Chapter Fifteen

"Make yourself at home," John opened the door to the two-bedroom home he and Mr. Davies had built. It actually had three rooms, but the third one was a study. Jarrod and Steve could see the study the moment they stepped inside the house; the study's door-which was to their left-was wide open. A couch set against the far wall while a couple of chairs set near the study door. A large, brown-reddish oval shaped rug lay in the middle of the room with a rectangular, coffee table sat on the rug. The table had to have cost John quite a lot of money, as it appeared to be made out of solid oak.

"You two can share the guest bedroom; it has two twin beds-one on each side of the room, though you'll have to share the dresser and closet." John said as he walked to the far northern corner of the room and hung his hat on the light brown hat rack that stood close to a brown, upright piano.

Jarrod, whose eyes fell on the pictures that sat on top of the piano, was shocked to see a picture of his brother in a suit and tie holding a beautiful brown haired woman in his arms; she wore a white wedding dress. Steve had said nothing about John being married. Jarrod turned and looked at Steve, and was surprised to see the same look of shock upon the man's face. It was obvious that Steve had not known about John's marriage.

"You never told me you had a wife. Will she mind you having guests?" Steve asked, as John turned away from the piano.

The moment the question was asked Steve and Jarrod saw lightning fast pain shoot through John's eyes. Their hearts went out to him; they just knew what was coming.

"Eliza's no longer living." John answered a bit more abruptly than he meant to, and then apologized. "I shouldn't have snapped;you had no way of knowing. She's been gone for two years, passed away a year after we married birthing our daughter; the baby died within two weeks." He nodded towards the dining room which was connected to the living room; there was no barrier of any kind between the two rooms. "Sit down and I'll get you some coffee."

Jarrod sat down beside the table next to the window. He found himself angry at life, angry that he had been robbed of the chance to grow up alongside Nick. Jarrod wished he had been there to console his brother when Eliza passed away, but all the wishing in the world wouldn't change a thing. Besides, he knew there was no guarantee that Nick would have met or married Eliza if he had not been living with the Davies. Thinking about the piano, Jarrod couldn't help but wonder if his late sister-in-law had played it or if his brother actually knew how to play music. However, before he had time to decide whether or not it would be out of line to ask, John was handing him and Steve their coffee, and talking about that very thing.

"Eliza was an accomplishment pianist, even taught me to play. Of course," he chuckled as he looked at Jarrod and Steve, who sat in front of the table, and sat down opposite of Jarrod. "I don't play near as well as she did, probably never will." He grew somber as he picked up his coffee cup with his right hand and looked at Steve. "I told her all about our friendship and all adventures we had while you worked here. She would have liked to have met you, said so on more than one occasion."

Steve shook his head and gave an amused laugh while glancing at Jarrod. "During the two years I lived here, John and I tangled with a few men in the saloon a time or two; the Davies boys had to bail us out of jail."

"The other men started the fights." John said in feigned defensiveness as he held up his free hand. "We were just finishing the job." His eyes were sparkling and laughing the whole time he was speaking.

Jarrod couldn't help but grin and let out a small chuckle. He remembered a few times that his brother and Tommy had wound up grounded to their rooms for 'just finishing what other boys around them had started'. However, inwardly, he was also sighing. Guess he should get used to thinking Steve instead of Tommy…as the man had told Mrs. Alders 'I hope you'll understand; I've been Steve far too long to change the name." Jarrod wondered if 'John' would feel the same way, or if the Barkleys ever get to call him Nick again. Of course, Steve and John thought Jarrod was simply reacting to what he'd just been told.

"How long are you two visiting for?" John asked as he finished his coffee and set his cup on dining room table. "You never did say in your telegram."

How long were they going to stay? Steve threw a lightning fast glance at Jarrod hoping that he, Steve, wasn't crossing any lines by answering for both of them. "We had hoped to stay up to as long as a month; that is, if it won't be an imposition."

John smiled wide and nodded. "I won't mind at all. I..." His sentence was cut short when he saw the youngest Davies daughter riding her horse towards his home. "If you two will excuse me, I need to see what Rose wants." He then walked out of the dining room and exited the house. The moment the door was shut Jarrod laid into Steve.

"What do you mean as long as a month?" Jarrod leaned forwards, not attempting to hide the stress he was feeling. "That's my brother; that's Nick! Why should I wait a few more weeks to tell him so!"

Steve shook his head. He could understand why Jarrod asked such a question, but Steve knew he had to get Jarrod to accept what he, Steve, already knew. "The idea is to have him listen to us, to know we're telling the truth and at least agree to meet the family…if not actually move back to Stockton someday. Right?"

"Of course, it is!" Jarrod snapped a little bit harder than he meant to and then sat back and added in a softer tone of voice. "He's a Barkley; he should know it."

Steve agreed and then said, talking in an extremely serious tone of voice. "I told you before, John-or Nick as you prefer to call him-doesn't handle huge surprises very well. He already knows me. However, it's imperative that you give him time to get to know you, time to know you're a good, honest man who lives by his word and standards…a man who wouldn't lie to me or him about this matter. A few weeks really is far too short of a time for that I admit, but it is better than simply dropping something like this in in his lap." He went on to say if they did that to John then Jarrod would find himself being thrown out of the house and fighting John in the front yard, or find himself being drug out to the barn and fighting there. "I don't think you want that." He gave Jarrod a look that asked, "Do you?"

Jarrod looked outside. He could see his brother talking to Rose. For a split second he put Audra in Rose's place. He wondered if the scene in his mind would ever take place. Letting out a slow even breath, he shook his headed. "I'll wire my family tomorrow, along with my offices. I'll tell them I'm going to be in Nevada for a while." He then stood up, excused himself and headed for the guest bedroom. He needed time by himself; time to think.