Chapter 2

Startled at her touch, Dakota just said, "Hello."

"Hello?!" the taller dark-haired man said, and he looked furious. "All this time, you turn up out of the blue and say 'hello'?!"

The older woman held her hand up to stop the man from talking. "Nick – " she said, and then she turned back toward Dakota. "Jarrod, what's happened to you?" she asked. She could tell that even if he was here, in front of her, something was still wrong, even if the taller man didn't realize it.

Dakota stuttered himself now. "It's complicated."

The older woman took him by the arm and turned him toward the living room. "Let's sit down and talk. Would you like a drink?"

Dakota spotted the little table that had carafes and bottles of whiskey on it, along with the finest crystal he'd ever seen. "Maybe some whiskey."

"What, no scotch?" the taller man asked sarcastically as he reached that little table and poured whiskey.

The older woman sat Dakota down on a settee and sat down beside him. The young woman sat in a chair opposite the settee, and the blond man sat in another one. The tall man gave Dakota a glass of whiskey and then went back to pour one for himself. "Do you want anything, Mother?" he asked.

"No, not yet," the older woman said.

"Heath? Audra?"

"No," the blond man said.

The younger woman said, "Nothing for me, Nick."

The dark-haired man poured himself a quick drink, turned around and said, "Okay, let's hear it."

"Nick!" the older woman said again, more forcefully this time.

Dakota could feel the anger radiating out of the man, but he had to do some fast thinking to figure out why. The man didn't give him much of a chance though, because he rapidly said to the older woman, "More than a year! More than a year he's been gone without a peep, and now he waltzes in here large as life – "

Dakota wasn't sure why, but he just interrupted the man. "Maybe I have a reason if you'll give me half a chance to talk."

"Go ahead!" the man said. "Talk!"

Dakota looked around at these people, but the older woman and the blond man were the only ones to pick up on the look in his eyes. "My God," the blond man said. "You don't have a clue who we are, do you?"

The older woman's eyes grew wet. Dakota shook his head. "I don't," he said, looking at the older woman. "I'm sorry." He took the newspaper clipping out of his pocket and handed it to her.

The tall man looked over her shoulder before she passed the clipping to the blond man. He looked at it and passed it to the younger woman. The dark-haired man wandered back toward the table with the liquor on it and poured himself some more.

Dakota took a sip of his drink, but his hands were shaking now.

"What happened?" the older woman asked.

"I was in Rockville, California, a little over a year ago," Dakota said. "I'm told I was knocked off my horse and wandered around for an entire day, out of my head. I made it to a small ranch house, and these people named Mathews took me in, but when I came to, I had no idea who I was or what I was doing there. I worked for that family for a week or so, then they sold out and I started making my way east, trying to find out who I was and where I belonged. I don't know why east - I was just guessing. I was in Ely, Nevada when my boss – a man named Carlisle – found an old Sacramento newspaper with that picture in it. I spent the last year trying to find out who I was, but until I got that photo about a week ago, I didn't have any idea. I'm sorry. I have a name now, but that's all I have."

The older woman took his hand. "No, Jarrod, there's no reason for you to be sorry."

"I'm the one who's sorry," the tall man said, calmer now. "It's just, we looked for you and looked for you."

"You went up to Rockville on business for the State Land Office," the blond man said. "When you didn't get where you were supposed to be, Nick and I went after you. All we ever learned was that somebody found your horse and your personal things but nobody ever found you."

"We thought you were dead," the younger woman said. "Oh, Jarrod, we thought you were dead."

"I'm sorry," Dakota said again, and inside he thought to himself, whoever I was really is dead. He took a deep breath, near tears himself. "Look, I don't mean to be short with you, but – can you tell me who you are?"

The people he didn't know all actually jumped. The older woman took his hand again. "I'm sorry. We've just been so surprised, we haven't even been thinking that you – well, you told us, but it went right by. You don't know who we are."

Dakota shook his head. "No, I don't."

"I'm Victoria Barkley," she said. "I'm your mother. You are my oldest son. The tall man who's short on manners is your brother, Nick. This other man is your brother Heath, and this young woman is your sister, Audra."

It was surreal for every single one of them, Dakota included. He was learning these people were his family, but as he looked at them, he was looking at strangers.

Heath asked, "Do you recognize any of us, Jarrod?"

Dakota shook his head. "I don't even recognize my own name yet. I've been going by Dakota. The boy at the Mathews ranch gave it to me. It was better than 'hey, you.'" He took the last healthy swig of his whiskey.

"Another?" Nick asked.

Dakota shook his head again. "No. I think I'd better stay sober." He handed Nick his empty glass.

Nick noticed his hands. They were thicker and more calloused than they ever were before, a couple of his nails torn. He looked at the man, and he knew this was his brother Jarrod, but he wasn't Jarrod. Not the well-educated, well-groomed attorney who left here a year ago and disappeared.

Dakota locked gazes with Nick for a moment. He could see how uncomfortable the man still looked. Dakota said, "I saw the doctor in Rockville right after I got hurt. He said it was possible my memory would never come back, and it hasn't. I'm sorry, but I don't have any recollection of this place, or of any of you, or of who I was before. It's all just gone."

"That doesn't mean you don't belong here," Audra said.

"It will take some adjustment for all of us," Victoria said, "but you do belong here. You are my son. There's not a doubt in my mind."

Dakota smiled a little. "Are you sure you can resurrect me? The man you knew – well, in a way, he is dead. He's not coming back. The man I am now is the man who's gonna stay."

Nick and Heath looked at each other, then looked away.

"What name do you want us to call you?" Victoria asked. "Jarrod, or Dakota?"

He appreciated that she asked, and he admitted, "I'm kinda used to Dakota. I think, if it's not too awkward for you – but Jarrod is all right, too."

"Dakota does kind of suit you, too," Audra said.

Victoria said, "I wish I could say we still had some of your old clothes around, but we gave them away when – " She hesitated. "When we couldn't find you. But would you like to wash up? If you came from Ely, you've had a long trip."

"I had a stopover in Sacramento, but yes, I would like to wash up, if someone will show me where to go."

Heath stood up. "Let me show you."

Dakota got up and followed Heath. Heath headed upstairs, but Dakota hesitated for just a moment, wondering how the pump could be upstairs. When Heath looked back at him, Dakota followed.

As soon as they were out of sight, Victoria dissolved in tears. Audra quickly came beside her and held her. "Don't worry, Mother, we'll work it out," Audra said.

"At least he's home again," Nick said.

"Is he?" Victoria asked. "I know this is Jarrod, but he's not the Jarrod we knew."

"Doesn't mean he won't get a lot of himself back," Nick said. "Give it some time. He won't stay this much a stranger."

"Oh, I hope not," Victoria said and wiped her face.

XXXXXXX

Heath showed his reclaimed brother the way to the water closet, and Dakota was shocked when he opened the door. For all intents and purposes, this was Dakota's first introduction to a wc. His eyebrows went up by themselves.

Heath noticed and smiled. "There are clean towels in the cabinet in the corner. I'll stick around here in the hall in case you need anything."

"Thanks," Dakota said, and then he realized something that had been itching at the back of his mind. "You don't seem as awkward with me as the others do."

Heath smiled a little more. "I've been where you are. I didn't grow up here. I'm your half-brother – same father, different mother. I came here for the first time not three years ago. Kinda understand how it is to find out a bunch of strangers are your relatives. And to find out there's such a thing as indoor plumbing."

Dakota chuckled. He liked this man. "Tell me something – even if it sounds stupid."

"What's that?"

"How old am I?"

Heath laughed. "You're 33 by now, almost 34. I'm 26. Nick is 29 almost 30, Audra 20, and Mother is – well, Mother is Mother."

Dakota chuckled a little more. "Tell me something else," he said then, seriously. "How hard was it for you to fit in here?"

"Not as hard as I thought it would be," Heath said. "These are good people, Dakota. Give them a chance. They already love you."

Dakota smiled a sad smile. "They love Jarrod Barkley. Whether they love me or not – well, I guess that remains to be seen."

Heath nodded. "Maybe, but they came to love me, and I came in the door with both feet on backwards."

Dakota out and out laughed this time.

Heath gave him a slap on the arm. "Just hang in there, Pappy."

"Pappy?" Dakota asked.

Heath smiled. He'd forgotten for a moment. "Your nickname. Seems you got it young, and when Father died – before I came along – they gave it to you for real. You're old enough you became a father for Audra and Eugene."

"Eugene?"

"Sorry. Another brother, back east in medical school now."

Dakota took a deep breath. "I'm gonna have a time just remembering names."

"You'll do fine," Heath said, and as Dakota went into the wc, he added, "If you have a problem, just try 'hey, you.'"