Chapter Fifteen

Leah was sitting on her father's foot with her arms and legs wrapped around his right leg while Bryon was in the same position on his left one, as Heath weaved his way around the front of his house while his children let out squeals of delight; Heath had went straight home after he and McCall had finished their business. When Heath turned to his left, he saw Nick sitting on his horse a good fifty yards from the house. Heath didn't know what was up, but since he was growing tired anyway, he stopped and reached down and began prying his children off his legs.

"Don't stop, papa!" Leah begged as Heath set her on her feet.

"Yeah, papa, don't stop!" Bryon cried, as he too found himself standing on his own two feet. He didn't like it when his father stopped playing with him and his sister. Even at his young age, the boy knew it meant a few things…work and rest time were on top of the list.

Heath smiled kindly and then, because Mrs. Stokes had surprised them when she'd showed up at the doorstep saying she missed them and hoped to visit with them for a few weeks, sent his children into the house in spite of Leah begging to go to Cowboy Nick; she's seen him too. Heath then headed for the small barn that set a hundred yards from his family's living quarters. He wasn't surprised to see that Nick was now pressing his horse forward. Heath had had the feeling that the dark haired rancher had some business he wanted to take care of, hence the reason for sending the children into the house and for heading for the barn.

Sure enough, Heath hadn't been in the barn three or four minutes when he heard Nick stop his horse outside and dismounted. Heath, who was stacking some boxes, stopped when Nick walked in.

"May I help you?" Heath asked unsure of what to think at both the confusion and the anger he saw in the rancher's eyes. Since he'd set things straight with Audra, and he'd done all the work asked of him, Heath had no inkling what the problem could be.

Never being one to beat around the bush, and having seen the children disappear into the house, Nick got straight to the point. "Mother seems to think we share the same father."

Heath was so startled he took a step backwards and stared at Nick. How on earth...he stopped that train of thought. When it came right down to it, he guessed it didn't matter what had tipped the Barkley Matriarch off. At least it explained what he saw in Nick's eyes.

Heath's reaction threw Nick off for a moment. It was obvious their newest ranch hand had no clue anyone on the ranch connected him to the late Tom Barkley and, for a moment, Nick thought the young man would say something along the lines that the idea was preposterous. However, when Heath put his hand on post that was near him and spoke that notion flew out the barn door.

"How did she find out?" Heath asked quietly, "I never said a word to anyone."

Nick couldn't believe his ears. This could not be happening. He exploded. "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! You had to have said or done something to put the idea into her head! My father might have slipped, but he'd never have simply walked away and left...not checking afterwards!"

While he understood Nick's denial and the fact that he'd not want to see his father in any sort of light other than the one he had the man in, Heath didn't appreciate his integrity being questioned; he snapped. "If I did or said anything, I do not know it! However," Heath stopped what he was doing, his eyes grew cold and his voice turned to steel as his feet dug a hole to the center of the earth, "Whether or not you like it, Tom Barkley was human and he messed up! He was unfaithful to your mother and then walked away from mine!"

Heath wasn't surprised when Nick came at him. In a split second, both men were taking swings at each other and helping each other say hello to the ground below. Only when they heard Leah screaming did they pull away from each other. They were shocked to see the young girl standing in the opened doorway of the barn eyes wide open and looking more scared than someone about to be attacked by a cougar. It also broke both their hearts to see tears running down her cheeks. Instantly the energy both men had to fight vanished. Heath hurried and wiped the blood that was dripping from his lip and ran to Leah and picked her up. "Sshhh, it's okay."

Leah shook her head faster than she ever had as she tried to talk in while sobbing at the same time. "No, it's not!" the young girl gasped as she looked from her father and Nick, the fear and confusion she felt reached out and hit both men in the gut. Her next words only intensified the guilt both men were feeling at that moment. "Papa and Cowboy Nick are hitting each other!"

By the time she finished Mrs. Stokes, who had started panicking as she tried to find Leah, reached the door. Her own shock at seeing the sight before her eyes showed was crystal clear. Before she could get a word out, Heath handed her his daughter. "Mrs. Stokes, please, take Leah inside."

"Papa!" Leah screamed and reached out her arms, terrified that the fight that she'd accidently came upon was going to start up again.

"Please, take her inside, now!" Heath's voice raised just a little as he nodded towards the open door. "I'll be in as soon as I can." Mrs. Stokes' eyes scolded both Heath and Nick, but she said nothing. Turning around, she hurried out of the barn with Leah still crying out for her father and begging the two men to stop fighting.

Seething with anger, Heath whirled around and glared at Nick, who was feeling horrible that Leah had witnessed the trouble between himself and her father. He'd never meant for that to happen. "I've already promised Jarrod and Mrs. Barkley that I'd keep my eyes wide open for whoever is causing trouble for the family, but I'll tell you this much," he paused as he took a deep breath, and then pointed his finger at Nick, "The moment this trouble is over, I'll pack our things and take my children away from this ranch! You will never see your niece again! And, like it or not, she is your niece as I am your father's bastard son!"

Heath turned and stormed out of the barn leaving Nick to deal with his conscience which was now giving him the beating of his life. Why on earth had he chosen to confront Mr. Thomson in a place easily assessable to the Leah? Slowly, Nick turned and drug his feet out of the barn. He mounted his horse and road away, never once seeing the young four year old child looking out of her bedroom window with tears still streaming down her face.