Chapter 2

That was all there was to his meeting with Michael Limpert. All the way home Jarrod thought about what Limpert said he could tell Nick about Belinda – that she got scared and ran from a relationship with him, something that made no sense. It didn't seem consistent with a woman who was fixated on making up her own mind about everything. That woman didn't sound like she would run from anything.

Or maybe it did. Jarrod wondered if he should question Nick about what might have gone wrong in their relationship to make Belinda run away. All those years ago, Nick had just denied that anything happened. He sincerely seemed to be at a loss, didn't understand anything. Jarrod decided he would not resurrect that now. He would just tell Nick that Belinda was back in town, but that she didn't want to see him. He would tell Nick she was happily married, and he would tell Nick what Limpert told him to say.

And would Nick leave it all alone? Not a snowball's chance in hell, Jarrod knew. Nick would be on his horse and off to town before dinner.

So that left Jarrod to decide what to do about that. Should he try to keep Nick from going to see Belinda? He hadn't made any promises to Limpert about that. He couldn't, because he really didn't know what he was going to do. Even as he walked in the front door of his home, even as he saw the family – Nick included – in the living room sharing drinks before dinner – he didn't know what he was going to do.

"You look like this wasn't a good day," Victoria said as Jarrod put his hat on the table in the foyer and came into the living room.

Jarrod hadn't realized he was scowling as much as he was, but he figured he should have known. He headed for the refreshment table and the scotch, saying, "It wasn't. I need to talk to everyone – especially you, Nick."

Nick looked surprised. "Me? What did I do?"

"It's nothing you did," Jarrod said. "Nothing you ever did. It's just – forgive me for putting it this bluntly and fast, but I ran into a couple in town today, a man named Michael Limpert and his wife – Belinda Fisk."

Every face in the room went white, except Heath's.

Jarrod could see Heath's confusion and knew it was because Belinda had been here before his time and no one had ever mentioned her since he'd been here. Before Heath could ask who she was, Jarrod explained, "Nick was involved with Belinda about seven years ago. She abruptly disappeared and despite how hard we looked – how hard he looked – we couldn't find her, so we gave her up for dead. She's not dead."

Nick put his drink down and started for the door, but Jarrod grabbed his arm. It wasn't like he had made up his mind he was going to stop his volatile brother. It was just an instinctive reaction.

"She doesn't want to see you, Nick," Jarrod said.

"I don't care what she wants," Nick said, his face an angry mask now.

"Nick, give it a minute," Victoria said quickly. "What more did she say, Jarrod?"

Nick waited, listening.

"She didn't say anything," Jarrod said. "It was her husband who came to see me. He knew Belinda had lived here and had a relationship here that she left, but he didn't know it was Nick. He didn't know the name of the man involved, and he wasn't inclined to ask, until they ran into me."

"Did you tell him how hard we looked?" Nick asked, his voice a thin growl. "Did you tell him we thought she was dead?"

"I told him everything I knew to tell him," Jarrod said. "And I actually told her we thought she was dead when I first saw her."

"What did she say?"

"She said nothing. Her husband told me that she wanted me to tell you that she left because she was scared."

"Scared?!" Nick exploded. "I never did anything to make her afraid of me!"

"She wasn't afraid of you, Nick," Jarrod said, trying to gentle his brother. "She was afraid of closeness. She was afraid of commitment. So she ran."

"I'm not buying that," Nick said and tried to leave again.

Jarrod grabbed his arm again. "Nick, don't go into town like a stick of dynamite ready to go off. Limpert is protective of his wife, and he's a big man. You'll get into trouble, I guarantee it."

"What am I supposed to do?!" Nick yelled. "Am I just supposed to take this?!"

"For now, yes," Jarrod said. "The Limperts will be around for a few days. At least give yourself time to cool off. And Nick – they are happily married. Belinda's alive, and she's happy. Can't you just put your hurt aside, just for tonight, and be glad for that?"

Jarrod half suspected saying that was just going to sound like a platitude to Nick, but it was the best that would come out of his mouth.

Victoria tried to help. "He's right, Nick. If you let your temper guide you, you're just going to get into trouble. If all you have right now is your anger, how does that help the situation?"

Nick quieted a little, but his words were like the stings of a dozen bees. "She left me. She left me without one word. She left me to grieve and mourn because I believed she was dead, and now she doesn't even want to see me to explain."

"Nick, she might change her mind," Audra pitched in. "Just because she doesn't want to see you today, it doesn't mean she might not want to see you tomorrow."

"You didn't know her that well," Nick said. "You were too young. Belinda always stuck to whatever she had her mind set on. Why in the world did she come back here, Jarrod? Did anybody tell you that?"

"Limpert said it was to be with him," Jarrod said. "He's an auditor for the government and Stockton is one stop of many. He didn't want to leave her home alone, and she wanted to be with him, so she took the chance they'd be in and out of here without running into anyone she knew. It just didn't work out that way."

"Audra's right though, Nick," Heath said. "Even the strongest minded woman can change her mind."

"If she had changed her mind, she'd have let me know she was alive," Nick said.

"Well, she didn't," Jarrod said, letting go of Nick's arm, trying to sound even more gentling. "Nick, why don't you let me go see her tomorrow and explain to her how you're taking this? She might change her mind once she knows that, and if I talk to her with her husband or through him, maybe we can avoid trouble."

"All right, Jarrod, all right," Nick relented. "I won't go into town tonight."

"And not tomorrow," Jarrod said, "not before we talk again after I've talked to her or Limpert."

Nick shrugged a little and nodded again. "But one way or another, I have to have my say to her," he said.

Jarrod said, "I'll start opening that door tomorrow. I'll let her know how you're feeling tonight. If I put it the right way, maybe I can persuade her to talk to you. I can be persuasive, you know."

Nick accepted a little wry grin from his brother, the lawyer, the most persuasive man in Stockton. "All right, Jarrod. All right."

Jarrod finally had the chance to take a swig of his scotch, and then he finally took a good breath. Heath gave him a sympathetic look that contained a little bit of good luck with this. Jarrod gave him a slight nod.

While Nick went back to the refreshment table and poured himself another shot of whiskey. And grumbled, and did not turn around.

XXXXXXX

Back in town, Belinda kept wondering if Nick was going to come storming into the hotel room she shared with her husband, but as the night wore on and Nick did not appear, she decided he wasn't going to. "I didn't tell Mr. Barkley where we were staying," Limpert reminded her.

Still, it was as they settled into bed for the night that she began to feel like Nick wasn't going to show up. Limpert rolled over and snuggled up beside his wife. She pressed her head against his shoulder.

"Don't worry," he said. "We'll handle this and be gone in a couple days."

Belinda didn't respond.

"Are you sorry you came?" Limpert asked.

"A little," Belinda said.

"Surely you knew what might happen."

"Yes, but I thought the risk was small. Stockton is not a little town. I thought maybe no one would notice me."

Limpert kissed her. "We'll be all right. Mr. Barkley seemed like a reasonable man."

"Jarrod Barkley is," Belinda said. "Nick can sometimes lose his temper."

"Did he ever hurt you?" Limpert sounded threatening now.

"No, never," Belinda said. "It was like I told you. We were getting too close and I got too scared."

Limpert waited a little before saying what was really on his mind. "Is there anything more you think you ought to tell me about this?"

Belinda hesitated. She finally said, "No."

Even though she knew that was a lie. Even though she knew that, sooner or later, it would all have to come out. She just couldn't say it now, not in the darkness of the night and the security of what was now her life. She prayed that when it had to be said, it would be between herself and her husband.

But even as she prayed, she knew deep inside that it probably wouldn't work out that way. She added one more prayer – that the happy marriage she had could survive this.