Chapter 12

Nick had to keep leading the way through all the people who were still lingering around the courthouse. Jarrod kept Linda close to him, half afraid they were going to hear some jeers and maybe even curses from people who did not approve of the verdict, but they didn't get any. George Allison was there, trying to get a quote for the newspaper. Jarrod just said, "We're very grateful to the jury. They arrived at the right decision, and now Mrs. Cain is just anxious to get on with her life."

They went to the livery stable together, with Nick leading the way and Heath bringing up the rear, to keep people away. Nick went to collect the surrey he had driven in, while Heath went in to get his and Jarrod's horses. Jarrod waited outside with Victoria, Audra and Linda, still keeping Linda close, but now people were dispersing and by the time Nick and Heath came out of the stable, there was no one nearby.

Jarrod helped the women into the surrey – Audra in beside Nick in the front seat, Linda with Victoria in the back. Heath was mounted and leading Jarrod's horse. Jarrod mounted, and he and Heath followed the surrey out into the street.

People were watching but no one was bothering them, and the crowd thinned out fairly quickly, but they were only a couple blocks away when Heath caught sight of Polly Pierce. She was standing on the walk, in front of her shop. She was looking right at him. Her eyes were saying she wanted to talk to him.

Heath wasn't sure he wanted to, but he held up, making Jarrod stop beside him. Jarrod caught the looks in both their eyes. "I don't know what the problem is, but you both look like you want to talk about it," Jarrod said.

"I'll catch up to you," Heath said and rode to where Polly was as Jarrod hurried on to catch up with the surrey.

When Heath reached her and dismounted, Polly said, "Hello, Heath." Her voice was softer this time, not like the awkward hardness he'd heard before when Linda Cain was first arrested.

"Hello, Polly," Heath said, and waited to hear what she wanted.

"I owe you an explanation, and an apology," Polly said. "Maybe I owe the apology to Jarrod, too. I was wrong. I let somebody convince me Mrs. Cain murdered her husband and I was angry because your brother was defending her. I was at the trial."

"I know," Heath said. "I saw you there."

"I heard everything your brother said and I realized he was right and I was wrong. And I was wrong to try to force you to choose between him and me."

"You realize that was what you were doing," Heath said.

"I realize it now," Polly said. "And I realize something else. You are very loyal to your family."

"They took me in," Heath said. "They made me one of their own, and they have always supported me. Sometimes I might not have realized they were on my side, but they always were."

"And you'll always be on their side," Polly said. "I tried to make you choose, and I would have been foolish to do it even if I had been in the right. But I wasn't. I was wrong. And I'm sorry."

Heath nodded. "I appreciate that."

She looked for something more from him, but it wasn't there. Unfortunately, she could see what was there. "If I thought there was something in the future for us, I know now there isn't. You would never marry a woman who tried to make you choose between her and your family."

"No, I wouldn't," Heath said. "I'm sorry."

"Well," Polly said. "There we are. Take care of yourself, Heath."

"You take care of yourself too, Polly," Heath said.

He mounted up and rode to catch up with his family. Polly watched him go, and regretted the chance she threw away, all because she believed people she shouldn't have believed.

XXXXX

It was eight o'clock before the family sat down to dinner with Linda. Her head was still spinning from everything that had happened over the last week or so, and now it was spinning from the fact that she was sitting at this elegant table, in this elegant house, with a family she barely knew existed a month ago.

"Adam and I had a good practice, but we were never this successful," Linda said.

"This isn't because of my law practice," Jarrod said. "It's more the reverse – I was able to study law and become an attorney because my mother and father worked hard to build this ranch."

"And because you and your brothers have made the Barkley business enterprises thrive," Victoria said. "Actually, Linda, the reason Jarrod is an attorney is because I knew he'd be a good one, and because I knew we would save a bankload of legal fees by having a lawyer in the family."

"I have to be nosy and ask," Linda said. "When Laura DeForce Gordon was publishing the Stockton Weekly Leader, did you know her?"

"We all knew her," Jarrod said, "and I came to know Clara Foltz too. And before you ask, yes, I fully supported changing the law so that 'any citizen or person' over 21 could be licensed to practice law in California, and not just any white male.* I've been pleased to know lawyers of Chinese ancestry too, and a Modoc friend of mine has also become a lawyer."

"Do you know, Adam and I actually came to Stockton because this is where the rights of women to become lawyers were arguably born," Linda said. "I shudder to think what would have happened if we hadn't come here."

"Don't think about the past or what might have happened," Victoria said. "Life gave you a terrible situation to deal with."

"I'm sorry you never got to know Adam," Linda said, and the happy memories appeared in her eyes. "He was a wonderful man, a delight to be with – a man who would tell silly stories about silly things he had done if I didn't tell them first."

Linda laughed, that happy laugh that Jarrod first saw just today. The Barkleys all laughed with her.

"I was a very lucky woman to have him," Linda said. "I would never have become a lawyer without his support."

"What do you think you'll do now?" Audra asked. "Do you think you'll go back to Los Angeles?"

"Oh, I don't know," Linda said. "So much has happened over just the last month. I can't even begin to put my thoughts together about the future yet." She looked at Jarrod. "Until my lawyer did such a splendid job for me today, I wasn't sure I had a future."

Jarrod gave her a soft smile, and she turned away, looking at her plate almost shyly. Feeling the need to come to her rescue again, Jarrod raised his glass of wine. "I'd like to propose a toast – to Adam Desmond, and to the hope that he is looking down on us happily tonight."

"Oh, I know he is," Linda said and raised her glass.

XXXXXXX

After dinner, Jarrod lost track of Linda and was concerned until his mother said, "She's just out back by the garden. She wanted to be outside alone for a little while."

"Oh," Jarrod said, and hesitated. He wanted to go be with her, but if she wanted to be alone…

"I don't think she'd mind your company," Victoria said, with a smile.

Jarrod gave her a small one back, and went outside through the library doors. He looked toward the garden but didn't see anything in the darkness, then caught a bit of movement closer to the house. In the soft light from the house, he could see Linda in the porch swing.

Jarrod went over to her, quietly, slowly, smiling. She saw him and looked up with a soft smile of her own. "It's been a very long time since I was able to enjoy a porch swing." She placed her hand beside her, inviting him to sit down.

Jarrod accepted the invitation. "It's bringing back memories, is it? I hope they're good ones."

"Maybe not what you think," Linda said. "Adam and I never had a porch swing. Our home in Los Angeles was also where our office was, and we never did put a porch swing in. I was remembering that one my parents had on that little farm in Lancaster. I was remembering how much I enjoyed it when I was a child. I almost feel like a child again tonight, like life is starting all over again."

Jarrod urged the swing to move a little – his feet reached the ground while Linda's didn't. "Have you given any thought to how you want your life to go now?"

"A little," Linda said, "but organizing it isn't coming yet. It will."

"Well, let me offer a suggestion," Jarrod said. "Stay here with us for a few days, relax, let me show you around. I don't think you want to go back to the house in town just yet, do you?"

"I don't want to go back to it at all," Linda said. "I'm not even sure I want to go into Stockton at all again, except to visit Adam's grave. That I do want to do before I leave the area."

"And go back to Los Angeles?" Jarrod asked.

"No, not there either," Linda said. "Which brings up a couple things. I want to sell the house in Stockton, and the house and office in Los Angeles, all the law books there too. I know someone in Los Angeles I can contact to take care of that, but I don't know anyone to sell the house in Stockton. Adam took care of buying it."

"I know someone in Stockton who can handle it," Jarrod said. "Have you given any thought to what happens after that?"

"A little. What do you think about San Francisco? I could get lost there. No one would even need to know what happened here."

"That's true," Jarrod said. "And it brings up an idea for me."

"What?"

Jarrod reached for her hand. "Let's get your properties sold. I can travel to Los Angeles with you to see to things down there. We can rewrite your will in the meantime, if you're ready to do that, and if things go well between us – and if you like the idea of living in San Francisco – what would you think about becoming my partner in my office there?"

"You have an office there?" she asked.

"Yes," Jarrod said. "It's just me. Sometimes I'm there for months at a time, but I could use a partner there to handle things when I'm here. It would be a definite expansion of my practice, and it would give you a new start."

Linda's face was bright in the soft light. "I don't know what to say," she said.

"Don't say anything yet," Jarrod said, easing the swing into gentle motion again. "Just think about it while we spend the next few days relaxing, showing you around here, beginning to breathe again. I think Adam would be mighty pleased to know you had a future again."

Linda smiled. "Yes, he would. And yes, I will think about it, and in the meantime – I'll enjoy being with Jarrod my friend, rather than Jarrod my lawyer."

Jarrod smiled and squeezed her hand again, then they leaned back and enjoyed the swing together.

The End

*for information on female lawyers in California, see

article/the-first-female-lawyer-in-california-clara-s-foltz/