Heath's announcement to the Barkley family may have been done in a fit of emotion and anger but after the flames of that world-turner died down and his presence in the home had become more accepted and familiar, it became fairly evident that Heath himself was actually a quiet person.
He had a temper to rival Nick's when he was truly upset about something, but riling that anger was no easy task. Heath was modest and soft-spoken and did not actively seek out trouble with anyone. In that regard, he was likely to become one of Mother's favorite children.
Trouble did seem to have a habit of finding him though. Despite his impressive showdown on the cattle drive, which may have won him his undeniable authority on the ranch, did not protect him from the continued slurs and the circumstances of his birth and his coming to live with the family was still a very hot topic of conversation in town and even amongst the workers on the ranch. Jarrod had quietly theorized that it would be a while yet before that type of gossip died, much to Nick's frustration.
It burned him, to know that things were being said just out of earshot. And Heath, who bore the brunt of it all, didn't complain. Not even a little. He didn't do anything about it, actually. After Nick stupidly countered his orders when he'd fired Barrett prior to the cattle drive, Heath had seemed disinclined to defend himself at all. He took it with a quiet little half-smile that spoke of a lifetime of such treatment and just worked all the harder. He didn't tell Nick or Jarrod or anyone else which meant that they couldn't do anything either, but some nights he drank a little heavier than usual and there was a harder look in his eyes and a tightness to his smile that spoke of all the emotions he was trying hard to hide.
Nick couldn't do anything about the wounds Heath decided to hide from them. But when his brother came home one night with a black eye and sore ribs and an "it was nothing" excuse, well… Nick could definitely do something about that.
He watched Heath head up the stairs to go soak in the bathtub, swallowed a quick finger of whiskey, and headed out the front door to the bunkhouse. His strides were purposeful and sure as he crossed the yard, his righteous fury bubbling just under his skin. He could hear the chatter and laughter of their employees as he neared, pleased that none of them seemed to have left to go to town for the night. He wasn't interested in doing this twice.
The door slammed shut behind him and the laughter died as the men collectively turned and saw the expression on his face.
For once he didn't yell. He was angry past the point of yelling.
"Which one of you hit my brother?"
His voice was calm and dangerous and tonight, he was going to correct whatever his mistakes in all this were and make sure everyone on this ranch knew exactly where Heath stood in his eyes. He was going to make sure that their cowardly slights and muttered slurs towards his younger brother stopped today and never happened again.
A/N Pretty certain the guy Heath fired in 40 Rifles was named Barrett. I'm willing to be fact-checked on this though.
Heath being a bastard child is brought up often enough in the show that I can't help but feel it continued to be somewhat of an issue for him with the people on the ranch, even though he won his right to authority over the men. Responding negatively or by firing anyone who felt the need to say something about it would likely only increase any ire against him, hence my deciding that he simply tries to ignore it.