Author's Note: A visual of the dress can be seen at the end of this chapter at the "Big Valley Writing Desk – Behind Closed Doors".

Chapter Fifty-Seven

As the train entered the valley Heath felt a welcome stirring in his heart. He was sitting on the gold velvet seat on the left side of the car; he had chosen it because of the view. Opening the window, he let the fresh air come in, which smelled like home.

Heath was glad of the distraction, having spent most of the trip down thinking about his relationship with Sharon. Yesterday, after their exchange of words, Sharon had not referenced the matter again. She was her cheerful, pleasant self which he appreciated. If it had been Sarah, she would have not let him forget the incident.

Sharon had surprised him with where she wanted to get dinner their last night in the city. She had heard about an Irish pub and wanted to spend time with her countrymen and women. When she came out of her room in a simple wool skirt, cotton blouse, and a very well-worn blue sweater Heath was taken back to when they first met.

It also amazed him at how beautiful she looked, whether she was wearing a ball gown and diamonds, or simple clothing. Heath felt like he would never know who the real Sharon was. He then decided it was for the best as theirs was a business arrangement.

Now, as the train swayed back and forth, he looked over at her and all the thoughts that had been in his head came back. He admired her silk dress – pale sea green with blue ruching and bows. The sleeves, and the bustled back skirt were ornamented with the blue ruching, while the bustle and the front of the skirt had bows of the same shade.

Sharon's dark blue eyes sparkled, and the small hat made of the same blue ruching highlighted her copper hair. The dress was quite citified in his opinion, but Heath figured she wanted to make an entrance in Stockton.

Heath was expecting the family to be at the station to greet them, and knew they needed to act like a newly married couple. That was the problem for Heath; he hated lying to his family and wished he had never started the whole arrangement. He was also struggling with the unwanted memory of how much fun the trip had been, until he made the comment about their agreement.

Sharon had been good company, and Heath enjoyed spending time with her. In fact, he had not wanted to have those feelings, because that was not their relationship. After the exchange of words yesterday, the atmosphere in the room had changed. It was no longer warm, but very matter of fact. Heath knew he should be glad, but in his heart, he felt a loss he did not understand.

When the train arrived, he was surprised to see Jarrod with Sean and Tara, not the whole family as he had expected. He noted that the surrey was decorated with white ribbons and flowers, while Tara held a bouquet of flowers. When they disembarked from the train Heath noted how the children racing up to their mother, while Jarrod watched with a smile.

"If it isn't the belle of San Francisco. And now the belle of the valley. You look beautiful!" Jarrod exclaimed as he came up and embraced Sharon, before kissing her on the cheek. "Heath has been quite envied, just so you know. I do hope though that he did something nice for you, after interrupting your honeymoon."

"Brother good to see you! Did you have a good time with the Vice President?" Jarrod asked as he hugged Heath, before he shook his head at him. "Personally, I would have declined the invitation, considering the purpose of your trip."

Even as he returned Jarrod's embrace, Heath noted the admiration in his brother's eyes as he looked at Sharon. His thought from the night of the ball was everyman in love with my wife came back to him. The comment that his brother had made, about doing something nice for Sharon made him feel like he was coming up short. Reminding himself that it was a business arrangement, and Sharon had no doubt spent a great deal of his money, made him feel better. Before he could think more about it, Tara and Sean's voices filled the air.

"Mum do you like all the flowers? Violet and Silas helped us decorate the carriage." Tara was clinging to her mother as she made the comment. "I am so happy to have you home, but I have had a great time! I rode Moonstar but I wanted you there." She announced with fervor.

"Horse mad! Until today she was all wrapped in Moonstar," Sean smiled as he greeted his mother with a big hug. The children then turned and hugged Heath, which had Heath picking up Tara.

"Papa welcome home!" Sean exclaimed, as Tara agreed. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, and her golden curls were soft against his face. Heath felt an upwelling of joy and looked over at Sharon with happiness.

Sharon, for her part was glad to see the children, and almost cried as she watched Heath hold Tara. Yesterday had been hard to put on a good face after Heath had made his remark. The trip had been so pleasant, and Heath had been the man she had known all those years ago. Unfortunately, though his comment about their agreement had reminded her of how cold and businesslike he could be.

However, she had made the agreement, and Sharon prided herself on always keeping her word. Granny Callahan had said on more than one occasion that life was hard work. Sharon told herself now that nothing would be as hard as being married to Paul. Heath would not beat her, and she would never have to worry about feeding her children.

"Thank you for picking us up, Jarrod." Heath remarked, as he helped Tara and Sharon into the surrey. He let his hand linger on her waist, wanting to keep up appearances. "What is the rest of the family up to?"

"Oh, this and that." Jarrod answered, as they drove away from the station. Heath was talking to Jarrod about what had been happening in the valley, while Sharon was listening to Sean and Tara. As they drove through the gate, with the ranch brand above it, Heath could not help but smile; it was good to be home.

"Why are we going this way?" He asked Jarrod, having assumed they would go to the Big House. Instead, they were heading to his house, which puzzled Heath. He and Sharon had discussed that it was going to take several days to get the house ready for them, so they would stay with the family.

"We are going to your house of course!" Jarrod declared as he looked over his shoulder at Sharon. "You can carry your bride over the threshold." His eyes twinkled as he made the comment, please that his brother was happily married.

Heath knew he should be happy that they were going to his house, but the thought of a public display of affection made him wince inwardly. He did console himself with the thought that it was just Jarrod and children, not anyone else.

A little while earlier…

Priscilla was running late; Ducky was coughing and feeling hot. She trusted Rosalie and Paloma but had wanted to check on him for herself. Rosalie had gone ahead with the older boys, leaving the nurserymaid with the baby. Paloma had reassured her that it was a normal seasonal malady.

After walking down the hallway she arrived at the top of the stairs and paused to look at herself in the mirror. Her dress was strawberry pink polished cotton sprigged with white floral embroidery. The trim was white lace on the sleeves, V-neck, hem, and bustle. The only ornamentation was the small pink ribbon trim on the lace.

In truth it was more of an everyday dress, but she had chosen it for that reason. The party was in honor of Sharon, and she wanted to make sure that all the attention was on her friend. Priscilla was looking forward to seeing the ensemble that Sharon would be wearing. The Vice President's ball had shown that her sister-in-law knew fashion.

She turned three-quarters to see her side view in the mirror was taken aback to see Simon in the hallway. He was wearing a pale blue vest over a cream colored finely woven shirt, with blue trousers that ended below the knee. Simon's socks were cream colored knit, with brown oxford boots. Sharon noted that his tie was a silk weave of brown, blue, and cream.

"Simon, I have to say that you are quite dashing!" Priscilla gave him an admiring glance. She was though trying to figure out why he was still at the house. Jarrod had taken Sean and Tara to the station, and Simon was supposed to have gone with Thomas Henry and Alden, escorted by Rosalie.

"Senora Priscilla, I wanted to ride with you to the welcome party." Simon bowed as he said the words and her heart melted. In so many ways he had come so far, but she knew how much he struggled at times. It had amazed Priscilla to see the change in the boy when his grandparents had shown up.

She knew that he was still missing his parents, which she could understand. What she did not understand – and had confided with Granny Elspeth – was why his mother had written the letter that she had done. Otherwise, Simon would have been cared for at the monastery until Erick's parents had shown up.

Nick had shared with her his private thought that Magda had been hedging her bets, but Priscilla did not believe that. Simon had shown her his mother's Missal, – clearly the woman was very religious outside of her one indiscretion. Granny Elspeth had offered that the letter was her deathbed confession and was to be believed.

"I am charmed to have such a well-turned-out escort." She smiled at the boy and held out her hand. Simon took it with a happy smile. They walked down the stairs, Priscilla noting that he knew exactly what the procedure was. The covered surrey was waiting for them, with Micha driving. He was a new ranch hand, having come from Russia. Nick had said that the man knew nothing about cows but had driving skills not to be believed.

The drive was barely a mile, but because of the old Modoc spring took some extra time. As they rounded the final curve and started down the tree lined road, she felt Simon stiffen up. During the drive she had been talking to Micha about his time in Russia and found out that he was trained to drive troika – the Russian sled – over the ice on the river Neva.

"Simon, do you feel all right?" Priscilla asked with concern, as she looked over at him. He was sitting up stiff straight; his skin was pale, and his blue eyes looked scared.

"Senora Priscilla this is a malvada house! We should not go there!" Simon exclaimed as his eyes went wide. His breath came fast and hard, and he clutched her arm to the point of almost pain.

"What do you mean an evil house? This is Senor Heath's house." Priscilla was shocked at the boy's reaction, even as she recognized the Spanish term for evil. She reached over and drew Simon into an embrace, indicating the driver to stop.

"The sorciere malefique lives there!" Simon exclaimed as he clung even tighter to her. "She screamed and threw things at me."

It took Priscilla a bit to figure out who Simon was referring to, and when she did it made her angry. Heath had never given any details about Sarah's reaction to Simon's arrival, other than to say she was upset. Priscilla had no problem with the woman being upset but taking it out on a child was unconscionable.

"You do not need to worry about the sorciere malefique – she is long gone." Priscilla stroked Simon's hair, and felt the boy relax as he hugged her.

"Is that true? But there is still evil in that house." Simon was not quite so agitated as he had been before but was still scared.

"Simon, houses are just objects" Priscilla sighed to herself, hoping she would say the right thing. "They take on the feelings of the people who live there. Do you think that Tante Sharon, along with Sean and Tara, will not bring happiness to the house?" She hoped that by putting his thoughts to his friends it would reassure him.

"They are going to live there! Will they not be at the Big House with us?" The boy looked very surprised, so Priscilla explained, adding that he would be driving to school with Sean and Tara.

"Can I stay with you at the party Senor Priscilla?" Simon sat up and gave her a small smile. "I will not be a bother." He added, which made Priscilla hug him again.

"You are never a bother, and I will enjoy your company." She replied, hoping that once his friends showed up everything would be fine. Priscilla decided that she would need to talk to both Heath and Sharon at some point, about this issue.

The rest of the drive was spent with Priscilla telling Simon about the food, lemonade, and Silas' special ice cream. She was chatting to keep her mind from dwelling on what would happen at the party.