Chapter Thirteen

"Hey!" Nick, who had entered the barn thinking to retrieve a hammer and a few nails, jumped back a few feet as Michelle stepped out from behind the door. She'd retrieved some items out of a trunk that Victoria had out in the barn, but when she'd heard the jingle of Nick's boots, had decided at the last minute to give him a scare.

Michelle couldn't help it; she started laughing. "You sure can move!" she said between her fits of laughter.

"Well," Nick tried to sound upset, only he couldn't get the grin off his face. More than once Michelle had caught him off guard and made him jump and, if he were to be honest, he rather enjoyed the playfulness he saw in her now. "If people wouldn't scare me like that, I might move slower. What are you doing here anyway? I thought you worked in the office today with Jarrod's due in a few days. What's he going to do if he gets here to find more than a couple days of work still to be done?" The moment he asked the question and made the statement, both made in jest, Nick wondered what he'd said wrong as a flash of pain darted across Michelle's eyes. She knew as well as he did that Jarrod wouldn't hold anything like paperwork against her…unless it was so far behind it was ridiculous."What is it? What happened?" He asked as stepped towards Michelle.

Michelle sighed. Everything at the Barkley ranch had been wonderful only, now…she looked at the telegram in her hands. What had happened? That was a good question. One she had no answer to. "What have I done to Jarrod?" Michelle asked looking upon Nick in earnest, hoping that if anyone could tell her Nick could.

Nick frowned as he couldn't see any difference in Jarrod's behavior towards Michelle. Oh sure, he was busier than he'd been in quite some time, but that was it. "You haven't done anything." Nick took Michelle's hand and led her out of the barn. Soon they were sitting on some bales of hay that sat against the barn's outside wall. "Why do you ask such a thing?"

Michelle thought on the past few months. She turned the palm of her left hand up while she handed Nick the telegram with an expression that still held a look of great hurt in them. "I have to have done something. He barely speaks to me now. When I walk into the same room as him he's gone within a few minutes. In town, he pokes his head out of his office as little as possible." She shrugged her shoulders, "He always works with his door closed now and he jumps at every chance he can to leave town. On top of all that, I received a telegram telling me not to worry about work this week."

Again, Nick, who had read the telegram handed him, frowned as he thought on it. As he did so, he could see Michelle was right. Jarrod had begun distancing himself from Michelle. It puzzled him to no end. In between the confusion and the hurt in Michelle's eyes, Nick swore he was going to get some answers. "There's got to be another reason besides something you've done." Nick laid his hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting smile. "I'll talk to Jarrod about it and get your answer for you."

Michelle felt both gratitude and fear when he made the promise. She'd seen his temper when it hit the roof, though; it relieved her to realize he always had a justified reason for the explosion. However, she feared that maybe, if Jarrod wouldn't give his brother an answer, there might be trouble. Because of this fear, she laid her hands on Nick's wrists and begged him to make her such a promise. "Nick, if he doesn't want to talk about it, don't press him so hard that a fight erupts. It's not worth it."

"You're happiness is worth it" Nick thought, but he said nothing. Instead, for her sake, he nodded as he lifted his right hand and clamped it down upon her left shoulder. "All right, no fighting over it."

~oOo~

Jarrod was sure the streets of Stockton were busier than they'd ever been as he walked down the boardwalk. He was suppose to have met Gene at the train station, only his baby brother had left a message saying that he had left Jingo at the livery stable for Jarrod. The message had said he was sorry, only he'd found it necessary to leave Stockton a few hours before, something about school business. Maybe, it was just as well. It meant he didn't have to hear Gene talk about Nick and Michelle. With that thought came a conversation he and Heath had before he, left his office to catch the train…and the feelings it had stirred inside of him.

"Do you think they'll actually get engaged?" Heath, who had stopped by the office, sat in a chair that sat against Jarrod's office wall.

Jarrod didn't have to ask who Heath was talking about. He'd seen the worried look that had appeared in Heath's eyes as he asked the question. Scenes of Michelle and Nick laughing and talking came back to him. If it was only those memories that rushed by him, it would not have been so bad. Only they weren't. He also saw the dances he and Michelle had had, and the many talks they'd had. For the first time in his life, Jarrod knew he was truly envious of Nick. "I don't know, maybe." Jarrod finally answered as he looked down at the papers in front of him. Heath had a way of seeing through him, and Jarrod didn't want his blond haired brother doing that. It did no good though; Heath could tell something was wrong.

"You don't approve of Shelly, do you?" Heath said as he leaned back in the chair he was using. "You don't like the idea that she just might become a member of the family."

"I never said that, nor do I have a problem with the idea of Shelly joining the family." Jarrod's head shot up and he snapped a bit harder than he meant to.

Whether Heath would have pressed the issue or not Jarrod did not know. The moment Jarrod finished speaking a knock had come on the door. It was Michelle apologizing for being late. It seemed as if the buggy Nick had been driving had had problems on the way into , standing outside his office, Jarrod prayed like crazy that Michelle had received his telegram and had stayed out on the ranch.