After they had sat down and said grace, Audra asked Heath about the letter again. "So who was that letter from, Heath?"
"Just a girl I know," he said. "She just wanted to say hello. It's not really anything important."
"She took the trouble to put perfume on it," Nick said. "Margie, from San Jose."
"I thought girls always did that," Heath answered.
Audra smiled at Nick. "Maybe they do for Heath." Her dimple deepened as she smiled at Heath too. "I bet you're very popular with girls."
"I do all right," Heath said, then grinned at her.
"We might just have the opportunity for Heath to see this lady friend," Nick said.
"Oh?" Mother said.
"Heath is going with me to the cattle auction."
"That's a great idea," Mother said. The coolness between Nick and Heath was a big concern of hers. Like Jarrod, she felt that Nick wasn't trying. She had seen Heath try, only to be answered brusquely by Nick. Heath got along very well with both Jarrod and Audra. Victoria had observed more and more that Heath had a great deal in common with Jarrod, as different as they might seem at first glance.
Heath was much more interested in the kinds of things Jarrod liked to talk about than Nick was. Jarrod had been pleased to discover his youngest brother was surprisingly well-read for someone who had had so little opportunity in life other than finishing traditional school, which could be an accomplishment in itself; not everyone out west was even able to do that.
Heath had shared about the books his mother had brought out west with her. "Seemed like a shame not to read 'em when she went to all that trouble," Heath had said off-handedly, but Jarrod realized that Heath had seen the value of education. When Jarrod brought up a point about something in history or economics, he had been delighted that Heath often knew what he was talking about in his reference to the event. The young man seemed to remember everything he had ever read. Their father had had a memory like this.
Jarrod was used to Nick's snort of boredom when he said anything academic. Nick was smart, but the day he had finished school was one of the happiest of his life, he said. Mother had pointed out it was also the teacher's happiest day, and hers as well, since she wouldn't be summoned to more talks about Nick's behavior.
Mother and Audra had shown polite interest about an obscure point of history he wanted to elaborate on; Heath seemed genuinely interested and would discuss it with him. He was always ready to learn something. And the boy had a keen head for numbers. He could calculate quickly in his head; they were all realizing that if you needed a sum, a percentage, or any other kind of number quickly, Heath was very handy to have around. Once, hanging around Jarrod's office in town waiting, Heath had found Jarrod's old college textbook on probability and statistics. He'd looked through it with interest.
"That class about killed me," Jarrod said. "The professor made it so dry."
"That's too bad," Heath said. "It's actually really interesting." Jarrod had watched with amusement as Heath had continued looking through it, then grinned at him and said, "Very handy for poker and faro, any game of chance."
Jarrod also realized that Heath's nature and way of thinking were far more like his own than Nick's. Heath was quieter than he, Jarrod, was, but his quiet nature didn't mean there wasn't a lot going on with him. Heath thought about things deeply. He was far less likely than Nick to be impulsive and far more likely to be analytical like Jarrod.
Heath was the only member of his family who really liked playing chess with him, a game he had cherished with their father. Nick didn't have the patience; Audra said it was boring. Mother sometimes humored him. But he found Heath a worthy opponent. They would play long, drawn-out games, to Nick's exasperation and Mother's and Audra's amusement.
Jarrod had thought, at first, that once Nick got past his initial unwelcoming attitude, that Heath would be far more Nick's little brother than his, given his obvious ability and interest in everything on the ranch. Heath excelled at every job that needed to be done on a ranch, and he was interested in the livestock and crops. Jarrod had thought that Heath's ability would help Nick form an attachment to him. But that just hadn't happened yet. Jarrod wondered why.
He wondered if Heath reminded him too much of their father. So many things about Heath were uncannily like Tom Barkley. Jarrod reflected that the ugly, mean-spirited things people said to or about Heath never involved doubt about his paternity. "He's the spit and image of the old man," many said. Much of this was in Heath's facial expressions, mannerisms, and his physical build, something Nick saw every day.
Maybe Heath's presence brought back memories of losing their father. It had sometimes for Jarrod too, but he remembered that Heath had never even had their father to lose, which was a far greater loss. He chose to see the reminders of their father as something to enjoy and appreciate.
Jarrod knew that Heath had turned things around with the ranch hands during the cattle drive. Not only had he won their respect, on the way back, he had won the genuine support and liking, even admiration, of most of them. They saw that he was willing to do himself anything that he told any of them to do; he'd take a turn on night watch too, and he could do any job on the ranch as well or better than any of them. They had also seen that when Heath was not dealing with tremendous pressure, he was even-tempered and affable.
Nick had also grudgingly acknowledged how much work Heath got done and how well he did it. With Heath there, they could take on more, which always pleased Nick. Jarrod's concern was that Nick not treat Heath like an employee. Heath seemed to be perfectly content with his work on the ranch, but Jarrod still wondered. There were so many layers to Heath.
As Nick and Heath prepared for the trip, Jarrod observed that Nick also planned to take two employees. One was Cal Shepherd, a long-time hand who was especially close to Nick. The other, Buddy Bryant, was younger and hadn't been with them as long.
"Why do you need one employee, let alone two, when you have Heath coming along? You know you and he can handle it together."
"Because I think it's best," Nick said. "Maybe we'll decide to pick up more stock. Besides, I won't be bored on the trail with Cal along."
"The point of Heath going with you is that you talk to him," Jarrod pointed out.
"He's too quiet. Never says much."
"Have you considered, Nick, that maybe Heath feels like you don't care what he says, that you don't really want him to talk to you?"
"That's his problem," Nick shrugged.
Jarrod felt himself about to lose his temper. "Nick, stop and think for a minute. How do you think Father would want you to treat him?"
Nick just shrugged. "I wouldn't have thought Father would do what he did in the first place, so who knows?"
"Is that what your problem is?" Jarrod didn't wait for an answer. "If Mother has gotten past that, why shouldn't you?"
"Why should she have to get past it? Why should he be here to remind her on a daily basis?"
"For heaven's sake, Nick," Jarrod said. "From the very beginning, Mother wanted Heath to stay. She loves him now. And so Audra and I." He frowned at Nick. "And so should you. He is our brother. He fits in here very well." He shook his head. "He's a really great kid, Nick, if you give him half a chance."
"I think I've given him plenty of a chance," Nick said. "He's here, isn't he? That's what you three wanted."
"Nick, I never thought the day would come when I would say this, but I'm ashamed of you. Father would be too. If Father had known about Heath, we would have known him much earlier. I am certain of that. And Father would have loved him."
"Well, he has no love lost for Father," Nick said. "That much is clear."
"And why should he, Nick?" Jarrod demanded. "Do you have any idea what Heath's life has been like up to now? Maybe I know more about that than you do, because I have taken the time to talk to him, to get to know him, to ask him things. He's been through more than you can possibly imagine, and I know I haven't even completely scratched the surface yet. He's just now starting to trust me, because I have put in the effort. It's not easy for him to trust. People haven't given him much reason to."
Jarrod waited for a response from Nick, but none came. "You know, Nick, if you can't just do right by our brother, you can do it for Father. You can do what he would have done, what he would want you to do. And you could put yourself in Heath's place for just one minute. Instead of the place you were born in, that you have had your whole life.
How would you feel growing up without a father? How would you have feel if Father had never even seen you, didn't know you existed? How would you have felt to hear someone call you names and Mother names your whole life? To know, or at least believe, you were the reason that your mother couldn't remarry and have a man provide for her, so you were dirt poor and had to take care of your mother instead of the other way around?"
Jarrod shook his head. "One day you'll see, Nick, how wrong about this you are." He decided that this time, he would storm off instead of Nick.