Forbidden love for a Barkley

Part Two:

"Tension and Memories"

While picking flowers for Victoria, Nick met an Italian girl named Stefania after the two accidentally bumped into each other and knocked each other down. Upon introducing themselves to each other, the two seemed to hit it off real well. In fact, they hit it off so well that Nick decided to escort Stefania home, telling Heath he'd be back at the ranch later. Now, it was dinnertime at the ranch and Nick still hadn't shown up, leaving Victoria awfully concerned. Normally, the Barkley matriarch wouldn't be overly concerned, but since in a few days, Tom Barkley's birthday was coming up which once again gave the Barkleys not only the reminder that he wasn't there to celebrate, but the reminder of his murder, too. With that in mind, who could blame Victoria for worrying? That being said, the questions that remain are: Will Nick get home in time? Will he tell them about meeting Stefania? Will he and Stefania or won't he and Stefania? Stay tuned!

Author's note: Full disclosure, I do NOT own "The Big Valley" or its characters. It would be a dream come true, well one of the many dreams come true, if I did. The only thing I own is the character of Stefania.

(Flashback to Part One)

"Don't worry, mother. Nick is bound to show up." Audra tried to reassure Victoria.

"I sure hope so, because whenever this time comes, I get very worried." Victoria sighed.

"I understand, but I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation." Audra told her.

"Heath, you're awfully quiet tonight." Victoria looked over at Heath, who was just sitting there quietly.

"I am? I didn't even notice." Heath sounded a bit sheepish.

"Heath, is there something you're not saying?" Victoria asked.

"Hmmm?" Heath replied.

"Heath, is there something going on with Nick that you're not saying?" Victoria asked again, a little bit stern this time.


(Now)

Heath looked a wee bit uncomfortable and didn't answer his mother.

"Heath, is there something going on with Nick?" Victoria repeated the question, albeit a shorter version.

"Mother, you're starting to repeat your questions!" Heath tried to dodge her question, even though he knew he wasn't doing a very good job of it.

"I'll keep repeating them, son until I get a straight answer." Victoria told him, before taking a sip of her beverage.


*Meanwhile, with Nick and Stefania*

After riding around all of Stockton on his horse, Nick and Stefania were nearing her house. Despite barely knowing each other, the two seemed to be really REALLY taken to each other almost as if they were childhood friends catching up on lost times. In fact, they were starting to know nearly everything about each other whether it be Stefania's Italian culture & her and her family's emigration from Milan, Italy to Stockton, California or Nick running Barkley Ranch, his military service, & his love for his family, they knew almost everything about each other which now would include Nick knowing where Stefania lived.

"Is this it?" Nick took a minute to gaze at the adorable little quaint house Stefania and her family lived in. To him, it screamed what Italy would be like.

"This is it. Isn't it pretty?" Stefania gazed at her own house.

"Charming." Nick got off his horse and helped Stefania get off, "Careful now."

"Thank you so much for taking me for a ride around Stockton and riding me home." Stefania grabbed her basket of fruit.

"Oh, that was just a little bit of Stockton. We still have more parts to cover. Perhaps, maybe tomorrow we can go riding around, if you're not too busy, of course." Nick smiled at her.

"I would love to, Nick. Say maybe around 4 tomorrow?" Stefania asked.

Nick went to say something, only to be cut off when two little girls came running out of the house very excitedly.

"Ciao, little ones!" Stefania knelt down, set her basket aside, and hugged the two girls.

"Chi è l'uomo ? (Who's the man?)" one little girl asked in Italian while looking up at Nick.

"Oh, dove sono le mie maniere ? Cara, Mariah, questo è il signor Barkley. (Oh, where are my manners? Cara, Mariah, this is Mr. Barkley.)" Stefania said to the girls, before turning to Nick, "Nick, these are my beautiful little nieces Cara and Mariah."

"Nice to meet such adorable little girls." Nick tipped his hat and shook Cara and Mariah's hands.

Cara and Mariah smiled at Nick, clearly too shy to say anything to him.

"Stefania, sei tornato in Italia per ottenere il frutto o cosa ? Cara, Mariah, torna dentro. Potresti prendere freddo e piccoli.(Stefania, did you go back to Italy to get the fruit or what? Cara, Mariah, get back inside. You might catch cold, little ones.)" a man around Stefania's age, albeit a little older, came outside.

"Mi dispiace, fratello. Sono stato così preso che ho perso la cognizione del tempo. (I'm sorry, brother. I got so caught up that I lost track of time.)" Stefania said to her brother, trying her best to reassure him.

"Chi è l'uomo con te ? (Who's the man with you?)" Stefania's brother asked in a protective way.

"Vincent, questo è il signor Nick Barkley. È un brav'uomo. (Vincent, this is Mr. Nick Barkley. He's a nice man.)" Stefania told him, before turning to Nick, "Nick, this is my big brother, Vincent. Do not mind him. He gets very protective of me due to the intolerance we have endured by some people."

"Nice to meet you, Vincent." Nick extended his hand for a handshake.

Vincent just stood there and didn't move a muscle. It was obvious that he did not trust Nick at all and who could blame him? He, Stefania, and their whole family had suffered intolerance and bigotry from a majority of people in Stockton that he along with the rest of the family decided in order to be safe than sorry was to be a bit stand off-ish and very protective of each other.

"Vincent Gennaro Mangano, sei scortese ! Quando qualcuno estende la mano, la scuoti ! (Vincent Gennaro Mangano, you're being rude! When someone extends their hand, you shake it!)" Stefania scolded him and even waved her finger a few times.

"Stefania, è un uomo bianco. Un uomo bianco ! Sai che papà non si fida del genere di Nick ! (Stefania, he's a white man. A white man! You know dad doesn't trust Nick's kind!)" Vincent slightly raised his voice, before going inside with his daughters and closing the door.

"I'm sorry, Nick. I'm sorry my brother behaved like that." Stefania felt so guilty that the guilt could be heard in her voice, as she looked down at the ground.

"Ah, don't worry about it. I can see why your brother acted that way. To him, I'm a total stranger plus the intolerance you guys had to deal with doesn't help at all." Nick put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know, but still, he should put all of that aside." Stefania sighed.

"Look Stefania, in time, he'll know I'm not like the others. He'll know." Nick tried to sound reassuring.

"I can only hope so." Stefania replied.

"Trust me on this, Stefania. Before you know it, your brother and I just might be giving each other a hard time with jokes and stuff." Nick patted her on the shoulder.

"I really hope so, because he is a joker at times." Stefania lightly smiled.

"Do not worry. It'll all happen in given time, of course." Nick nodded.

"Stefania, dove diavolo hai ? Sono stato preoccupato per metà. Sai che diventa pericoloso per il tramonto ! (Stefania, where on earth have you? I have been worried half out of my mind. You know that it gets dangerous around sundown!)" an older man came out of the house, clearly upset and worried.

"Mi dispiace, papà. Sono stato così preso da molto che ho completamente dimenticato. Tuttavia, mentre raccoglievo i frutti, ho incontrato quest'uomo. Si chiama Nick Barkley. (I'm sorry, dad. I was so caught up in a lot that I completely forgot. However, while picking the fruits, I met this man. His name is Nick Barkley.)" Stefania said to her father, before turning to Nick, "Nick, this is my father. Do not mind him. He's a natural worry wart."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir." Nick extended his hand for a handshake once again.

"Non stringo la mano di un uomo bianco. (I don't shake the hand of a white man.)" Stefania's father refused to shake Nick's hand.

"Papà, sei scortese ! Per un uomo che ha insegnato a tutti noi bambini e vostri nipoti a essere educato, ti stai facendo uscire per essere un ipocrita. Ora, stringi la mano di Nick. (Dad, you're being rude! For a man who taught all of us kids and your grandkids to be polite, you're making yourself out to be a hypocrite. Now, shake Nick's hand.)" Stefania was disgusted with her father's behavior. She did have a point, because since he taught her and her siblings plus his grandchildren all about being polite only for him to turn around and do a 180 was clearly making him look like a hypocrite.

"Stefania, non avrò alcun argomento con te. Ora, vieni in casa ! (Stefania, I will not have any arguments with you. Now, come in the house!)" Stefania's father walked back to the front door and motioned for her to follow him.

"Papà, almeno dico buona notte a Nick. Almeno farlo. (Dad, at least say good night to Nick. At least do that.)" Stefania slightly raised her voice at her father.

"NO! Per l'ultima volta, no assolutamente ! Ora, entra in casa ! (No! For the last time, no absolutely not! Now, get in the house!)" Stefania's father replied.

"Papà, per favore ... (Dad, please...)" Stefania pleaded.

"No, mille volte no ! Stefania, sono tuo padre e farai come dico e me ne vai in casa subito dopo aver detto all'uomo bianco di perdersi ! (No, a thousand times no! Stefania, I'm your father and you'll do as I say & get in the house right after you tell the white man to get lost!)" Stefania's father yelled back, before going inside the house and slamming the door.

Stefania just sighed, looked down at the ground, and shook her head in disgust.

"That got intense pretty fast." Nick sported a very shocked look on his face, clearly bewildered at what just happened.

"I'm so sorry, Nick. I'm so so sorry." Stefania sounded as if she was about to cry.

"Don't be sorry, Stefania. Your father and brother are just looking out for you, that's all." Nick told her.

"Yeah, but usually they're not that protective and still, it's rude to not shake someone's hand & be impolite. I was taught that you always shake someone's hand and be polite and ethical." Stefania sighed, again, "Well, I guess I better go inside."

"That's probably the best thing and I best be getting on my way back to Barkley Ranch." Nick put his hat back on.

"Yeah. Well, I had a fun time with you and it was nice meeting you." Stefania made her way to the door, only to be stopped.

"Likewise and it wouldn't be kind of me to say goodbye without walking you to the door." Nick walked her to her front door.

"Thank you, Nick. You're so kind." Stefania gave a half smile.

"My mother and father raised my siblings and me to be that way." Nick smiled.

"Well, I appreciate that. Anyways, I hope to see you tomorrow." Stefania put her hand on the door knob.

"Oh, you will. You will." Nick nodded.

"I'm glad. Well, good night." Stefania said.

"Good night." Nick walked off, got on his horse, and gave a final wave, before riding off into the night.


*Back at Barkley Ranch, a little while later*

It was getting to be late and Heath still hadn't given Victoria a straight answer on Nick and where he was, but the white haired Barkley matriarch had since retired to the parlor room. In there, Victoria could be seen sitting in a chair, looking at a picture of her late husband.

'We're thinking of you, Tom. Thinking of you very much on what would be your birthday which is coming up. Why? Why did you have to go out that night? Why? Why couldn't you wait until it was daylight?' Victoria thought as she held the framed picture close to her.


*Flashback*

It was a very long time ago. In fact, it was the night that Victoria met her future husband Tom Barkley. Victoria was in a saloon, all alone when a gentleman noticed and walked up to the dark-haired beauty.

"Hi." the man said, after he approached her.

"How do you do?" Victoria turned to him.

"What's a pretty little lady like you doing here?" the man asked.

"I'm just enjoying the evening. That's all." Victoria told him.

"Oh...uh...where are my manners..." the man took his hat off and set it on the table, "My name is Tom. Tom Barkley."

"Pleasure to meet you, Tom. My name is Victoria Beaumont." Victoria introduced herself.

"Victoria. That's a mighty beautiful name. So, tell me about yourself Victoria Beaumont, are you seeing anyone?" Tom asked, a little sheepishly.

"Now Tom, that's a little personal. After all, we just met." Victoria reminded him in a gentle way.

"I know, but can't a fella be curious about a pretty thing like you?" Tom smiled at her.

"I suppose a fella can be curious and if this curious fella must know, I'm not seeing anybody at the moment." Victoria told him, before taking a sip of her drink.

"Oh, but you are seeing someone." Tom replied.

"Really? And who am I seeing?" Victoria asked.

"Well, you're seeing me. I'm sitting right in front of you." Tom said.

"I'm seeing you? We barely met." Victoria chuckled.

"I know, but you are seeing me. I mean if you weren't, I'd be invisible or something." Tom also chuckled.

"You're a card, Tom Barkley!" Victoria laughed a little and shook her head.

"I may be a card, but I'm also pretty handsome, right?" Tom smirked.

"Don't push it, Tom. Like I've said, we barely met." Victoria gave him the 'watch it' look, before smiling.

"I'll drink to that." Tom chuckled, before taking a sip of his drink.


*Back to the present day*

Victoria smiled at the memory of when she and Tom first met. Who knew that night would've led to their wedding, the births of their four children: Jarrod (who was currently out of town), Nick (who was on his way home unbeknownst to her), Audra, and Eugene (who was away at school, but had since been shanghaied and shipped out to sea), the affair that led to the birth of Heath, and unfortunately, Tom's murder. Who knew? The white-haired woman was still caught up in her thoughts.

"Mrs. Barkley. Mrs. Barkley. Mrs. Barkley?" Silas called her name about three times.

"Huh? Oh, hi Silas. You said something?" Victoria immediately snapped out of her thoughts.

"Mr. Nick just arrived and is in the main foyer with Mr. Heath." Silas informed her.

"Oh, thank you, Silas. Thank you!" Victoria stood up and started to make her way to the main foyer.

"Oh, Mrs. Barkley, would you like some coffee or tea?" Silas asked.

"No, thank you." Victoria said, before going straight to the main foyer.

Nick was seen smirking and playfully hitting Heath on the shoulder.

"Nicholas Jonathan Barkley! There you are!" Victoria walked right up to Nick and by the look on her face, one could tell she was not a happy camper.

"Hey, mother." Nick greeted his mother with a smile.

"Wipe that smile off of your face and come with me to the parlor room!" Victoria said, before walking back into the parlor room.

Nick sported a confused look and shrugged while Heath, despite trying his hardest to stifle any laughter, let out a few chuckles.

"Oh, be mature!" Nick gave him a look of disapproval before heading into the parlor room.

Victoria sat in the same chair, arms folded and looking very displeased & wanting a straight answer. If she wasn't going to ever get one out of Heath, she'll get one out of Nick.

"Mother, if it's about my teasing Heath, well don't you think he's a little too old to be tattling?" Nick was the first one to speak up after a tense few minutes of silence.

"I'm not upset about that, Nick. I'm upset that you were late coming back and that Heath didn't give me an explanation." Victoria spoke up.

"Mother, I'm an adult. Since when did you ever get upset like this whenever any of us were late?" Nick was a bit perplexed by his mother's behavior. Who could blame him? He was an adult and he really didn't need to answer to his mother of his whereabouts or anything.

"Nick, normally I wouldn't be upset or anything like I am right this minute and have been all evening, but in case you forgot, your father's birthday is coming up and like all of you, I'm reliving everything from when we met to his death. It's not easy, Nick and I just can't help that when this time of year comes, I worry my head off." Victoria took a more gentler tone and explained why she was acting the way she was.

"I understand, mother. Now that you put it that way and all, I completely understand. Every year since father was killed has not been easy on any of us." Nick nodded in agreement.

"I'm glad we came to an understanding and so quick, too. In fact, I'm a little surprised, because usually, you'll protest, yell, and walk around huffing and puffing. Why the sudden change?" Victoria was surprised that her usually hot headed son was not doing his usual protesting and huffing & puffing.

"Well, whenever father's birthday or death anniversary come up, I'm kind of reserved and plus, another reason I am rarely reserved is, because well, I met a girl." Nick sounded a bit sad, only to sound happy and begin to smile when Stefania came to his mind.

"You met a girl? That's wonderful, Nick. Who is she? What's her name?" Victoria smiled.

"Her name is Stefania Lucia Mangano. She and her family just settled here in Stockton from Italy. She's a very sweet girl and very pretty, too. I met her by accident." Nick chuckled.

"By accident?" Victoria raised an eyebrow.

"While I was picking you some flowers, Stefania and I bumped into each other and knocked each other down. Which by the way, here are the flowers." Nick handed her the flowers he picked for her.

"Oh Nick, how thoughtful of you. Thank you, son." Victoria took the flowers.

"You're welcome." Nick said.

"I'll put them in a vase. However, what was Stefania doing picking flowers?" Victoria couldn't take her eyes off of the flowers.

"Oh, she was picking fruit for her family. You know apples, oranges, grapes off the grapevine, the likes." Nick smiled a little more as his mind was focused on Stefania.

"What a sweet girl Stefania is. Doing that for her family." Victoria was clearly impressed by the girl and funny thing was, she hadn't even met the girl yet.

"Tell me about it. Anyways, so while I help her up, get her fruits back into her basket, and help her pick more, we got to talking about all kinds of things and just got to know each other. In fact, we got to know each other so well that I took her for a little ride around part of Stockton. Afterwards, I rode her back to where she and her family live and I even walked her up to her front door." Nick was clearly gleeful just talking about the day, especially since he spent most of it with Stefania.

"Sounds like you had a lovely time and I'm sorry I got on you just a few moments ago." Victoria was so glad that Nick seemed to really enjoy Stefania and the time they spent, while feeling a little badly for getting on his case just moments ago.

"It's okay, mother. You were doing what was natural and I did have a good time with Stefania, but..." Nick paused.

"But what?" Victoria asked.

"Well, how do I put this without sounding immature..." Nick thought for a minute, before sighing, "I don't think her family cares for me."

"Why? I would think that a family would appreciate a man who treated their daughter, sister, whoever as a lady and showed her respect." Victoria was taken aback.

"I guess I left out the part that ever since Stefania and her family arrived here to Stockton, they have been greeted with open arms by some, but endured bigotry by most." Nick said.

"What does that have to do with you?" Victoria was still a bit taken aback.

"What does it have to do with me? Mother, I'm white. We're caucasian and I do not think her family more or less her father and brother care for me, because I'm caucasian." Nick pointed out.

"Well, I can understand them being protective due to the bigotry they endure, but they should realize that not everybody has such vile hatred in them. Oh, I'm sure they'll realize you're not such a bad guy, Nick. Just give it time." Victoria tried her best to reassure him.

"I'll do my best, but you know me, I'm not too patient when it comes to certain things." Nick chuckled.

"I know that. You got that from your father." Victoria lightly laughed.

"Besides my good looks?" Nick smirked.

"Watch it, Nick." Victoria gave Nick the same exact look she gave Tom years ago.

"Speaking of father, I can't believe his birthday is coming up. I feel like we just already commemorated it." Nick got a solemn look on his face.

"I know, but time flies by when you're having fun or in some cases, when you go through interesting adventures. Like the times you and Audra disappeared, the time you had that flock of Sheep, the time those squatters tried to put up that Kilkenny Farms sign on our fence, or the time Jarrod was briefly married. God rest Beth's soul." Victoria sighed as some of those memories briefly played in her head.

"Why do you have to remind me about those blasted Sheep?" Nick clearly didn't like remembering when he had that flock of Sheep.

"It was a very interesting prize you won while gambling and we all wondered how that was going to end up." Victoria told him.

"Well, the main thing is I got rid of them." Nick replied.

"Still, you a sheep herder? You?" Victoria chuckled.

"Mother!" Nick was embarrassed that his mother still remembered that time.

"What? I'm just saying. Plus, if your father was here, oh the laugh he would've had seeing you with those sheep and how fire headed you got." Victoria laughed.

"Oh, I can hear father clear as day saying and I quote: 'Very interesting prize, Nicholas. However, they're YOUR responsibility. You won them fair and square and they're your responsibility. Don't get mad or pawn them off on anyone else. I just hope you handle this responsibility considering how fickle you used to be as a kid.' unquote." Nick impersonated his late father.

"Oh my goodness! You sound just like him!" Victoria laughed some more, only to get a sad look on her face.

"I know, mother and to tell you the truth, that was pretty hard for me to impersonate him without choking up." Nick read his mother's facial expression and felt the exact same way.

"Why did your father have to go out that night?" Victoria felt herself drifting back into the distant past to the night Tom was murdered. Who could blame her? The memory and pain were just as fresh now as they were then, because not only did her children lose their father, but she lost the love of her life.

"That's something only he could answer. Still, like we've said for years, he could've waited until morning, but it's all said and done and there's nothing we can do except honor his memory and his life, though it's hard." Nick sighed, as he looked at the framed picture of Tom that Victoria was holding just moments earlier.

"You're right, Nick and he would want it that way, but I still find myself every birthday and anniversary of his death asking the same thing." Victoria glanced over at the framed picture.

'I can't honestly believe that father's birthday would be in just a few days. Like I told mother, it feels as though we just commemorated it and commemorated the anniversary of his murder. However, we go through this every year, so we should expect the pain, sorrow, and hurt by now, but it still hits hard like a gut punch and it still comes as a surprise. If only he and I made up sooner before he died.' Nick thought as he continued to look at the framed photo of his father while a certain memory haunted him.


*Flashback*

After their bad falling out, Nick and Tom were still not talking to each other which was making things hard for Jarrod, Audra, Gene, and Victoria. Then again, both men were fiery when it came to personalities, so the tension between the father and son duo was to be expected from time to time, but still. Anyways, dinner was served and to make things more awkward, Nick was seated near Tom. Plus, to add to the awkwardness, there was a long silence between the feuding father/son duo.

"Nick, would you pass the rolls?" Tom finally spoke up after a very long silence.

Nick just sat there and took a few bites, acting as though he didn't hear his father.

Victoria glanced over at Gene who glanced over at Audra who glanced over at Jarrod who just shrugged.

"Nick, would you please pass the rolls?" Tom asked, again.

Nick still sat there and took more bites of his dinner.

"Tom, just grab a roll." Victoria sighed, clearly uncomfortable by the tension.

"And run the risk of him jabbing my arm with a fork or hiding the basket of rolls like he did days ago? No, thank you." Tom shook his head.

Audra sighed and rolled her eyes, before grabbing a roll and handing it to her father.

"Thank you, Audra. Maybe you can teach your brother a little bit about respect and manners." Tom took the roll while taking a jab at Nick.

"You know something? Respect and manners are like ethics and integrity. They're not exactly your strong suit." Nick shot back.

"Oh? And somehow respect and manners plus the other stuff you listed are your strong suit, Nick?" Tom asked.

"I'm ethical, full of integrity & manners, and respectful and you know it!" Nick said while gritting his teeth.

"Okay, Mr. I'm full of ethics, integrity, manners, and respect, if you're all of that, then would an ethical and respectful person throw a hissy fit like you did the other day?" Tom sounded as if he was about to raise his voice.

"I didn't throw a hissy fit. I just got upset and still am teed off." Nick slightly raised his voice.

"Don't raise your voice at me! I'm not Jarrod, Gene, or Audra. I'm your father, so please, remember who you're speaking to, Nick." Tom sounded like a typical father who was chastising his child.

"He is right, Nick." Gene interjected.

"And who's side are you on?" Nick gave him a look.

"Oh, I'm not on anyone's side. I'm just saying that father is right." Gene told him. He had a point, because no matter how old one was, they should always respect their parents, barring a few exceptions of course.

"Thank you, Gene. Maybe you and Audra can teach Nick a few pointers." Tom said, before taking a bite of the roll.

"Them teach me a few things on manners and stuff? Please! I know enough about respect, ethics, and all of that. Thank you very much." Nick scoffed, "I'm old enough to know about that stuff. If anyone needs that stuff to be taught to them, well look in the mirror."


*Back to the present day*

Nick was clearly haunted by that falling out, because not too long after, Tom was murdered and while he and Nick had made up before then, it was still too late for them to completely bury the hatchet. Nick had since carried this with him and every anniversary of Tom's death & every birthday just brought it all back.

"Nick. Nick. Nick? Nick?" Victoria called out Nick's name about four times.

"Hmmm?" Nick snapped out of his thoughts.

"I was asking if you and Stefania were going to see each other tomorrow." Victoria said.

"Oh yeah. I told her I'd see her tomorrow. We're going to go riding around more of Stockton." Nick nodded.

"That's good. I'm glad you are taking things slowly with her." Victoria smiled.

"Taking things slowly? Mother, we just barely met." Nick pointed out.

"I know, but I can see the glint in your eye every time you mention Stefania and I have the sense that you like her a lot." Victoria hinted at something.

"Like her a lot? Mother, we're just friends. That's all." Nick, despite trying hard not to, blushed a little.

"You're blushing, Nick." Victoria slightly tilted her head to the side.

"Oh, I ain't blushing. It's probably hot in here and a window needs to be opened." Nick tried to conceal that he was blushing, failing miserably, before getting up and opening a window.

Victoria just smiled and shook her head. She knew when her children were crazy for girls or in Audra's case, crazy for guys and she knew their other feelings as well. After all, it was mother's intuition kicking in. Mothers do know their children and their feelings or at least should know their children and their feelings. One thing was for sure, this mother knew her children, how they felt, their plans (sometimes), etc. She was on top and present all the time. The same could be applied to fathers and the late Tom Barkley was one of those hands on and present fathers in his childrens lives with the exception of Heath due to the fact that Heath's mother Leah never told Tom of Heath's birth or Heath that his father was a Barkley. However, Heath and Leah wouldn't be the only thing Tom did in regards to being unfaithful to Victoria. Oh no, before Leah, there was Kerry. Kerry Doherty, the former mistress of Tom Barkley. Victoria leaned back in her chair and started to remember the day she found out.


*Flashback to that day*

It had been weeks since Tom and Victoria hadn't been talking due to a bad fight they had. Tom had been staying elsewhere due to Victoria kicking him out. However, after receiving a telegram that she wanted to meet up with him and talk things out, Tom was glad and relieved. Only for reality to smack him in the face and remind him that he had been unfaithful to Victoria for some time & with his and Kerry's recent split plus knowing that Kerry was indeed a big mouth, he knew he had to come to clean to his wife before Kerry could approach her & give her, her narrative of things. Also too, what didn't help was that Tom's younger brother Leonard, who still had a crush on Victoria & cursed Tom for marrying her or in his words "taking her away from him", was in town and if he knew of Tom's unfaithfulness, he would squeal to Victoria just to spite him.

With this on his mind, Tom went around town and told everyone not to mention a word to Victoria. That he wanted to be the one to come clean to her, so that she could be mad at him then forgive him after he would promise to "never do it again". Seeing as he was in dire straits and truly remorseful, everybody promised to keep their word since it was a more private matter and it was between a man and his wife. Much to his relief, he felt he was good to go and decided to go into the saloon for a drink only to spot Leonard and feel his heart jump into his throat.

"Hey, Tommy boy!" Leonard shouted and motioned for Tom to come over to him.

'Curses!' Tom thought as he made his way over to his younger brother.

"How have you been?" Leonard playfully punched his shoulder.

"You can knock off the camaraderie and politeness, Leonard. I'm in no mood for any of it and I'm not falling for it." Tom sighed.

"What's wrong? Can't a brother greet his brother? Is there a law against that?" Leonard asked in a very snarky way.

"No, there's no law against it, but right now, I just wanna wait for Victoria right here in this saloon." Tom sounded a bit shaky in his voice, despite trying his hardest to play it cool.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about your fight with Vicky and the whole estrangement between you two which leads me to ask, when do I move in and become her husband?" Leonard was being sickeningly coy.

"Never in a million years, sport. Look, she and I plan to work things out and I just want to see her after weeks of not seeing her." Tom scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that's all nice, Tommy but I don't think she'll want to even let you back in the house." Leonard took a sip of his beer.

"What?! Why not?!" Tom grabbed his arm.

"I heard about you and your little ladylove Kerry." Leonard chuckled.

"You what?! Oh no! Tell me, you didn't blab to Victoria." Tom had a look of horror on his face. He knew if Leonard knew, he'd be a dead man when he would have to face Victoria.

"Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry, Tommy. Was I not supposed to tell?" Leonard laughed very loudly and slapped his knee.

Tom's eyes got bigger than they already were and he could feel his stomach drop. Knowing now that Victoria knew due to Leonard blabbing, he turned to see Victoria sitting in a chair behind him, hurt and betrayal written all over her face. Seeing this, he knew their marriage would most likely be over.

To Be Continued...

Happy December, everybody! I know this second chapter came almost after the story was published, but please, be nice about it!

Tom: Victoria, I'm so sorry!

Nick: Father, what did you do?

Stefania: What is going on, Nick?

Victoria: SShhh! Wait for the next chapter!

Jarrod: Hey, what's going on?

Tom: Jarrod, where on earth did you just come from?

Nick: R&R!