Chapter Ten

Sarah Barkley was standing by the gazebo, looking out at the people walking around the garden. Her mother-in-law's birthday had generated a good turnout. Everyone had complimented the decorations, which had Sarah beaming. She had been in Stockton for almost five days, working non-stop to get the garden ready. Now that the party was here, Sarah was ready to go back to San Francisco.

She missed Adam's company, her house, and the sounds of the city; Stockton was too quiet. Further her house was even worse; Sarah was glad that she had been so busy which cut down on the time she had had to spend in the dwelling. She was trying to decide how soon she could get back to San Francisco, even as Heath had planned an outing for next week.

Clearly Victoria had talked to him, and she could see that he was trying to be more attentive to her – or least as attentive as he could be, with everything happening for the party. For her part, being in Stockton only made her realize how much happier she was in San Francisco. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw some people walking towards the gazebo.

Tobias Anderson, she recognized as Heath's friend and the manager of the Wells Fargo office in town. He was with a red-haired woman and two children, a boy and girl. Sarah found it interesting that both Tobias, the woman and the boy all had the same hair color. She had not heard about Tobias getting married, so she wondered if the other people were relatives.

"Sarah, good to see you." Tobias greeted her happily, before turning to introduce his companions. "This is Sharon Flynn and her children Sean and Tara." He waved his hand towards the group, who stepped closer to Sarah. She could see now that the woman and children were related – the boy had his mother's hair while the girl had her eyes.

"May I present Sarah Barkley." Tobias announced, "I am thinking you might have met because of Heath."

"Tis nice to meet you; I am sorry we didn't get to meet back in June." Sharon held out her hand as she made the remark. Sarah was busy taking note of the woman's dress – white cotton with bright blue and green plaid with ribbon trim in the same colors. It was a Sunday type of dress, but of the small-town variety, and Sarah was not impressed. The woman was pretty though, with a creamy complexion, dark blue eyes, and coppery red hair.

"Back in June?" Sarah brought her mind back to the conversation and was perplexed by the remark. She now recalled the reference to Heath, which made her look closely at the other woman. She was intrigued too by the Irish accent.

"At my Uncle Jimmy's wedding, down in Kilkenny Farms. Victoria, Heath, Priscilla, and Nick all came down for the event." Sharon replied with a happy smile, while things fell into place for Sarah. She recalled Heath telling her about the event, and the whole history of the Irish Settlement. The place had sounded even more dreary than Stockton.

"Yes, of course I do remember, and I felt bad about having to miss the event. Unfortunately, I had a great deal going on in San Francisco." Sarah hoped her voice conveyed the right amount of regret. "Are you up from Kilkenny Farms for the party?" She was curious about the woman now, and her relationship to Tobias.

"No, my children and I live in Stockton. I manage the Sunnyside Café." Sharon announced proudly, and then turned to look at her little girl.

"Mama, I want to go see the horses." Tara's spun gold hair shone brightly, and Sarah had to admit she was very cute. Her blue dress was simple, but clean and well made. It was clear to Sarah now that the woman was not related to Tobias, but a widow that he was interested in.

"Sharon, why don't you let me take the children to the barn, while you talk to Sarah and keep your pretty dress clean." Tobias beamed at the woman, confirming Sarah's thought of a romantic interest. "Sarah, please tell her all about San Francisco. I've been trying to get her to come up to the city with me for a day."

"I've never been to the city, but I hear it is amazing." Sharon offered, as Tobias walked away with Sean and Tara.

"You've never been to San Francisco?" Sarah was aghast at how anyone could spend their whole life in a small town. Even Heath, with his love of being outside did not mind going to the city occasionally.

"I'm not much of a city girl. I did go to Dublin when I lived in Ireland, and we sailed from Belfast, so I spent some time there." Her Irish accent was pronounced as she said the names of the cities. "We landed in Boston, but I didn't care for it at all. Our kind was not very welcome. I hear things are very different in San Francisco though." Sharon added, while Sarah nodded her head. She had heard about the way the Irish were treated in certain places.

"I think you should take Tobias up on his offer. There are several good plays on right now, and of course wonderful places to eat." Sarah tilted her head and decided to help Heath's friend out. "Tobias seems to think highly of you; he is quite the catch."

"Oh tis not like that at all." Sharon blushed at the comment, which amused Sarah. "He was kind enough to give us a ride out today. Can you tell me about the plays?" The subject was being changed, and Sarah went along, having done what she had wanted to.

Heath walked from the lower part of the garden, and to the backside of the gazebo. He was taken aback to see Sarah and Sharon talking animatedly together. Even as he knew he should not, Heath stopped and studied the two women. Sarah looked elegant and fragile – she reminded Heath of one of the porcelain dolls that was in a box at the store. They looked pretty but were designed for display only. His mother's comment of you knew she was a city girl when you married her rang in his ears.

Sharon was the same height and build as Sarah, but for some reason she looked sturdier. It might have been the clothes – Heath recognized the dress from when she had visited the ranch several weeks ago. It was pretty but simpler in design, while Sharon's fiery red hair was put up in a simple twist as opposed to Sarah's elaborate style. He stopped his thoughts from going any further and walked over to the women.

"Sarah, we need to go because they are getting ready to cut the cake." Heath stood next to Sarah, and then turned to look at Sharon. "I am glad that you were able to make it to the party. Where are Sean and Tara?" He enquired, interested in how the women knew each other; Sharon's reply answered his question.

"Tobias took them to the stables, because all Tara wanted to do is see the horses." Sharon chuckled. "I should go see how they are doing and get them back for the cake. It is good to see you Heath, and nice to meet you Sarah." She said her goodbyes and left in the direction of the barn.

"So that is the pretty widow my mother was telling me about, that has all the men eating at the Sunnyside Café." Sarah observed after Sharon was out of hearing range. "Your friend Tobias is quite smitten with her; I have to say. I tried to put a good word in for him."

Heath nodded but did not feel happy about Sarah's comments. The thought of Tobias and Sharon together caused his stomach to clench. Tobias would make Sharon a good husband, and he would be an excellent father to the children. He knew he should be glad that Sharon might find love again, but somehow it felt hollow.

Sharon was taking her time walking to the stables, knowing that Sean and Tara were in good hands with Tobias. Her thoughts were full of Sarah; it was interesting to meet someone in person, after hearing so much about them. Sarah – and Heath – were common topics among some of the diners at the Sunnyside Café. The conversations were among groups of women and took place in low voices, but the servers heard a great deal.

There was discussion about how much time the couple spent apart, and opinions fell into two different camps. One was that Sarah spent time in San Francisco because of Heath's schedule. Sharon heard how he made frequent trips to Colorado and Mexico; when he was not traveling, he was working at the far ends of the ranch. The other camp said that Heath worked so much because Sarah was never home; there was mention of someone named Adam that she spent time with in the city.

Sarah was pretty in a conventional way, and Sharon had admired her elegant silk dress. She had felt large compared to Sarah, even as they were the same height. Sharon knew that the reason was because she had worked hard her whole life and had strong muscles. Heath's wife looked like all she could lift was a teacup; she had not thought he would have married a woman like that. It made her sad for him – or maybe it was for herself?

It had been hard to see Heath in his blue suite, looking so handsome, standing next to his wife. His wife the words twisted her stomach and made it hurt. Sharon recalled the time they had spent together in the moonlight, the night before the wedding; also, the way he had looked at her during the ceremony. It came to her that she was treading into dangerous waters and needed to stop. Sharon reminded herself she had made the decision regarding their relationship.

"If I had a barn this big, I would have lots of ponies." Tara was saying, as Tobias held her up to pet a horse. The irony of her life situation hit her hard, and Sharon paused at the entrance to the barn. She had turned Heath down, sure that as an Irish Catholic she would never be accepted in his world. Further his marrying her would hurt him socially and economically.

Six years later she was living in Stockton, managing a successful business, and was well regarded by the townspeople. There was also the fact that several eligible men, including Tobias, were all very interested in courting her, despite her being Irish. Sharon drew a hard breath in, feeling dizzy as she wondered if she had made the wrong decision all those years ago.

"Mum, you need to come see this big horse." Sean's voice brought her back to the present, and she walked over to the stall. Inside was a large grey colored draft horse, with a black mane and forelock between its ears. Tobias had lifted Sean up, who was standing on the horizontal bar of the stall door; Tara was in his arms as she reached over to pet the horse.

"This is a Percheron, which is type of draft horse designed to pull farm equipment." Sharon put her hand on her son's back, and he reached over to hug her. "The pair we have down at Kilkenny farms are Clydesdales, which are more common." It was wonderful to be in the barn and breathing in the small of horses and hay.

"This horse is so big." Tara exclaimed, reaching out towards her, and Sharon took the girl in her arms. She sighed happily as she embraced her children, realizing that if things had gone differently, she would not have them. They were the best gifts she had ever been given, and despite how hard her marriage had been, the children had made up for it. They were her priority, and she would do anything to protect and help them; it was why she was in Stockton. If it meant giving up Sean and Tara, she would not rewrite the past.

"They are getting ready to cut the cake, so we should be heading back to the party." Sharon announced, and Sean jumped down eagerly. As they walked back to the garden, Tobias joked with the children about how many pieces of cake they could eat. She looked at Tobias out of the corner of her eye; he wasn't as good looking as Heath she couldn't help noticing. Tobias though was a good man, with a bright future ahead of him. Sarah's words rang in her eye, about what a good catch Tobias was for a husband.