Chapter 3

"Julia Saxon?" came flying out of Audra's mouth when Clarence told her the singer was coming to town. "Why in the world would she come to Stockton? Does she think we've forgotten her?"

Clarence was not even mildly taken aback by his wife's reaction. "Sweetheart, you were a child during the war. Why are you so vehement about her coming to town?"

"Because she's a traitor! Because my brothers fought in the war, and she betrayed everything they fought for!"

Clarence took his wife by the arms to calm her down. "She won't be here long. Don't let it upset you so."

"What does Jarrod think about it? She was the reason his friend Matt Parker got court martialed!"

"He's not happy about it, but he's not as upset as you are," Clarence said.

"Matt Parker killed himself because of her."

"I think he thinks that, too, but he's just trying to take things calmly. I suggest you do that too."

Audra took a deep breath. "You'll stick close by him while she's here, won't you?"

"Don't I stick close by him all the time? That's my job. I'm his eyes, and I'm his partner. You know I won't let him down."

"I still wish she weren't coming."

"Well, she is. The best thing for you to do is avoid her. All right?"

Audra took another deep breath before nodding.

XXXXXXX

Every morning, when they got to Jarrod's office, Clarence checked for any messages that might have been slipped under the door overnight, before Jarrod took a step inside and might have slipped on them. When they arrived the next morning, Clarence spotted a telegram and picked it up.

Jarrod could sense him bend over and then straighten again. "How many?" he asked.

Clarence let Jarrod go inside ahead of him, saying, "Just one. Let me have a look."

Jarrod carried his briefcase to the table that was off to the right, then went to his desk and sat down behind it while Clarence closed the door and tore open the envelope. He pulled out the telegram and read it, and he said, "Oh."

"What does it say?" Jarrod asked, uneasy at the "oh."

Clarence sat down in the chair in front of Jarrod's desk. "'Arrive Stockton noon Thursday. Please meet me at station. Love, Julia.'" Clarence refolded the telegram and passed it over the desk toward Jarrod.

Jarrod heard it and found it. He immediately crumpled it and threw it into the trash basket beside his desk. He heard it plop satisfyingly into the wicker.

"I guess this is something else I'll be keeping from my wife," Clarence said.

"And everyone else," Jarrod said.

"Thursday is today, Jarrod. I take it you don't intend to meet her."

"I don't intend to meet her," Jarrod said. "Now, would you go get the Maloney file out of my briefcase? We need to get to work on it."

They worked together steadily for several hours, until they heard the train whistle that usually signaled the northbound coming in, as well as lunchtime coming on. Jarrod paused with what he was saying when he heard the whistle. Both he and Clarence knew it meant Julia Saxon was arriving.

What neither of them realized was that most of the town knew she was arriving, too. Jarrod heard the ruckus beginning before Clarence did, but soon it was too hard to ignore. People in the street yelling things like "Delilah!" and "Go back where you belong!" The Gaiety Theatre was right across the street. You couldn't miss the noise.

"How bad does it look?" Jarrod asked.

Clarence got up and went to the window. "Looks to be about twenty people hounding her. She's pounding on the door, but nobody's answering. Here comes the sheriff. I think he's trying to break it up."

"Go get her, would you?" Jarrod asked.

Clarence was surprised, but not really all that much. "Are you sure you want people to see her coming up here?"

"One thing that didn't change when I lost my sight, Clarence," Jarrod said. "What people think of my business doesn't bother me. Just hurry up and grab Fred Madden and he'll keep anybody from coming up here with you."

"All right," Clarence said and hurried out the door.

He should have been nervous about being seen doing this, but he was very sure no one would be after him for it. He stopped the sheriff quickly, saying, "Jarrod wants her up in his office. Will you keep people back?"

People were already beginning to move away. Sheriff Madden glanced up toward Jarrod's window and said, "Sure. I think they'll leave you alone."

Clarence went to Julia Saxon, who was turning away from the door that was never answered. "Miss Saxon, my name is Clarence Robinson. I'm Jarrod Barkley's law partner. Would you come with me?"

She looked relieved. "Of course," she said.

Clarence took her wordlessly up to Jarrod's office and through the door, which he closed behind them as soon as they were inside. Jarrod was standing beside his desk. Julia Saxon stopped just inside the door, leaving her bag on the floor there. She could see he wasn't looking at her, and she felt spurned for a moment, but then he held his hand out and she realized the truth. He couldn't see.

"Julia – " he said.

She walked up to him and took his hand. He was much taller than she was and his eyes were aimed right over her head. "Jarrod – " she said.

Jarrod motioned to the chair. "Why don't you sit down?" He moved around behind his desk again, and as she sat down and he sat down, he said, "Clarence, do you think you can go over to the café and get us a couple cups of coffee and maybe a couple sandwiches?"

"Sure," Clarence said, and he went back out again.

Left alone with him, Julia saw the blankness in those blue eyes of his, and her heart broke. "How long have you been blind, Jarrod?"

"A little over a year," he said.

"How did it happen?"

"An explosion. Right here in this room."

She sighed. "I'll bet you think I'm bringing you another explosion."

"It's occurred to me," Jarrod said. "You shouldn't have come here. You know you're never going to be allowed on that stage across the street."

"I've been hired."

"It doesn't matter. You'll be hooted off. You'll never finish one song."

"I go where the work is, Jarrod."

"That's not why you're here," Jarrod said. "As you can see, there's nothing I can give you even if I was inclined to. Matt is dead. His brothers despise you and they're going to make trouble for you that I can't help you with."

Julia was quiet for a moment. "I didn't know. How long has Matt been gone?"

"Five years now," Jarrod said.

Julia was silent again for a while. Jarrod wasn't inclined to say anything. Julia finally said, "I didn't know when I contracted to come here that you were injured. I had hoped – well, I had hoped."

"Hoped what?" Jarrod asked.

She looked at him, at those blue eyes she had fallen in love with years ago but that were vacant now. "That you'd talk to me. That you'd listen to me. Not that you'd just want to get rid of me."

"If I want to get rid of you, it's for your own good as well as the town's," Jarrod said. "There's nothing for you here but trouble."

Julia was quiet yet again. A new ruckus in the street suddenly broke the silence. Julia sighed, frustrated.

"Can't you hear that, Julia?" Jarrod said. "I don't even need to see it to know what it is. Right now I just hope my partner can make it back up here with the coffee and the sandwiches without getting hurt."

Julia rubbed her forehead. "I can hear it," she said.