Chapter 4

They didn't say much else to each other before Clarence returned with a tray of coffee and sandwiches.

"Are you all right?" Jarrod asked quickly.

"Still intact," Clarence said. "No spilled coffee or dropped sandwiches, but I got a lot of unhappy looks and words down there. I'm gonna put these on the table and leave you two alone for a while longer. I got a sandwich and coffee waiting for me at the café."

"Don't take too long," Jarrod said. "We're gonna want to leave soon. I want you to rent a surrey at the livery and pull it up in the alley. After we eat, I want to take Julia to the ranch."

Clarence saw surprise in Julia's eyes. "All right," he said and went back out.

Julia was livid. "Just what makes you think you can take me to your ranch if I don't want to go?"

"You want to stay alive," Jarrod said.

"Those people aren't going to hurt me."

"Do you want to take the chance that Matt Parker's brothers won't hurt you? Their hatred for you has been festering all these years, Julia. They're not going to pass up a chance to take his death out on you, and the way the people in that street feel, they'd let them get away with it."

Julia said nothing.

"Clarence read your wire to me," Jarrod said. "I know why you're here, but I can't give you what you're looking for, and I'm sure not going to let those people have you without trying to keep them from it, even if I can't fight them off. You left me with enough guilt over Matt Parker. I'm not going to have guilt over you too. You're going home with me if I have to carry you out – and even you wouldn't make a blind man carry you out."

Julia knew the truth. If she ever had it in her head that she might get some kind of warmth from the man who had loved her once, from the man she had loved, it was gone now. There was nothing but venom in his words. "All right. I'll go with you to the ranch. But I'm coming back here tomorrow and I'll open tomorrow night."

"No, you won't," Jarrod said. "Because I won't be there to rescue you when the tomatoes start flying. No one will be there to rescue you. You think about that tonight, and tomorrow Clarence and I will take you to Grove Junction to catch the train so you don't have to come back here."

"I'll do what I want, Jarrod."

"You think about it, and leaving from Grove Junction tomorrow is what you'll want, believe me."

XXXXXXX

It was early afternoon when Clarence escorted Julia Saxon into the Barkley mansion. Jarrod followed along behind. Once inside, Jarrod said, "Clarence, would you run Julia's bag up to the guest room in the east wing?"

"Sure," Clarence said, took her bag and headed up the stairs.

Victoria appeared from the library. She had heard the surrey come in and was surprised, because their surrey hadn't gone out. She saw Jarrod and Julia – and even though she didn't know what Julia Saxon looked like, she could guess that was who this petite woman was.

"Hello," Victoria said. "I'm Jarrod's mother." She reached out a hand.

Julia took it. "How do you do?"

"I've invited Miss Saxon to spend the night here," Jarrod said. "There was some trouble in town. Clarence has taken her bag up to the east wing."

"Of course," Victoria said. "Miss Saxon, can I interest you in a cup of coffee or tea?"

"A cup of tea would be nice," Julia said.

Victoria put her arm around Julia and took her off toward the dining room, leaving Jarrod there on his own. He knew he was alone. He knew he could sigh and slump and even grumble his heart out in exasperation, but he just stood there until Clarence came back down.

"Jarrod, what do you want me to do now?" Clarence asked.

"Did you bring our briefcases in?" Jarrod asked.

"No, they're in the surrey."

"Why don't you go get them and we'll camp out in the library and get some work done? Have the stable hand take care of the surrey."

"I could go get Audra over here if you want me to."

"Only if Mother asks you to." Jarrod pulled out his pocket watch and felt the hands. It was nearly two o'clock. "Nick and Heath will be coming in in a few hours, so we'd better hop to it if we want to get any work done. As soon as Nick realizes Julia is here, there's gonna be hell for me to pay and I'll be paying it for the rest of the evening."

And Jarrod was right. Even though Victoria kept Julia occupied for most of the day, the two of them were in the living room when Nick and Heath came in – and Nick stopped cold. "What are you doing here?" he snarled at a woman he'd never even met before.

"Miss Saxon will be our guest for the night," Victoria said quickly. "These are Jarrod's brothers, Nick and Heath."

Julia said nothing and did not move. Nick glared. Heath nodded a greeting.

Jarrod and Clarence came in from the library, Clarence carrying his briefcase. Jarrod muttered quietly, "Well, Nick's here. I can tell by the heat emanating from the living room even if I couldn't hear his voice."

"Don't worry," Clarence said. "If you need help convincing Miss Saxon to leave town in the morning, I'll help you out."

"Nick may have her out of here tonight."

"No, I don't think so," Clarence said, "though you might have to have a talk with him." Then Clarence called into the other people in the living room. "Good evening, everyone! I'll see you in the morning!"

As Clarence went out the door, Jarrod moved slowly toward the living room, but Nick headed him off. Jarrod felt him coming close, fast, and stopped. "I want a word with you in the library," Nick said under his breath.

Victoria's eyes told Heath to go with them, so he did.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Nick asked as soon as they got into the library and closed the doors.

"There was trouble in town," Jarrod said.

"Well, there's a surprise!"

"She couldn't stay there, Nick. Now just leave it alone. She'll be gone in the morning."

"And in the meantime, I'm supposed to have a nice quiet dinner with her?"

"Eat out in the bunkhouse, Nick, I don't care," Jarrod said, his voice getting louder.

"You should have talked to us before bringing her here!"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Heath tried. "You two raise your voices much more and Mother's going to be in here after you. Jarrod – you didn't just meet her today, did you?"

"No," Jarrod said, no longer reluctant to explain himself.

"You knew her during the war," Heath said.

"Yes," Jarrod said.

And Nick said, "You knew her before she knew Matt Parker."

Jarrod hesitated just a moment before he said, "I introduced them."

Nick blew up. "Then what in the world are you doing protecting her?!"

If Jarrod could have glared at Nick and said read my eyes, he would have, but that didn't work anymore. He just repeated, "I knew her before she knew Matt Parker."

Nick got the picture. He sighed, frustrated. "Why didn't you just tell us that?"

"Because I didn't think it was any of your business, Nick, and it still isn't," Jarrod said.

"What do you plan to do with her tomorrow?" Heath asked.

"I'll take her to Grove Junction and put her on a train there."

"What makes you think she'll go?"

"She'll go," Jarrod said. Then he made his way to one of the armchairs near the fireplace and sat down, turning his back on them.

Nick and Heath looked at each other. Nick said, loud enough for Jarrod to hear, "I'll eat in the bunkhouse," and he walked out the library door to the verandah and was gone.

"I reckon I better keep up with him," Heath said. "You should have told us about this before bringing her here, Jarrod."

"I couldn't," Jarrod said. "I didn't know she was coming today and I didn't know how bad it was going to be in town."

"All right," Heath said. "We'll patch this all up when she's gone."

Heath followed Nick out the door to the verandah. Jarrod heard it close, and sighed and rubbed his forehead. That's when he heard the door to the hallway open, and he heard the rush of his mother's skirt come in.