Chapter Twenty-Five

Was it day or was it night? Heath didn't know as he slipped in and out of consciousness. Since being brought back to the main house, the bullet in Heath's shoulder had been taken out, but an infection had set in. He'd fought a high fever for a number of days before it started to drop; still, he had a slight fever, was weak and drifting in and out of sleep.

Nick, who after having helped bury the men who had been involved in making trouble for the Barkleys and wired Jarrod, was now taking his turn watching this new brother of his. His past doubt and his false accusation against Heath, the one he'd thrown out at Heath just before the fight in the barn broke out, weighed heavily on his mind.

The sound of Heath's children carried through the slightly open door. Jarrod had gone to San Francisco and been shocked to find himself standing along the San Francisco Bay talking to a client only to see Mrs. Stokes and the children off in the distance. Of course, she had refused to bring the children entrusted to her care back until Heath sent for her, though she did let Jarrod know where they were staying. Later, when Jarrod received a telegram from Nick telling him what had happened, he'd went to the address Mrs. Stokes had given him and showed her of the telegram he had received from Nick. The good woman had quickly packed the children's things, along with her own, and followed Jarrod back to Stockton.

Nick couldn't help but smile as he recalled the moment Jarrod had driven the wagon though the front gate. Mrs. Stokes sat next to him; Bryon was sitting on the woman's lap while Leah sat in between Jarrod and "Grandma Stokes".

Jarrod had no more stopped the wagon than Leah screamed and flew over his lap and into Nick's arms; he'd hurried and moved up to the wagon when he heard the child scream his name, knowing exactly what the child was going to do.

"How is papa?" Leah whispered in Nick's ears. She'd again had the luck, bad or good was questionable, of overhearing a portion of Jarrod and Mrs. Stokes' conversation. Now she spoke with pure fear, a fear that could be heard in her voice, Nick just had to do what he could to reassure her and to take the fear away from the child.

"He'll be fine. You'll see." Nick answered doing his best to sound positive; he just hoped he was right.

"Are you really my uncle?" Leah tilted her back and looked at "her cowboy". She'd heard Jarrod refer to her father as his brother and, even at her young age, knew what that meant. Though she hadn't said a word until Nick had her in his arms. While Nick didn't know about the conversation, he knew Jarrod and Mrs. Stokes didn't know Leah knew anything by the look of surprise that came upon their faces; he also noticed the apprehension in Jarrod's expression. He figured that was because Jarrod was unsure how Nick would react.

"Yes, I am. That is, if you want to claim me." Nick made himself smile at the young girl in his arms. Leah shouldn't be subjected to any consequences that came from his issues with his father's behavior. And, if Heath did indeed survive, which Nick hoped the man did, he'd just have to work on accepting him as well.

"My cowboy is my uncle! YIPEEE!" Leah let out a squeal of delight and threw up her arms. It made it so that he had to jerk and pull her to him, as it felt she was going to fall right out of his arms. He wondered too if she was competing to see which one of them was the loudest, though her words had a genuine smile replacing the forced one that had been on his face.

When the door, which was partially opened, widened even more, Nick stopped thinking about the past and turned his eyes and gave the small visitor, Leah, a gentle smile. "Does your grandma know you're up here?" Nick asked as he picked Leah up and put her on his lap. It was all he could not to roar with laughter as Leah looked at him puzzled and asked, "Which one?"

The fact that Mrs. Stokes wasn't really her grandmother was something Nick wasn't about to try to explain just yet. That being the case, he clarified things for the child. "My mother, Grandma Barkley."

"Nope," Leah answered. She went to say more only Heath, who had heard Leah's voice and finally realized he wasn't dreaming, opened his eyes in shock.

"Papa! You're awake!" Leah squealed and crawled off Nick's lap, making her way to her father's side. Nick made sure she was on Heath's uninjured side.

"How'd she get here?" Heath asked sharply as could, which for his weakened condition was still quite sharp, as his daughter lifted his arm and laid it over her shoulders; the child then curled up next to him. He was glaring at Nick as he asked the question.

Nick controlled himself for the sake of the child he adored and explained everything, though his voice did hold a tone of its own sharpness in it as he answered, "You've been running a bad fever on and off for the past week. While we all hoped you would pull through, none of us wanted your children to be without family, if the worst should happen." He would have bit the words off and threw them at this new brother, only he didn't want to upset Leah.

Heath kept his eyes on Nick. The fact that Nick and the others had actually been willing to take the children in and care for them in spite of the fact that he, their father, was a product of an affair brought on by Tom's unwillingness to be honest with Heath's mother stunned Heath beyond measure. "Thank you." He whispered. He might have said more only he slipped back into the grasp of sleep instead.

Not wanting to disturb the injured man's sleep, Nick explained to Leah that she needed to come with him and let her father sleep. While the child was reluctant to leave her father, she sat up and let Nick pick her up. By the time he walked out of the room, Leah had her head on Nick's shoulder, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist as was her custom when he carried her.