"Mother, it's not fair."
"Audra, you make it sound like she's playing favorites."
"Well what else am I supposed to think?! She only wakes up when they're around."
"Audra, dear, can you honestly tell me you'd be able to stay asleep with Nick in the room?"
"... I suppose not."
"Believe it or not, I think it's Jarrod who keeps waking me up." Kathryn told them with a mischievous smile.
As Victoria helped her maneuver so she was propped comfortably against the pillows, Audra sat beside her.
"I won't tell him you said that. However, he might be so happy you're awake, he would probably forgive you anything."
"Awake and lucid." Victoria clarified.
"How long?" Kathryn croaked. As Audra poured her a cup of water Victoria answered "You were awake but not lucid four days ago, and out yesterday and the day before."
Kathryn choked on the water. "Four days?!"
Audra smiled sympathetically. "Kathryn, leave the shrieking to me." She joked.
Kathryn wasn't amused. "I have to go."
"Go where?!" Audra demanded in a high-pitched voice as Victoria stayed silent. She knew what Kathryn was doing.
"I just left Vacquero at the hitching post for-"
"He was cared for right away by John." Victoria intoned calmly.
"Well Raph... by the way..."
Victoria hid a small smile. She was wondering when Kathryn was going to notice.
"Where is he?"
Audra answered "He's with Nick. We've been taking care of him, feeding him, but he was getting restless. This morning, Nick told him to come. Raph wanted to, you could tell." Audra giggled. "He was practically quivering from excitement, but he didn't seem to want to leave you. Nick wasn't leaving without him, either. Raph didn't leave until I told him you'd be OK."
Kathryn studied Audra. "He waited for your permission?"
At her nod of acknowledgment, Kathryn mused "It's nice to see that he's adding to his pack."
"I don't know about that." Audra admitted sheepishly. "I kind of... yelled, at him." When Kathryn indicated for her to continue Audra huffed. "When you were unconscious, Raph didn't let me near you. Jarrod then explained that when he thinks he has to protect you, no matter how long he's known you or how much he likes you, his loyalty is to you. I told him to stop that, that you were hurting; you're my friend and I was going to help you. He licked my hand in apology."
Kathryn shook her head in amazement. "You showed him you're as loyal to me as he is, that I was safe with you. That lick was part apology and part him accepting you as part of his pack."
At that moment, the door eased open.
"Come on, Nick. With all the steers we've lost, we need to seriously consider replacing the herd."
"I know, Heath. I just don't know how I feel about you traveling to Lathrop."
Kathryn was amused by how quiet Nick was trying to be. When Nick was trying to get his way, to him, that meant he was more likely to get it if he was forceful; which for Nick, meant loud.
"That's a week trip, there and back, not to mention the few days it'll take to inspect and purchase. And we can't have you be gone that long. After all this-"
"Is a working ranch." Kathryn interrupted, finishing Nick's favorite phrase.
Both stood rooted in the doorway. Nick's mouth open in shock, eyes wide to match; Heath's twinkling eyes accompanying his small smile. Jarrod was the first to recover.
"It's nice to see you awake, young lady." He stated, moving around his frozen brothers to enter the room.
"And aware I was informed." Kathryn added, maneuvering around, making to leave the bed.
Hearing a delicate clearing of the throat, Kathryn glanced up to see Victoria, her green eyes blazing with supressed wrath.
Kathryn gulped and with a resigned sigh, looked down at the covers. "I'm not leaving this bed for awhile, am I?" She asked in a small voice.
"Awhile?! You are not leaving that bed-this house- until you're... well, as healthy as a horse!" Nick bellowed.
Victoria closed her eyes. "Nicholas, there is no need to raise your voice."
Surprisingly, it was Jarrod who stepped in, to probably diffuse the charged atmosphere. "Mother, though I may not agree with Nick's approach, I do agree with him about Ms. Quinn's well-being."
Kathryn knew she was in trouble when Jarrod was this formal.
"Dr. Merar had originally prescribed three weeks of bed rest. Ms. Quinn ignored that. Thus, he amended it to three weeks of taking it easy. And still, her sickness has not abated and her wounds managed to get infected." Turning his attention to her, he coaxed "Young lady, I am aware that you have been on your own for quite some time, fending and providing for yourself. However, you are now in our employ. Unfortunately, that means that you will be expected to be in perfect health, which means that if you are sick or injured, you will not be alone. You will be tended to and watched to make sure you are recovering. And in the rare, most extreme of cases, forced to follow whatever orders are deemed necessary for your complete recovery."
Kathryn smiled sweetly. "Well, if you're going to act like an attorney, I would like to point out that in my case, you haven't been watching, you've been guarding. And secondly, do you mean to tell me that the Barkley children are above reproach as patients? Because, that's not what I've heard."
Audra giggled.
Jarrod grinned even as he growled "And here I was wanting you to be awake and aware."
Kathryn scooted down under the covers. "Careful what you wish for."
Kathryn stayed in bed for three weeks.
Well, two and a-half weeks in bed, till Dr. Merar pronounced her wounds were healing nicely and he couldn't find any trace of illness. To show she could listen to orders, and maybe to spite Nick and Jarrod, she took it easy for the remaining half-week, though she had been deemed "in fine fettle."
It seemed to soothe the brothers, mostly; although she often found herself working with Heath.
Nick would check on her from time to time, though the frequency and duration were dwindling.
And all this meant that she was able to participate in the preparations for the harvest celebration.
"Heath, what do you think you're doing boy?!"
"Well, what's it look like I'm doing?" Came the reply to Nick's demand; with a broad smile and twinkling eyes.
"Don't look so proud of yourself! I don't know how, because it shouldn't be possible, but you've managed to go and make a mess of your one, ONE, job!"
"And who put you in charge?" Audra demanded, hands on her hips and a twin smile to Heath's gracing her features.
"Fine, I can see when my expertise is not wanted."
"Or needed, Brother Nick."
"Excuse me," Kathryn interjected, interrupting Nick's response to Jarrod. He closed his mouth and turning his blazing brown eyes on Kathryn demanded "What?!"
Kathryn smiled as she stepped in to the sitting room and, chaos, wrought by the Barkley children.
"I don't mean to... uh, disrupt... whatever's going on here, but Mr. Heath, Mr. Nick Barkley, I need to speak to you."
"Alright Kathryn, what's stuck in your craw?" Heath inquired as he turned around to face her after shutting the door to the gun room.
Nick plopped down on to the sofa. "This better be good Ms. Quinn. I have to get back to supervising as no one knows how to decorate properly."
Kathryn smiled. "From what I heard Mr. Barkley, no one agree with you."
Nick glared. "That better not be the reason Heath and I are here. I can walk back out there and hear it from Jarrod and Audra."
Kathryn took a deep, fortifying breath. "No, it's not." After a second for bravery, she continued. "I heard some of the men talking about all the steers that've been lost... and I realized I have a confession to make. Do you remember that night we spent in the mountains?"
Heath nodded. "After you'd only been here a couple of days; we had a storm coming and you were stubborn about making sure none of our assets were ruined." He added with an affectionate smile.
Kathryn nodded before continuing.
"During that storm, I saw someone at the base of the cliff where I had camped. The next day, when you came and told me you needed me to go into town for supplies, I had just been there. Raph had taken me to that same spot, where I found a slaughtered steer."
Both Barkley men sat forward, their previous care gone.
"After that, I found more. The first time I... escaped and got stuck in the snow, that's what I was doing. That was the third one. For the last month, along with working for you and your mother, I was working on trying to find out who was behind this." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I thought I could figure this out on my own. I should have informed you immediately when I found that first steer. Now, because of my pride and stubbornness, you've lost more."
Heath sat back. "A whole month... Nick-"
"I know, I know," Nick growled, leaning back to settle next to Heath on the couch. Closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair, he sighed tiredly as he stated "You're right, Heath. We need to start considering how we're going to add back to the herd."
"Am I not fired?"
Both Barkleys turned their attention to Kathryn, who was standing there tensely, prepared for the blow.
Nick grinned wolfishly. "Sorry Miss Quinn. You're too much of a hard worker for us to let you go after something so trivial as this."
"Trivial?!"
Nick arched an eyebrow at Kathryn's shriek. "If I didn't know any better, I would think you WANTED to be fired. Enough, Kathryn." He snarled. Kathryn closed her mouth.
He could have sworn she had done so out of shock. Giving himself a mental pat on the back for managing to render her speechless, he continued. "As Jarrod pointed out, you've been on your own for quite some time, fending and providing for yourself. In the past, you probably had no one to rely on." He casually waved a dismissal. "I can't fault you for doing the only thing you're used to. On the contrary, I should thank you." He fairly beamed at the look of confusion marring her features. He was coming up roses with what he was accomplishing in regards to Kathryn. "Although I'm not surprised. When you see a problem, you try to fix and ask for forgiveness later."
"If ever," Heath added with a kind smile.
When Kathryn realized she wasn't going to be fired, she figured she should leave before she managed to screw it up.
"Well then, I'll leave you and your family to finish decorating."
Nick groaned and with a long-suffering tone beseeched. "Please, don't dignify that monstrosity waiting in the sitting room as decorating. It's a disaster."
At that, Heath shoved Nick and stood. "Boy howdy, you're in trouble when I tell Audra you said that."
Nick flashed an impish grin. "You wouldn't dare."