With this Ring
Chapter 1
Heath stood looking at himself in the mirror, still pretty astonished that he would ever wear formal wear this elegant, but this was the third time in the first year he was a Barkley that he put this on. Audra's birthday, Victoria's birthday, and now a wedding. His older brothers, well used to dressing like this, stood behind him, looking at his reflection with him.
"I don't know what you're worried about, Heath," Jarrod said. "If Nick can look high society in an outfit like this, so can you."
Nick gave a feigned sneer. "We're not all as pretty as you are in monkey suits," he said to his older brother.
"Sure you are," Jarrod said with a laugh. "You two might look a little rustic compared to me, but you're just as pretty as I am."
"All I want to know is, is my tie straight?" Heath asked.
"It is," Jarrod said.
"Do we do this often – let friends have their weddings in the parlor?" Heath asked as they all turned away from the mirror.
"Not often," Jarrod said. "But the Cabrillos have been in California for generations, and they helped Mother and Father out when they first got here – which they didn't need to do. The Anglo invasion was putting a lot of the Spanish families on the defensive."
"The Cabrillos seem to have done all right," Heath said.
"Mother and Father helped them, too, after the United States took over," Nick said.
"I was just five years old at the time," Jarrod said, "Nick was still a baby. "The Cabrillos were afraid their land would be taken from them with no compensation, so Mother and Father scraped up the money to buy it from them before anything like that happened."
"Which part of the land?"
"None that we now own. It was farther south and west. Mother and Father sold it off and the Cabrillos moved even further south, but the families stayed pretty close, all things considered."
"So their daughter Annamaria marrying a fella named Joe Mitchell isn't all that big a deal, huh?"
"You know the Mitchell family," Nick said. "Their spread up near Lodi way is plenty big. Annamaria met Joe when he was in school in San Francisco and she was – " Nick hesitated and looked over at Jarrod. "What was she doing over there? The Cabrillos don't spend much time there."
"Her family sent her to a private Spanish convent school there," Jarrod said. "I hear Joe and Annamaria met just by chance, walking in the park. One thing led to another. They're both well-to-do families so neither one objected to the intermarriage but they did have trouble deciding on where the wedding should be, and that's why Mother offered our ranch. Neutral territory in between both ranches. Everybody loved the idea, so here we are."
"I go off to a mine in Nevada for a couple weeks and I miss all the preliminaries," Heath said. "When did Mother make this offer, anyway?"
"Months ago," Nick said. "You were off at another mine. Mother had me send you off whenever things got to be negotiated so you wouldn't get a look at Annamaria and she wouldn't get a look at you."
Heath looked like he believed Nick.
"He's kidding, it was coincidence," Jarrod said. "And it's about time we get ourselves downstairs. We're the hosts, and we better get hosting. People will be starting to arrive."
"How many are we expecting?" Heath asked as they left his room and headed downstairs.
"Count the seats," Nick said.
From the staircase they could see that the parlor was filled now, almost to overflowing into the foyer. Victoria and Audra were down there talking to the priest who would be officiating. Both women were dressed in soft blue silk and looked wonderful. They looked up when the men came down.
"How's it going?" Jarrod asked.
Victoria and Audra came over but looked a bit unsettled. Victoria said, "Of course the groom and his family are here but staying up in their room until the wedding starts, and we don't expect Annamaria and her father until the beginning of the wedding, but so far the bride's mother and sister haven't arrived."
"Well, the guests haven't started arriving yet either," Jarrod said.
"I just thought Theresa and Serena would be coming early," Victoria said.
"There's probably nothing to worry about," Nick said. "You women always tend to run late."
"As far as Nick is concerned, it's the food that better be on time," Heath chided him.
"The food is here and the kitchen is humming," Audra said. "Senora Theresa sent her cook and maid over, and Silas has everything in hand."
They could hear the sound of a carriage pulling up, and muffled sounds of Ciego speaking Spanish.
"Maybe this is Theresa and Serena," Victoria said. "Jarrod, would you please take the door? Nick, Heath, please seat the guests when they come in."
The Barkley men took their places, and in a moment Jarrod was opening the door to an older man and woman, both in Mexican cut formal wear. Jarrod bowed and greeted them in Spanish, directing them down to Nick and Heath in the parlor.
That was the beginning of the parade of people, both Spanish and Anglo, who were attending the wedding. Everyone seemed to be getting along all right. If there was any cultural animosity between any two people, the Barkleys did not see it on this happy occasion.
But they didn't see Theresa or Serena Cabrillo either. When it came close to the time for Annamaria and her father to arrive and for the wedding to start, Victoria and Audra were both visibly worried.
"I don't understand it," Victoria said. "If something had happened on the road, we'd have found out about it from one of the people who drove in. If something had happened in town, someone would have been sent out here. If Annamaria and Jose arrive and see that Theresa and Serena aren't here, there may be no wedding."
"Somebody better tell the groom what's happening," Nick said. "We might best delay things for a few minutes at least to see if they show up."
"You go," Victoria said to Nick and waved him away. "Tell him Annamaria isn't here yet but she's expected anytime. We just don't know about Theresa and Serena."
Nick hurried up the stairs to the guest room in the east wing, where the groom was getting ready.
"Maybe I better send somebody to town to find out what's going on there," Heath said.
Victoria nodded and waved at him too. "Not Ciego. We still need him here. Send Yankee's assistant, that Kegel boy."
Heath nodded and went out, hoping he'd run into Theresa and Serena arriving, but he didn't. Ciego was alone out there, waiting.
Jarrod was left with the frightened expressions of his mother and sister. "Don't worry," Jarrod said. "You know how people can get delayed – especially ladies trying to get themselves ready for a special occasion."
"If Jose arrives with Annamaria and Theresa and Serena aren't here," Victoria said, but she got no farther.
Heath came in from outside, holding a note, and with Sheriff Harris right behind him. "Mother, you need to see this. You too, Jarrod."
Victoria took the note and read it, Jarrod reading over her shoulder. "Oh, my God – " Victoria breathed.
"What is it?" Audra asked, and Victoria gave her the note.
Jarrod turned his attention to Sheriff Harris. "Where did this come from?"
Sheriff Harris said, "It was found at the livery stable, just after Senora and Senorita Cabrillo left to come here. Their driver is missing too."
"No one here said they saw the Cabrillos on the way here," Victoria said. "And Jose and Annamaria are due here any minute. Do they know about this?"
"Yes, they do, and they're not coming," Sheriff Harris said. "I told them to stay at their hotel. I have a deputy on guard. I don't want them disappearing too. You're not gonna like this, but I'm gonna recommend everyone stay right here at least until I can talk to them. I don't want anybody else disappearing, and frankly, I'd like to know who around here might know anything about this."
"I'll tell the Mitchells," Victoria said. "Jarrod, you need to help Steve if he's going to be asking questions of the guests."
"Are any more expected?" the sheriff asked.
Victoria looked at the assembled guests, who by now were looking at the Barkleys and the sheriff in the foyer, and looking increasingly upset. "Perhaps one or two, but that's all."
"Do you have a list of attendees?" the sheriff asked. "I'd like to know if anyone else is missing."
"The list is in the library," Audra said.
"All right," the sheriff said. "Mrs. Barkley, you go talk to the groom and his family. Jarrod and I will tell the crowd what's going on and then talk to people one couple or family at a time in the library and try to get them out of here if they don't seem involved. Heath, you can help us get them into the library."
"What if anybody wants to leave without talking to you?" Heath asked.
"I can't keep them from it so let them go, but get names. In a minute they'll understand what's going on and they might want to help."
"Food and drink will be ready soon," Audra said. "I'll have Silas and the Cabrillo people get it set up in the dining room. This all may go a little smoother if we feed people."
"Good idea," Sheriff Harris said.
"Yes," Victoria said.
Victoria went upstairs and Audra headed to the kitchen. Sheriff Harris looked at the Barkley men and said, "Let's get this started. Heath, go wait at the door and get names of anybody who leaves. Jarrod – let's deliver the bad news."