Chapter 4
Audra thought that her mother going to Los Angeles with Jarrod and Linda was a wonderful idea and she couldn't wait to start helping her mother pack. Heath gave a smile to the notion, but otherwise didn't say anything right away.
Nick, on the other hand, immediately said, "Now, wait a minute. Traveling to Los Angeles is not exactly like visiting a friend in Sacramento. It's a long way off and just getting there is going to a real chore."
"There's a train now," Victoria said. "It's a long trip, I grant you, but we're not driving a herd of cattle down that way. It won't take us a month."
"Adam and I came here on the train," Linda said. "It took us quite a while but then Adam was sick and we stayed a night in San Francisco. We were being slow about it."
Nick set his eyes on Jarrod now, who quickly read them and shrugged. "It wasn't my idea, Nick. Mother came up with it herself, and Linda's right – she doesn't need to be seen in the company of a single man unescorted, especially in the town where she made her home and her business with her late husband."
"Besides, Mother has traveled with Jarrod to San Francisco several times," Audra put in, "and she's even traveled alone."
Nick still didn't look comfortable. He looked at Heath. "You're awful quiet."
Heath shrugged. "I'm not on your side this time, Nick. I think Mother and Linda have come up with a jim dandy idea."
"Then it's settled," Jarrod announced. "We square away Linda's property sale here in Stockton and then we all head to Los Angeles to square things away there. Then come back here with Mother, get things organized, and Linda and I head to San Francisco to see how she likes being my law partner there."
Nick heaved a sigh. "That's a lot of work you have there, Pappy. Are you sure you've got time for it?"
"I've got nothing pressing right now and I can keep up with family business along the way," Jarrod said, "unless you're about to dump a lawsuit or something like that on me."
"No, no, nothing like that," Nick said.
Jarrod said, "You'll always know where I am if something comes up, and I guarantee you Mother will always be with me – unless she meets someone and marries up while we're gone." Jarrod gave Victoria a wink.
Victoria gave him a smile that said that's not likely to happen.
Nick gave another sigh. "All right. You have your minds made up. How can the rest of us help?"
XXXXXXX
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. Despite having reservations about going back into Stockton, Linda decided she would have to do it, to make sure the house she was selling was cleared of her belongings, and Adam's, and to make sure it was broom clean for closing. Audra went along to help, with Nick and Heath along to do the heavy work while Jarrod got his workload at the office under control for his trip to Los Angeles.
There wasn't much for Linda to take out of the house, only personal items that she packed into the same two trunks she and Adam had brought to Stockton. But there was more room there now – Adam's clothes were not in there anymore.
It hurt to pack them away in boxes – to pack a man's life away forever is what it felt like. Linda had trouble with some things – that smoking jacket she had given Adam for his birthday not a year ago, the suit he wore to court and only to court, the suit he wore to church and other events, his favorite casual shirt –
It was Audra who helped her pack away the things, saying, "I can understand how hard it is to give them up, but Reverend Johnson will be pleased to have them for the clothing drive."
"And they're not doing anyone any good if I hang onto them," Linda admitted. But she held tight to his pocket watch that hadn't been wound until it ran down the night before he – Linda just clutched the watch, then put it into the pocket of the gingham dress she wore. She didn't say anything about it.
Audra noticed she was feeling Adam's loss but was trying to shake out of it. Audra said, "You know, you're making me rethink my own closet. I think I'll be giving some things away to the drive, too. It's about time."
That made Linda smile.
"All right," Nick said as he and Heath put the two trunks and the boxes into a wagon. "The boxes go to Reverend Johnson and the trunks go up to our attic."
"One of the trunks is pretty empty now," Linda said, "but I want to keep it. I'll probably fill it up again one of these days."
"Linda and I will finish sweeping the house clean," Audra said. "We'll ride with Jarrod back to the house."
"Okay, we'll see you later," Heath said and climbed up into the seat on the wagon.
Nick climbed up beside him and took the reins. Linda gave a sigh as she watched them drive away. "I don't know what I would have done without all of you," she said to Audra.
"I suspect you'd have done quite well," Audra said. "But I'm glad we've been able to help."
"Well, let's finish up here and then go find Jarrod."
"I'm sure he's in his office," Audra said, and then realized something. "You've never actually been to his office, have you?"
"No," Linda said. "I'm afraid we handled all of my case straight out of the jail and the courthouse, then we went straight out to the ranch." Then she paused. "You know, it's going to feel a little strange, being in a law office again. I hope I haven't forgotten everything I learned about being a lawyer."
"You'll probably fall right back into being comfortable again," Audra said.
They went back inside and finished cleaning the house up. It wasn't very large and didn't take very long, and when they were done Linda was just as glad to leave it behind. The only place she lingered was the bedroom, where she had slept with her husband, and where he had shot himself dead.
After the trial, when Jarrod was planning to see the agent who would be selling the property, Linda had asked him to see that the mattress where Adam had shot himself was disposed of, and that any blood be cleaned up. Now the only things in the room were the empty bedstead, a dresser, and a chair. Linda looked around but only for a few moments. She said a silent prayer for her husband, and then she and Audra left. Linda planned never to return.
XXXXXX
As soon as they got to Jarrod's office, he greeted Audra with a kiss on the cheek and Linda with a kiss to her hand, saying, "I trust everything is squared away at the house now."
"Yes," Linda said, sounding half relieved and half regretful. "Nick and Heath took everything I wanted to keep to the ranch and everything I wanted to give away to Rev. Johnson."
"So now we just have to decide when we're going down to Los Angeles."
Linda nodded, but she looked a bit frazzled, tired, unsure. She looked around Jarrod's office without commenting, but there was something about seeing the law books all around, about seeing Jarrod's name with "Attorney at Law" on the sign, about being in a lawyer's office again. It was familiar. "The books are like old friends," she said, not even realizing she was thinking out loud.
Jarrod smiled, "I understand completely. I don't think we need to decide about Los Angeles right now. We have to see what plans Mother might have, but I can be gone from here for another six weeks. Matt Cooper is covering for me and he'll know where I am if he needs to contact me."
They left the subject alone until they were all gathered before dinner and filled Victoria in on everything. The first thing Victoria said was, "Well, we can't go until settlement on the house here in Stockton."
"That's tomorrow afternoon," Jarrod said. "After settlement, we'll open a bank account for Linda and deposit the funds. As far as my schedule is concerned, we can leave any time after that."
"I'll be ready too," Victoria said, "but the real question is when will Linda be ready."
They all looked to her, but she had given everything a lot of thought and was not very frazzled anymore. "The day after tomorrow, or any time after that, but I'd like it to be within the next few days. I'm ready to get going again. Something about seeing your office and your law books, Jarrod, made me feel ready to practice again."
"All right," Jarrod said. "Why don't we aim to leave the day after tomorrow on the noon train? I'll have the family car ready to be connected – "
Linda's eyes went wide. "You have a family railroad car?"
Victoria nodded. "It's in San Francisco at the moment. Jarrod has been traveling back and forth to San Francisco so much over the past few years, and often moving things other than just himself, and often conducting business during the trips while he was traveling – we decided it was a good idea that he have it available when he needed it."
Jarrod said, "And it's a good idea now, Linda, because I'm sure we'll be taking some of your things with us when we leave Los Angeles."
"I don't know anything about Los Angeles," Audra said. "What's it like? How big is it?"
Linda looked a little hesitant. "Well, it's not very big, though it started to grow when the railroad extended a line from San Francisco, back in 1876. And frankly, it was a rough and tumble place before that and still was when Adam and I were practicing. A lot of the clients we had were facing a criminal charge of some sort, but there is a growing business district. There are some well-to-do businessmen and we handled some of their affairs too. We weren't the only lawyers in town but we were all busy enough to make a living." Then she thought. "I wonder what happened when we left. I wonder who picked up the slack."
"I guess we'll be finding out," Jarrod said. "All right. Settlement tomorrow, and then we catch the morning train to San Francisco the day after. I'll arrange to have the family car attached to the train going to Los Angeles the morning after that, and we'll be perfectly comfortable at my place overnight and in the family car during the trip."
Linda's eyes had widened a bit. "You have a place in San Francisco?"
Jarrod nodded. "A townhouse. There's plenty of room for the three of us, and for that matter there's plenty of room for us in the family car. We can load it up with whatever you want to take with you from Los Angeles, have it coupled to a northbound when we're ready to leave, and go to San Francisco."
"And we'll have time to make plans for your life in San Francisco, if that's what you want, Linda," Victoria said.
"I've already found out that the Pico House is the hotel to stay in in Los Angeles," Jarrod said. "I've arranged for you and Mother to share a room and I'll be in the room next door. I've reserved them for a week. I hear it's a popular place, but I think they'll let us stay longer if we need to."
"I hope a week will be more than enough time, but there are so many decisions to make," Linda said. "I'm so grateful I have your help. I don't know what I'd have done if I – " She choked up.
It was Audra who put an arm around her. It was Jarrod who caught her eye and gave her a smile.