Chapter Sixteen

Jarrod Barkley looked up from the paperwork on his desk and was surprised to see that it was almost one o'clock in the afternoon. On his way into town that morning he had met up with Victoria, who told him about her unsuccessful attempt to talk to Sarah. He had been sorry to hear that but was not sure what Victoria would have accomplished if she had talked to Sarah.

When he had arrived in town, he had gone to the telegraph office, to send wires to Senor Delgado and to the Pinkerton's in San Francisco. Jarrod wanted as much information about Simon's grandparents as possible, since they would have final say in where Simon would end up living. Unfortunately, he was aware that it could be several months before the situation was resolved. Jarrod was concerned about Heath's already strong attachment to the child which would only increase the longer Simon stayed at the ranch.

When he arrived at his office June Goshen, his secretary in Stockton was waiting for him, with work to be taken care of. Jarrod had left his law clerk in San Francisco, so he was pulling double duty in Stockton. The morning had been spent dealing with filings, and then he had set to work on a tricky brief, for an appeal he would present next week.

"June, would you go over to the Sunnyside Café and get me some lunch? I had no idea it was so late." Jarrod stood up from his desk and walked out to where the older woman's desk was. She was the widow of a judge, who had helped her husband when he was practicing law. June had often said there was no reason to waste all her knowledge, and she did not like to sit home and knit.

"Of course, Jarrod, what would you like?" June smiled and he told her just to get whatever the day's special was. After she left, he poured some coffee and went back to work, trying to figure out what words to use. His clock chiming the bottom of the hour made him realize that June had been gone much longer than she should have been. He was wondering if he should go check on her when she came into the office.

"Jarrod, I have your lunch – chicken salad, split pea soup, and rolls." She announced as she put the covered basket on his desk. He noticed that she was not smiling, and that her brows were puckered in worry. "I don't normally share the town gossip with you, but I think you might want to hear this." June paused and waited for his reaction.

"Am I really going to want to know?' He asked cautiously.

"There is talk that Heath has a son, who is staying at your family's house" she answered. "I heard too that Heath's wife has left for San Francisco – permanently." Her voice was soft, and she gave Jarrod a sad look. Jarrod was surprised at how fast the news had gotten around town, since only the family and house staff knew about Simon.

He then thought back to this morning and had a good idea how the talk had started; he would have to confirm his suspicion with his mother tonight. Now though, he had to give June – an old family friend – an answer. It came to him that he could use her to maybe deflect the gossip around town.

"Simon Folsom is staying with us while I locate his grandparents, the boy's legal guardians. His parents, friends of ours from Rio Blanco, back when we owned the mine" he paused to see if she remembered. When she nodded her head, Jarrod continued "his parents were killed by bandits as they were coming back from the provincial capital. Since Heath had worked with Simon's father, who ran the mine there, the lawyer had taken the child to Heath's house. Sarah was already going to San Francisco, and of course we already have a nursery at the Big House."

"I see." June gave him a piercing look, which made Jarrod work hard to keep his countenance smooth. "Would you like me to share that information around town?" The way she asked made him aware that she knew there was more to the story.

"Not unless someone asks you directly, about the situation. Otherwise, it is best to let the gossip run its course and not add to it." Jarrod did not want it to look he was purposefully spreading the story, but he knew the information would get around. June left his office, and Jarrod looked down at the basket, and realized he had lost his appetite.

"Good afternoon Lovely Lady." Jarrod arrived home earlier than usual, wanting to talk to Victoria privately. He found her in the front parlor, sewing baby garments and drinking tea.

"Jarrod, you're home early." Victoria stood up and gave him a hug. He noted that she was smiling; very different from this morning's sad expression. Jarrod wished he were not going to make her sad again.

"I finished what I needed to" he took a deep breath "I want to talk to you about this morning." Jarrod walked over and poured himself a scotch and indicated the sherry bottle for her.

"Will sherry be enough? Or do I need scotch too?" Victoria asked warily. "I'll start with sherry."

"This morning when I met you on the road, you said that you'd missed Sarah; did you talk to Penny?" He hoped he did not sound like he was interrogating a witness.

"Yes, I did. I went to Heath and Sarah's first, but Juanita said that Sarah had already gone into town. I went to see Penny, who told me that Sarah had taken the early train." Victoria explained, tilting her head.

Just then Nick and Heath came in, and Jarrod thought about how to proceed. He decided that it was better for them to be aware of the talk in town. He indicated for his brothers to come join them in the front room.

"I want to go check on Simon." Heath answered and turned to head upstairs.

"No Heath, you need to hear this." Jarrod's voice firm, and he noticed that Heath reluctantly came into the room. The sooner Simon's grandparents showed up the better he thought to himself.

"Mother was telling me about her morning." Jarrod stated, and turned to look at Victoria expectantly.

"Heath, Sarah had already left for San Francisco." She went over and laid her hand on his arm with a sad expression.

"You said you spoke to Penny" Jarrod hung the statement out there. "What was her reaction to the news?"

"Why are you asking Jarrod?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face. Nick and Heath also wore puzzled looks, he noted.

"The story about Simon – Sarah's version of the story – is all over town." Jarrod finished his scotch and went to pour some more. "The only source is Penny, but I don't know why she would do something like this."

"Because she sees Sarah has the victim in all this!" Victoria exclaimed, recalling her morning with Penny. "She made it very clear she would support Sarah no matter what. Further when I tried to explain about Simon's grandparents, she accused me – or rather you Jarrod – of making up the story to avoid a scandal."

"I am sorry to hear that. I would have thought that Penny, after everything she'd been through would want the truth." Jarrod sighed; as he recalled how Wilton Rose had orchestrated one of the best finessed frauds the country had ever seen.

"Penny made it clear that all she cared about was Sarah and I can see her hanging us all out to dry!" Victoria retorted quickly, and Jarrod started to discern his Mother's anger at Heath's Mother-in-law.

"Why does Sarah see herself as the victim? Simon has been left an orphan, and only has me to provide for him." Heath threw his head back, as he regarded his family with baleful eyes. "I don't know why it is a big deal what is being said in town." The sentence was delivered in an accusatory tone, which caused the inhabitants in the room to all pause.

Jarrod was shocked at how short-sighted Heath was being, even as he recalled how attached Heath was to the boy. He signed with sadness, knowing how much his brother had wanted a son.

Victoria recoiled at Heath's declaration that the boy only had him; in truth he had a valid set of grandparents. It was Nick though that gave vent to displeasure they were all feeling, and he did it in typical Nick fashion.

"Good god Heath are you really so dense?" Nick's voice boomed around the room, before he went to go pour himself a glass of whiskey, which he quickly took a large swallow of. "You have turned your life, your marriage, and our lives upside down because of some letter your old girlfriend wrote." He stomped his booted, spurred foot for emphasis.

In truth Nick was reacting to how he had felt that Heath had stonewalled him all day, when he had tried to talk about the situation with Sarah and Simon. He knew his brother was a private person and had been willing to honor that when it did not impact the family; this though was different.

"I would have expected more backbone from you boy! You let your wife traipse around San Francisco without you, before she throws you out of your house, all because of some letter that might contain false information?" Nick snorted and finished his drink. "Now, when Jarrod is trying to look out for Simon's future, your mother-in-law is turning the matter into the town scandal."

"Nick, I think you are done." Victoria raised her voice and stepped between the two men. She understood Nick's anger but did not want it to destroy the bond between the brothers.

"I haven't even started yet Mother." Nick answered and Victoria sighed as she looked at Jarrod for help.

"Because of your guilt about a past affair, Priscilla is having to take care of the boy while Jarrod is spending a great deal of time and money on the Pinkerton's and telegrams to Sweden!" Nick gave Heath an incredulous look "And you don't think this is a big deal? Bah!" He stormed out of the room, his hands balling into fists. As he walked upstairs, he muttered under his breath and wanted to wring his brother's neck.

"Nick did make some good points Heath, in his loud, tactless way." Jarrod observed, privately glad that his middle brother's temper had cooled over the years. "You need to look at this situation objectively, which until now you have not been doing."

Heath in fact was stung at Nick's accusations and dig about his marriage to Sarah; the barb you let your wife traipse all over San Francisco without you felt like a punch below the belt. He had been aware of the talk in town about his marriage but had always thought his brother had his back. To hear now that Nick felt the same way as the townspeople caused a knot to form in his stomach.

"Is there something you haven't told us Heath? You accepted the contents of letter right away, not questioning it in the least. As a trained lawman that seems very out of character." Jarrod had switched to his courtroom voice, as he made his statements. Why hadn't he seen it before? It had taken Nick to point out the discrepancy in Heath's actions.

Jarrod noted how his mother stiffened and looked like she was holding her breath. It was clear that Victoria had seen the implication of Jarrod was asking. He watched Heath turn his back on them and was very sure that there was some piece of information Heath was not sharing with the family. Jarrod gritted his teeth; he had dealt with clients before who for whatever misguided reason felt the need to hold back important facts. Now it was worse because it was a family member.

Heath looked out the window, wishing he were anywhere else; his stomach was in a knot because of Nick and now Jarrod was in integration mode. He could not tell them the other piece of the story; the real reason Simon was conceived. Suddenly he was back in Rio Blanco six years ago, reading Victoria's letter about Sharon's marriage.

She had turned him down, and he had left broken hearted for Mexico. Then, just as Heath had come up with a plan to convince Sharon to marry him, the note had arrived. Heath still winced at how drunk he had ended up, and what had happened afterwards. He did not want his family to know that part of the story, nor were they entitled to in his opinion. It was especially critical since Sharon was now in Stockton; he did not want her to have any idea the part she had played in Simon being on the earth.

"I can't forgive myself for leaving Rio Blanco like I did!" Heath turned to look Victoria straight in the eye. "I knew I'd been with Magda, but I was a coward and accepted her word." If only he could go back and rectify things, Heath knew he would give everything he owned.

"Heath, I admire you for how concerned you are about Simon – that is admirable." Victoria walked over to him and hugged him. She had seen the guilt and pain in his eyes and understood better what was driving his actions. It was up to her to bridge those feelings before he inflicted more hurt on himself and the family.

"Simon has all the Barkley's with him, and we all want what is best for him. If you truly care about Simon than you should want that too, whether he is your son or not. Being a parent sometimes means setting aside your feelings." Victoria looked over at Jarrod, wanting him to understand what Heath needed right now.

"You can't feel guilty about what happened Heath. I met Magda and I have no problem understanding why you believed what she told you. The woman was not someone to be trifled with, was what I saw from the little bit of time I spent with her." Jarrod smiled reassuringly, knowing what his mother was trying to do.

"I don't think Nick wants Simon around, and I tried to tell him that if I had anywhere else to go I would've." Heath sighed, seeing the wisdom of Jarrod's words about Magda. There was still the matter of his brother though.

"Nick is frustrated and worried about you – he just shows it in an odd way." Victoria replied, a rueful tone in her voice which Heath heard. "Don't worry about him and Simon, Priscilla will handle all that. You are though going to have to tell him what you told us, so he understands."

Heath noticed that she did not mention anything about the remark Nick had made regarding Sarah. It came to him that not only would he have to talk about Simon, but his marriage with Sarah also.

"I am going over to check on my house, and probably won't be back for dinner. Could you ask Silas to leave a plate?" Heath wanted to see Simon but was not ready yet to see Nick. Plus, he knew they were tasks to be done, to shut the place up for a while. Before he could leave though Jarrod spoke up.

"It would be best if you stayed away from town for a couple of days Heath." Jarrod said quickly "Let's give the talk time to die down." He was annoyed by the suggestion but understood the sentiment behind it; with a heavy heart that he left the room.