Chapter Eighteen

Nick leaned against the mantle of the fireplace, being careful not to get too close to the first fire it had had in it for quite a few months, while Jarrod and Audra sat on the sofa, and Victoria sat on a chair in the living room. The Barkleys were waiting for Heath, who had ridden to the home he and his children had been using since they arrived on the ranch to get the proof his brothers had asked to see.

"What proof do you think he has?" Audra looked at her mother; the tension that Audra was feeling was written in her eyes and heard in her voice.

"I don't know; I only believe that he has proof and it is important for him to reveal it." Victoria answered as she looked from her daughter to Nick. Her middle son was turning a small wooden whistle over and over in his hand. Heath had given it to McCall to give to Nick just before he, Heath, had ridden off. Victoria couldn't help but think her middle son was fiddling with it to give himself a way to get rid of his nervous energy. "It doesn't matter to me though; no matter what it is, I already know the facts. I don't need any further proof." Her voice wasn't raised but it was hard, one would have to be more than a bit daft not to catch the fact she was still very highly agitated.

Nick and Jarrod felt the sting of an indirect rebuke and knew their mother was highly upset that they'd requested to see the evidence Heath had found. Because both men noticed it was Nick whom his mother was looking at when she made her statement, they knew she was more upset with him than anyone. They didn't have to ask why; they knew. Nick was the main force demanding proof. However, before either one of them could say a word as a knock came on the door.

Silas, who had just walked out of the dining room, answered it. No one was surprised to see Heath step inside. "Hello, Silas." Heath nodded, walked into the living room and handed his mother's bible to Jarrod because he was the closest to him. The newspaper clipping was poking out of the back of the book.

An uncomfortable silence reined as the oldest Barkley son opened the bible to the place where the clipping was. Soon Jarrod had the paper in one hand and was looking at the birth information with its added information in the other. He said nothing as he stood up, walked over to Nick and handed him the items, who looked them over. When his mother asked him for the items, Nick then handed them to her.

Victoria glanced at the items and then back at Nick. "Do you still doubt me?"

Nick, while bent out of shape that actual proof actually existed, looked from his mother, to Heath and then back to his mother. "No mother,"

Victoria put the newspaper clipping back into its place. Seeing no use to waste time discussing the matter, she changed subjects. "With the Stoddard brothers planning problems for us," she looked at her children and then at Heath, "we will all have to keep our eyes and ears wide open."

"Yes, mother," Jarrod answered as he stood up. Turned to leave the room, he looked at Heath, "Welcome to the family, Heath." He gave the blond haired cowboy a kind smile and then walked away.

Audra quietly welcomed Heath and then left, feeling rather upset at the feeling she'd tried to get her own half brother to think seriously courting her.

Victoria looked at Nick, who was again rolling the whistle McCall had given him in his hand. She could see the war that Nick was still having inside of him. She wasn't surprised. Out of all her children, Nick had been the one to have his father on the highest point of a pedestal he could. "Nick?"

Nick slid the whistle into his pocket. "There's still work to be done around this ranch and at least two men determined to harm us in more than one way. I suggest we get to work and keep alert." He growled as he walked past Heath. While his words didn't acknowledge anything one way or the other, Heath had seen all of the emotions in the world running through his half brother's mind. One of the men's idol's had just been tarnished; the wound it left would take time to heal.

When all of her other children were gone, Victoria stood up and handed Heath the bible back. Her own emotions, which had been suppressed, now came out in her eyes as she began speaking. She then shocked Heath by confessing everything. "I didn't know whether or not you were indeed Tom's son until you walked through the door. And then…" she sighed and stopped speaking for a moment.

"And then you were still obligated by your promise to give me time before approaching the matter." Heath spoke with his poker face still in place. While he felt bad she'd had to suffer the loss of her children, understood her position when it came to her marriage, admired her for keeping her promise, Heath still highly resented Tom Barkley. The man's lies to Heath's mother and the fact that the man had never checked to see how she was doing were inexcusable. The man would have known had he swallowed his pride and simple followed up to see what, if any, consequences had come because of his actions.

Victoria nodded, stood up and shocked him once more. "I know about the fight in the barn. I know what was said." She shook her head slightly. "Nick has acted before he thought on many an occasion, but it's always been in defense of those he loves very much." She again paused and then said as she laid her hand on his upper arm. "You are already proving what kind of a man you, coming here to warn us. Because you sent your children away, someplace to keep them safe from this mess, I assume you are also staying to help fight those men if necessary."

Heath said nothing but slightly nodded in reply.

"I can't make you bring them back, nor can I make you stay once this is over with. However, I can and will say this much..." Victoria let the tears well in her eyes, but didn't let them stop her from rolling her shoulders back and holding her head high. "If you were my son, I'd tell you stand your ground and fight for your place here on this ranch once this ordeal is over with. If you do that then, in time, Nick will defend and help you just as much as he does the rest of us. Your place is here with us, not out there in the world where you have no family. That is," Victoria sighed, "if you'll let us be your family." She then lowered her hand and quit speaking.

Jarrod's word again rang in Heath's ear. In between Jarrod's words and Mrs. Barkley's, Heath's resolve to relocate somewhere else once the Stoddard brothers were stopped was another step closer to fading away. However, when it came to his children's current placement, he wasn't budging an inch. "No matter what I decide, the children stay where they're at for the moment." Heath said politely.

As much as Victoria wanted to beg him to bring the children back to the ranch, she understood all too well his desire to protect them. That being the case, she simply acknowledged his pride and decision with a nod of understanding and then walked slowly out of the room.

Once she was gone, Heath made his way over to the fireplace, pulled out his mother's letter. After reading it one more time, he whispered, "I couldn't show them this. It's not like they can give you the answers to your questions and the 'good man' isn't around to help me understand." He took a deep breath and added, "I don't know why you kept this mama, but it can never see the light of day again. I'm sorry." He tossed the paper into the fire, watched it wither away in the heat and turned around. Like Nick said, there was still work to do and men that they needed to keep an eye out for.