NOT own The Big Valley or any of the original Barkley characters. Thanks to my Beta Reader though all mistakes are my own.

Blindsided

Chapter Thirty-One

Brigham watched Heath carry Audra's things up the stairs and then followed Nick, Jarrod and Victoria into the living room. Nick made himself comfortable in one of the chairs with a look in his eyes that told Brigham the man was already enjoying the moment. He would have broke out in a grin, only Jarrod was standing by the fireplace looking at him quite intensely, as was Victoria. The woman he could tell was every inch a lady was seated in a chair; she pointed to the couch. "You don't have to continuing standing."

Brigham gave her a nervous smile and shook his head. "Thank you, Mrs. Barkley, but I've been sitting too much today. If you don't mind, I'll just stand for a little bit." Victoria and Jarrod felt sorry for the man; he looked quite uneasy.

For a few moments no one spoke. Finally, Nick looked at Jarrod and moved his eyes towards Brigham and back to his brother. Somehow, that one simple action from his brother told Jarrod there was, indeed, more to the story than he or his mother knew. Still, he waited for his mother to break the silence, which she did as she caught the glance between brothers.

"So, Brigham, where are you from?" Victoria kept a steady gaze on her new son in law; it reminded him of one of his mother's looks, the kind she gave him when there was no way to get around answering her.

"I was born up in Oregon, but raised all over, ma'am." Brigham answered rested his hands on his hips, something he had a habit of doing when he was extremely nervous. Standing in front of his new mother in law was more nerve-wracking than he'd ever imagined it would be. Maybe it was his conscience kicking in again.

Victoria's gaze hardened as she studied the man before her and listened to the feelings that were speaking to her. She repeated what she'd been told by Jarrod, and then finished speaking, "Not only did his research have a lot of holes in it, but I got the distinct impression there is more to the situation than has met the eye. Is there?" Again, her glare was one he easily recognized from his own mother. Maybe mothers in general passed the look around in order to make those around them stand up and take notice.

As she asked the question, Brigham shifted his weight and, as he glanced at Nick, wasn't surprised to see that his brother in law fighting to stop his grin from spreading from one ear to the other. "Yes, there is, ma'am." Brigham looked her in the eye; after all, he'd expect no less from someone else if he was asking the questions. When Brigham didn't follow with an explanation, Jarrod knew something was amiss, but waited for either the man to continue or for his mother to insist he did.

Brigham glanced up the stairs then back to his new in laws. Slowly, he began explaining exactly what had happened and why. He wasn't a bit surprised by the look of pure shock that came upon both Jarrod's and Victoria's faces. He braced himself for the worst.

"Do I understand this right?" Victoria rose to her feet while talking dangerously low, low enough to make even Jarrod and Nick brace themselves for what they felt sure was coming. "You forced my daughter to accompany you, not knowing beforehand you'd be able to take position of mere contact, which meant, as far as you knew, you'd be taking her into Nevada with you? Not only did you force her to accompany you, but you had some men with you who, given a chance, would have taken advantage of her?" Victoria's fury was started to flow out as he saw smoke coming out of her ears and rising up in the air, along with the daggers flying out of her eyes.

Brigham nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Barkley, I did."

Victoria walked slowly over to where Brigham stood. "That is the most immature, irrational thing I have ever heard in my life! Yes, you may have done all you could to protect her, which I do appreciate; however, she still could have been raped or killed out there!" Her hand flew up and landed across his face. "And here I thought Audra hit hard!" Brigham would have started rubbing his cheek, but seeing how he felt it might as well been numbed, he figured it could wait. Nick actually found himself feeling sorry for Brigham.

Out of the corner of their eyes, they saw Audra standing on the stairs; every one of them took a step back. Audra had seen her mother slap Brigham and, while she didn't blame her for doing it, wanted to make sure Jarrod didn't repeat the action; which, from the looks of it, he was considering doing. She hurried over to Brigham's side.

"I already slapped him." She slipped her arm around Brigham's waist and pulled herself to her full height. "Now, pray tell me, haven't we all made some pretty stupid decisions at times? Okay, maybe some are more stupid than others and, maybe, not as stupid as some that others have made." Audra smiled at Brigham. "He may have made a bad judgment call, but he did do his best afterwards and…" She took a breath. "I love him. If I didn't, I never would have willingly married him!"

Victoria looked upon her daughter and her new husband. As she thought on everything Jarrod told her his contact had to say about the man before her, everything her daughter had just said and the look that was in Audra's eyes, her muscles began to relax. Seeing his mother beginning to relax put Jarrod at ease and he did the same.

Victoria shook her head. "I still think you acted the part of a fool at first; still, if you're the one that has put a light into my daughter's eye, a light I know has never really been there before then I'll forgive you… this time. But if you ever put her at risk again, or hurt her, you'll have to answer to her brothers and me." She spoke, emphasizing each word as she went. "And there will be no mercy shown!"

Brigham held Audra tight as Heath walked into the room; the man, like Nick, was looking quite amused by the situation. Brigham definitely had no desire to see this family mad; he'd be better off fighting a whole town of crooks than to fight the Barkleys. "I'll do right by her, ma'am. I really will." Before he knew it Victoria was giving him a hug as tight as her slap had been hard.

"Welcome to the family, Brigham. The name's Mother to you." Victoria's smile calmed his own nerves as he saw smiles spread on everyone's faces.