Chapter Twenty Four

Nick, who was conveniently visiting people outside the social hall, saw the Marquee drive up in the carriage he had rented. It made his blood boil; though, for the sake of his brother and Michelle, he fought down the urge to purposely make his way to the Marquee and give the 'gentleman' a not so friendly welcome. As it was, he made his way towards the door of the social hall, making it appear as if he was simply mingling with other friends.

When it came to the Marquee, he swore under his breath. He had hoped none of the guests were outside the building, let alone one of the Barkleys. It might not have upset him, only he had decided that, if no one was outside, he'd simply forget trying to lure his target away from the social hall. Hiding in one of the nearby buildings and shooting the man and then denying ever being in town would have been easier than anything he could think of. Only now, seeing the men, and some of the women, talking with Nick Barkley did away with that plan. Guess it was back finding another way to deal with Jarrod Barkley.

"Hello, what a surprise to see you," Nick stood tall and unbending, as the Marquee spoke without emotion and his eyes definitely held a look of loathing in them as he after parking his carriage at the side of the building and climbed own, approached him. "I have come to talk to my daughter." The Marquee lied through his teeth and he looked upon Nick, doing his best not to show the fact that he actually found Nick quite intimidating. If only Michelle had fallen for this one; the Marquee told himself. He could have very easily put a bullet into the hot tempered rancher without a second thought.

"She doesn't want anything to do with you." Nick dug his feet in deeper and shot glares of arrows towards the Marquee.

"She is my daughter. I will talk to her." The Marquee started to go past Nick only to find the famous rancher blocking his way once more.

"I don't think so." Nick was talking loud enough for all of Stockton to hear him, but he didn't care. He wanted everyone within ear shot to know what he thought of this man and what he'd done to Michelle. "Shelly does not want anything to do with you and, to be frank, after beating her the way you did; I don't care to see you near her either."

"Her name is Michelle!" The Marquee snapped. "And I did not beat her." He stuck his nose up in the air. "I simply slapped her a few times, for the things that came out of her mouth."

"Slapped?" Nick roared loud enough to shake every building standing within a mile radius and took a step forward, causing the Marquee to actually pale slightly and back up. "I saw the bruises on SHELLY'S face! I saw them on her arms and, if you ask my mother and sister, they saw the marks you left on her back! You beat her and, if she hadn't run when she did, you'd have killed her!" He then proceeded to tell the Marquee exactly what he thought about all the Marquee had done, along with his attitude towards everyone in Granite City. By the time Nick was through everyone who stood nearby was either shouting their own comments or clapping loudly.

As furious as the Marquee was at Nick, he didn't have a chance to reply as the rest of the Barkleys and Michelle walked out of the social hall; they'd heard Nick's bellowing through the windows of the hallway and had hurried out to see what was going on. It did not pass Nick by that the moment Jarrod had seen the Marquee he had stepped closer to Michelle and had put his arms around her shoulders. While any hopes of Michelle coming back to him vanished as he saw Michelle wrapping her arms around Jarrod also, the commitment to give her and his brother his full support climbed sky high. "I…" he started to speak until Michelle, who had recovered from the initial shock of seeing her father once more, let go of Jarrod and stepped forward.

"Whether you stay or leave is up to you, Mr. Lacaise. However, know this, as of this morning my name is Shelly LaBaron, and you are not my father anymore." Michelle stood as tall and straight as she ever had, speaking with a tone that left no doubt as to the sincerity of her words.

Shock waves rolled over the Marquee as he looked upon his only child, one who he had never thought would have such a backbone. For a small moment, and it was small, he regretted his actions and his words. Then his ugly pride fought its way to the surface once more. "You have turned her against me!" The Marque hissed as he glared at Jarrod. "You have turned Michelle against her own flesh and blood, and I will see that you pay!" He then turned and stormed off, leaving fear for Jarrod running through everyone's veins.

"He will come back." Michelle spoke barely above a whisper as the crowd began to disperse, though the Barkleys gathered around Jarrod and Michelle. "He will kill you if he can or at least hurt you badly." She looked at Jarrod with fear in her eyes.

As they had seen the hatred in the Marquee's eyes and heard it when he talked, none of the Barkleys were about to disagree with Michelle. It seemed like an eternity before Jarrod, who spoke first, break the unbearable silence that had fallen around the social hall. "Nick, would you please take Shelly back into the party? I need to talk to Heath for a little while." His eyes begged Nick to forgive him if he was out of line in asking.

Nick couldn't figure out why Jarrod needed to talk to Heath in private, only he wasn't about to tell him no either. With the Marquee in town, he wasn't about leave either Jarrod or Michelle without backup. Since Jarrod had Heath, Nick nodded slightly and held out his arm. "I might as well get a couple of dances in before we leave." Nick was smiling from ear to ear as he spoke. He didn't care about the uneasy feeling that now accompanied all of them. He was going to make sure Michelle had a good time no matter what.

Once Nick, Michelle and the others disappeared back into the building Jarrod turned to Heath. "How intent are you on attending that dance in there? Jarrod asked as he nodded his head towards the building next to them.

"It can wait." Heath asked as he folded his arms and looked at Jarrod, wondering what the man was thinking. "What did you need?"

"It's like this." Jarrod looked around, lowered his voice and started explaining everything he had on his mind.

"Do you think it will work?" Heath asked as he unfolded his arms.

Jarrod shrugged his shoulders and answered, "If the Marquee doesn't pull a stunt of his own first, it should."

"All right, but you're gonna have to deal with the family when they find out I've left." Heath said as he turned and headed for the livery stable, hoping Jarrod's plan would stop the Marquee once and for all.