. Jarrod and Audra had discussed on the way over how they were going to approach this. As Will sat down with everyone else, Jarrod looked to Audra.

Audra said, "I've rejected the idea of us buying your ranch and putting it solely in my name, and I wanted you to know why."

Henry and Will listened.

"I've had a long trip, and I've done a lot of thinking," Audra said. "I think my family has too, and I know I need to think seriously about settling down. Jarrod's idea was that I should have some land of my own for my own future, for my own security, and he's right. But I don't want it to be your land. One of the things I've been thinking about is the number of people who mean something to me. You both are among those people. I don't want to ruin our friendship by becoming your boss."

Henry and Will looked at each other. They didn't know what to say.

Jarrod quickly added, "This doesn't mean we don't want to help you out by buying your property and getting rid of your debt," Jarrod said. "We still do, but we don't want the entire ownership issue to fall on Audra, and we don't want to set something up that would take away all of your say in what happens here."

Now Henry and Will looked puzzled. "If you own it, you'll have the say," Henry said.

"But we can set it up so that you have some say too," Jarrod said. "Henry, you got lost when you invested in expanding your interests to things other than the ranch. We need to get rid of those, sell them off if possible, concentrate solely on the ranch again. We're proposing the Barkleys form a corporation to buy your ranch, that my brothers and I will own the corporation without Audra, but that you be the president."

Now Henry and Will looked startled.

"You know how to run a ranch, Henry," Jarrod said. "We're proposing you stay right here and do that. Together we make this operation profitable again, and you earn a salary and a piece of the profits when they start coming back in. And, over time, both you and Will earn shares in the corporation that owns the property, or even buy some if things go very well."

Henry and Will looked at each other.

"It's an unusual idea, I know," Jarrod said, "but assuming it works out over time – and I think it will – you will stay in your home, you will re-establish your credit and your bank accounts. You will build again."

"You might never make back the money you put into this land, Jarrod," Henry said.

"Ultimately, I think we will," Jarrod said. "The corporation will own this land, and we will own the corporation and hopefully, so will you and Will. In the future, if it becomes necessary or just desirable to sell the land, the land will have appreciated in value. We think this can work, Henry. It won't work overnight, that's true – except that it will get your creditors off your back and allow you to stay in your home, and run this ranch day to day."

Will shook his head. "I just don't know enough to know how these things work."

Jarrod smiled. "I do, and your father has a sense of it, too."

Audra said, "Will – can you and I just go for a walk and let these men talk about details? I'm like you. I don't know enough how these things work either. I just know that if you have to listen to the details you don't know anything about, it gets perfectly boring. And I'd rather tell you all about my trip to Europe."

Will stood up and reached for Audra's hand. "And I'd rather hear about that, too."

As Jarrod and Henry watched Audra and Will go out the front door together, Henry smiled and said, "I can't thank you enough for bringing Will home – though I see from the looks of the faces on both of you that you had some disagreement about that."

Jarrod chuckled about his visible wounds from the fight. "You should see Nick and Heath. I'm glad Will's home too, Henry. It makes everything else a lot easier to deal with."

"I kinda get the feeling that having Audra home too is gonna make it easier still," Henry said.

Outside, Will offered his arm and Audra took it as they strolled together toward a garden in back of the house. "I was stupid for running away like I did," Will said.

"You had good intentions," Audra said.

"Ah, they were stupid good intentions," Will said. "I made a little bit of money and sent it home, but I'd never have made enough in time."

"Well, the important thing is that you're here now," Audra said. "It makes your father much more comfortable that you're beside him in this."

"Why did you decide you didn't want the ranch in your name?" Will asked.

"Like I said, I didn't want our relationship to change in that way. I don't want to be your boss. And – " She hesitated, but she said it. "You and I have been friends for a long, long time. I've been restless for a long, long time but – I think I might want to see if our relationship might change in another way." They stopped. She looked at him. "I know that's very forward of me, but when Jarrod brought up the subject of me entering a marriage while owning your property – I knew if we did that, it would destroy any chance we had together, you and me."

"Do you want that chance?" Will asked.

"I don't want to throw it away before it ever comes about. Maybe there's more than friendship for us. Maybe there isn't, but if there is, I want to have it. Don't you?"

Will chuckled, very awkwardly, looking up at the sky. "I know we've been close – and everything that happened with Therese brought us closer – but I never thought you'd be interested in the likes of me as more than a friend. You're a Barkley – wealthy, beautiful, you can have your pick of any man who has a lot more to offer you than I do. And when things turned bad for my Pa and it started to look like we'd lose the ranch – well, I let go of any thought that you and I might be more than friends."

"It's too soon to let go of that, Will," Audra said. "It's been partly my fault all along. I've been flighty and even wild. Jarrod has always thought I've been spoiled. But this trip I just took – coming home – coming home to learn about your problems – somehow it all made me more aware of what's really important. It's made me understand more about what I really want. And being your boss isn't it."

"But maybe being more than friends is," Will said.

"Maybe," Audra agreed.

Will took a chance. He leaned close, and Audra did not move away. He kissed her.

They both laughed, softly. "That was nice," Will said.

"Yes, it was," Audra said.

They began to stroll together again, but this time Audra leaned a little closer. Will smiled a little more. The sky seemed a little brighter, the future did too.

The End