Chapter 6

There were delays with the train and the sun was down by the time it pulled into Stockton. As soon as she started seeing it was getting dark, before they pulled in, Carol started to relax. They hadn't run into anyone Jarrod knew on the train, and that helped her nerves, too. When the train pulled in, Jarrod helped her up and out onto the platform, supporting her with one hand while carrying her valise in the other.

He stopped with her near the depot building and put her bag down while he checked his watch in the light there. Carol looked around but couldn't see anything of Stockton except patches of streetlight. She was both glad and disappointed.

"It's nearly eight," Jarrod said. "I'd like to suggest something. Sam Davison will have left for the evening and I don't think we want to go looking him up. You and I need some private time together before you talk to him. I consider you my client too, if you agree."

Carol nodded. "But I don't want to go to a hotel."

"I didn't think you would, and I don't think it's a good idea to go by the jail to see Arthur yet, either," Jarrod said. "I'd like to take you back to the ranch with me. You'll be safe there, we'll have privacy to talk."

Carol looked nervous in the soft light. "Your family – "

"They'll be happy to see you," Jarrod said. "You'll be welcome and comfortable and we can deal with tomorrow, tomorrow."

Carol knew this was the best option for tonight. She nodded.

Jarrod escorted her out to the street, where he spotted a hack with a driver he knew well. He didn't have a buggy in town, and he really didn't want to have to walk Carol to the livery stable. He had a better idea as he moved her toward the hack. "Louis, how are you this evening?" he asked.

"Just fine, Mr. Barkley," the hack driver said, looking Carol's way but it was tough to see her in the streetlight.

"Louis, we're heading for the ranch," Jarrod said as he helped Carol climb into the hack. "Do you have time to take us all the way?"

"I believe I do," Louis said.

Jarrod put Carol's bag into the front seat beside the driver, then climbed into the back seat with Carol. "Off we go, then," he said, and gave Carol a smile.

Carol relaxed a little as they rode, but when they approached the Barkley compound and she saw the lights on at the house, she began to tense up again. Jarrod squeezed her hand for encouragement, but said nothing, until they were out of the hack with her bag and Jarrod paid Louis for the trip.

Carol looked up at the familiar house as the hack rode away. Jarrod said, "Don't worry. You'll be very welcome here."

The front door opened as they approached it, and Silas was there. "Mr. Jarrod! We weren't sure you'd be in tonight."

"Good evening, Silas," Jarrod said. And then he knew he had to explain Carol, because she had been to the house and had met Silas on more than one occasion before. As Silas closed the door behind them, Jarrod said, "Silas, I want you to hold onto yourself right now. You know this lady. This is Carol Payson."

Silas just about turned white. Carol tried to be calm, to be friendly, even to be comforting to this man who might just faint dead away. "Hello, Silas. It's good to see you again."

Silas turned his stare from her to Jarrod. Jarrod said, "It's a long story, Silas, but this is Mrs. Payson, and she is not a ghost."

Silas accepted that and her valise as Jarrod handed it to him. He broke into a smile. "Well, if that ain't the best news I've heard in a while."

His reaction made Carol grin from ear to ear, an expression she wasn't really used to.

"Will you take her bag to the guest room?" Jarrod asked.

"We have the room in the east wing ready," Silas said. "Mr. Nick said you might be bringing a guest. The rest of the family is finishing dinner, but I'll have more for you if there's nothing left."

"Thanks, Silas," Jarrod said.

As Silas took her bag upstairs, Jarrod led Carol into the dining room. She was trembling badly by the time they got there, even though she knew every person at the table. Nick and Heath stood up right away, smiling. No one had recognized her yet.

"Family," Jarrod said and stood holding Carol's arm. "I'm sorry to surprise you this way, but I present to you Mrs. Carol Payson."

Faces fell in disbelief. Every one of them looked to Carol, then back at Jarrod. Jarrod was a man who could speak volumes with just his eyes, and right now every member of his family could hear the message loud and clear – don't ask any questions.

But that was when the smiles took over. Nick being closest to his brother and their guest – Nick having the biggest dimples in Stockton – his happy smile relieved Carol's unease right away. When he reached for her hand and she let him take it, he moved to her warmly and took her hand in both of his. "Well, now, Brother Jarrod, you said you might be bringing a guest but boy, you have understated it. Carol Payson – my God – what a fine way to end a day!"

Everyone was out of their chair by now and rushing to greet her. Overwhelmed, Carol couldn't stop shaking now, and she couldn't stop the tears – tears of relief, tears of shame that she had ever doubted the reception she might get. She returned the warm greetings over and over, but then she realized – when they were finally noticing her cane – that she hadn't removed her bonnet. She hadn't revealed the scar yet.

Jarrod kept hold of her arm. "Carol was not killed in that boating accident, but she has been injured very severely. Carol – I'll leave it up to you, what you want to do or say."

Victoria had hold of her hand at that point, and she had noticed the bonnet and the way the veiling covered part of her face. She made every effort to keep Carol's gaze on her, and to keep her own gaze happy and relieved, not frightened.

Carol finally just said, "As you can see, I have to use a cane. And I have a scar." She touched the veiling but didn't undo it.

"You must be hungry," Victoria said. "Come. Sit down. You can remove your bonnet and eat and everything will be just fine."

Carol believed her, and she carefully let go of Jarrod and took her bonnet off.

No one gasped in horror. No one even stared. Heath took her bonnet from her and placed it on the sideboard nearby.

"Come," Victoria repeated. "Sit down. Silas made baked ham and potatoes and peas and Nick and Heath actually left enough for you to have some."

Silas came back downstairs then, saw the family getting Jarrod and Carol seated, and immediately fetched plates for them. Once she was seated at Jarrod's left, Jarrod took his usual spot opposite his mother. Victoria looked at him with a question Jarrod completely understood without her having to say a word – does Joe know about this? Jarrod just said, "We just got in and came straight here. No one in town knows about Carol being here just yet. She and I will deal with all that tomorrow, but she's here because Sam Davison wanted to talk to her about Arthur Martin's case."

"Will you need any help tomorrow, Jarrod?" Victoria asked. "I'm available."

"I am too," Audra said.

"And so are Nick and I," Heath said. "We'll all be there to help you out with whatever you need."

Jarrod looked at Carol before he smiled a little and said, "No, I don't think so. After we settle in here tonight and talk a bit – I think Mrs. Payson is going to be just fine."

Carol had her doubts, but she had to admit, not as many as she'd had before she came in here. She looked at the smiles looking back at her, even at her scarred face, even at her running away from them for more than a year. She felt more courage than she had since the accident.

"I know I have a lot to do and a lot to explain," Carol said, "but I think Jarrod and I will be all right."

Jarrod reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. He knew tomorrow was going to be extraordinarily difficult in several ways, but he gave her a reassuring nod and a smile.