Jarrod smiled as he made his way to the kitchen. Since he was no longer handling the ranch business he decided there was no sense in getting up at five am to eat breakfast with the rest of the family as the talk was usually revolved around the ranch business. He didn't open his law office until nine am so Jarrod knew he wouldn't have to get up until seven.

Jarrod entered the kitchen knowing Silas would have put a plate of food in the warmer for him. He poured a cup of coffee and got his plate out of the warmer. He sat down at the small table and dug into his breakfast. He had to admit he enjoyed the peace and quiet this morning. No Nick bellowing at the top of his lungs complaining about something.

Jarrod did not get home till after midnight and noticed the light was still on in the gun room. He had thought about going in there to tease his brothers but thought better of it so he made his way to his room quietly. He had gone to the new saloon that had opened recently and boasted they had the new billiards tables. Jarrod was pretty good and decided to test his skills against the other men.

He ended up winning ten dollars last night and in addition he had a very relaxing time. He had considered staying at the ranch but knew if he did he would have to listen to Nick complain and probably do some yelling. He smirked knowing Nick was usually the one to go out but instead it was Jarrod.

He heard his mother enter the kitchen behind him.

"May I join you Jarrod?" Victoria questioned.

Jarrod turned around grinning and answered, "Of course Lovely Lady."

Victoria smiled as she poured a cup of coffee and joined her eldest at the table. "We missed you at breakfast this morning."

"Didn't see any need to get up that early since I don't open my office until nine," Jarrod answered between bites.

Victoria eyed Jarrod and said, "Did you enjoy yourself last night?"

"As a matter of fact I did. I won ten dollars playing billiards." Jarrod smiled proudly.

"That's good," Victoria looked into her cup of coffee. "It was rather loud here last night."

Jarrod choked on his food as he chuckled, "I can only imagine."

"Nick was rather upset and poor Heath..."

Jarrod raised his hand to stop his mother, "Mother I'm sorry you had to suffer last night for Nick's ill mood but I need to get ready to head to the office." Jarrod got up and placed his cup and plate in the sink.

"Jarrod, we need to talk about this."

Jarrod sighed as he turned around to face his mother, "There's nothing to talk about mother. My mind has been made up and nothing you can say is going to change it." Jarrod leaned against the sink and folded his arms on his chest.

"I'm not going to try to change your mind Jarrod. I'm just trying to make sense of it."

Jarrod looked at his mother and sighed. "Very well mother what do you want to know."

"Why?" Victoria asked.

Jarrod chuckled at his mother's directness, "Because it's time for me to start living my life. I have spent too many hours and days stuck inside my office or the gun room going over contracts, doing the bookkeeping or traveling to meet potential business partners or negotiating new contracts."

Jarrod raised his arm to stop his mother's interruption, "Mother I'm not mad at anyone except for myself. This is my own doing. So I made the decision that I either give up my law practice to do the ranch business or give up the ranch business so I can concentrate on my law practice. You know my heart was never in working on the ranch. I have always wanted to be an attorney so the decision although it was hard had to be made."

Jarrod stopped as he sat back down at the table with his mother, "Mother do you know how many hours a day I work on average? I do and it is anywhere from twelve to fifteen hours a day and that is every day not just during the week. You are always fussing about me working too much well I don't have a choice, or at least I didn't use too." Jarrod reached for his mother's hand and continued.

"Mother I want to get married and have children but how can I do that if I am always working? I want to start a family and have what you had with father."

Victoria smiled at Jarrod as she patted his hand, "Maybe if Nick and Heath..."

Jarrod stood up and answered curtly, "No! If I don't completely walk away I'll be sucked in once again and I can not allow that to happen. Now if they want to hire me to work on the books and do the ranch business that is one thing but there will be no further talk of ranch business unless it is at my office once they make an appointment with my secretary." Jarrod sighed as he continued, "It has to be this way mother, I don't trust myself otherwise."

Victoria looked at her eldest and knew he was right, "I'll talk to them when they come in for lunch."

Jarrod smiled, "Good luck with that but my mind is made up and as you and Nick like to point out I am the Barkley who is the most hard headed and stubborn so you need to tell Nick this is the way it is going to be."

Victoria sighed, "You've always done..."

"Mother, Nick can do the contracts and all the necessary paperwork because father taught him how too. I just took it over from Nick when father was killed to help him out. Nick is either going to have to do it, hire someone or hire me. I'll give him the family discount if he decides to hire me."

Victoria smiled at Jarrod's last statement, "Is this because of what happened a few weeks ago?"

"No, but it was the catalyst in making my decision. While Nick and Heath were here relaxing I was dealing with ten angry and cantankerous miners trying to negotiate a new contract. It took almost seven hours but I did it. And then someone who shall remain nameless removed my rain slicker from my saddlebags as a joke and who got stuck walking home in the rain? I can assure you I was not laughing. Oh I was mad and the more the walked the angrier I got but not at them but at me. It's high time I took care of myself. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go to the office."

Jarrod left his mother sitting in the kitchen pondering what he had told her.