Chapter 11
Lucy came further into the living room, slowly, Victoria slightly behind her looking more to Nick and Heath than to Jarrod. Jarrod helped Lucy sit down in the chair he had vacated. He sat down on the coffee table and took her hands. And told her everything that had happened.
The reaction in her eyes made him hang his head. There wasn't any anger there. There wasn't anything other than confusion and hurt – so much hurt – then almost panic. She took her hands from Jarrod's and stood up fast. Jarrod stood up with her but didn't touch her. "Phil is dead?" was what she asked, looking around, confused.
Victoria came to her and took her by the shoulders. "Lucy, maybe you should sit down again."
"No," she said but did not shrug Victoria off. She looked at Jarrod again. "Phil is dead?"
"Lucy, I am so sorry," Jarrod said, his voice cracking. He almost started to say something like he shouldn't have hit Phil, he should have just walked away, but he didn't say it.
Lucy turned and started to leave. "I can't – I can't – " was all she could say.
Victoria took her out of the room and off to the library for some privacy, leaving Jarrod standing there. Nick and Heath stayed with him. When he didn't move, Heath said, "Jarrod, why don't you sit down – "
"No," Jarrod said quickly. He looked up toward the library, but he didn't go there. "No, I – I need to move."
He walked out the front door alone.
Nick said, "Let him be. He'll work it out himself."
"We best hang around here," Heath said. "I know I don't want to go back to work like nothing happened."
Nick said, "Yeah. Maybe Jarrod won't need us, but Mother might."
It wasn't another ten minutes before that became true. Victoria came out of the library alone saying, "Nick – get a buggy ready. Lucy wants to go into town and see to her husband."
"Maybe Jarrod ought to go with you," Nick said.
"No," Victoria said. "Not Jarrod, not now."
"Then me and Nick," Heath said. "You shouldn't be going alone."
"I'll go," Nick said. "You stay here in case Jarrod needs somebody."
"If we all went, it would look like we were deserting him," Victoria said. "Lucy would be more comfortable with Nick. She knows him more."
"I'll get the buggy ready," Nick said and went outside.
Heath felt a little uneasy, given Nick's interest in Lucy, but Victoria looked all right about it, and she would be with them. And Nick was a gentleman. He would be one now. Heath said, "I'll go find Jarrod and let him know you're going to town."
"Ask him not to follow us," Victoria said. "Not now."
Heath nodded, and he went out the front door.
XXXXX
Jarrod wandered, thinking everything over again, thinking there should have been some other way he handled Phil. He didn't exactly blame himself for what happened, but he didn't exonerate himself either. He had wandered off toward the rose garden, where he had talked to Lucy before, but now he had no idea what to say to her. He had no idea what to say to anyone.
He heard the sound of the buggy and looked up to see Victoria leaving with Lucy, Nick on horseback right behind them. At the same time he saw Heath in the stable yard, watching them go.
Then Heath looked up and saw Jarrod watching. Heath hesitated but only for a moment before he walked toward the garden. He took it slow. If Jarrod saw him and moved off, he wasn't going to intrude, but Jarrod didn't move. He just watched the buggy go off.
Jarrod stayed right where he was. Heath came up beside him. He said, "Lucy wanted to go see to things in town. Mother wanted Nick to go with them – she knows him better than she knows me."
"Do you know how rotten it is to kill a friend?" Jarrod asked, still watching until the buggy disappeared from view.
"Yes," Heath said. "I do."
Jarrod looked at him. "And make his wife a widow? When you were the one who stood up with them when they married?"
"That I don't know," Heath said. "I'm sorry it went this way, Jarrod." Heath didn't know what to say after that. It wasn't your fault didn't seem helpful right now, even if in the overall scheme of things it was true.
Jarrod knew Heath was reaching for something to say, but was glad he didn't say that.
XXXXX
Lucy looked at Phil's body for only a moment. She heard Victoria tell the undertaker to send the bill to the Barkleys and didn't argue with it. Victoria and Nick helped Lucy take care of the arrangements to have Phil's body sent to Lodi on the train the next day, and the undertaker said he'd wire to the undertaker in Lodi. Lucy gave him the name of the undertaker who had cared for her father. "Tell him to do the same things he did for my father," she said.
Then they went back to the ranch. Things were quiet and solemn everywhere at the Barkley house that day. Jarrod was not himself, so Nick took care of seeing to his mother's needs and Lucy's, while Heath stayed available for Jarrod. Silas made sure coffee was always available and the table where they kept the alcoholic beverages was stocked. He made a light dinner, knowing no one was all that interested in a big feed.
The next day, the entire Barkley family traveled to Lodi with Lucy in the family car, so that they would have privacy. Victoria spent the night at Lucy's house while the men stayed at the hotel. It was the first time Lucy seemed ready to talk. She couldn't sleep.
"Thank you for staying here," she said to Victoria, who would stay up as long as she did.
"I remember how it felt when I was first widowed," Victoria said. "Even with a lot of people around, you can feel so alone."
"I am alone," Lucy said. "I lost my father only about a year ago, and except for Phil I had no other family. Now I really don't have any."
Victoria said, "After the funeral tomorrow, you're more than welcome to come stay at the ranch for a while, while you think about what you want to do next."
"Oh," Lucy said, almost rolling her eyes. "There's so much to do and I don't even know what half of it is."
"You don't have a lawyer here in Lodi."
"Phil was our lawyer. His practice – oh, my God, I don't even know what to do about taking care of that and his clients, not to mention our property like the house – "
She was starting to spin. Victoria reached for her hand. "I know this may sound awkward under the circumstances, but I did mention those things to Jarrod this morning. He told me he wanted to remain here for a few days and get things like that under control for you, if you'd let him. If you didn't want him to do it, he'd like to remain and retain a lawyer here to handle all that."
"Jarrod," Lucy said, sadly in a way. "I know he didn't kill Phil deliberately but I don't know how to talk to him about it. I don't know how to talk to him about anything. I don't know how to feel about anything."
"Jarrod doesn't know how to talk to you either," Victoria said. "He's a stalwart man – he has to be to be an attorney. You have to develop a thick skin, and he's developed that – as a Barkley, he had a head start – but he is sensitive too. He can handle things when he makes mistakes, but when they involve a friend – he doesn't wallow in it, he doesn't beat himself up over it, but it stays with him. Quietly, but it stays."
Lucy listened and looked at Victoria as if she needed to hear more.
Victoria said, "He's already drawn up the legal forms you'd need to sign so he can take care of things here. He will do a very capable job, if you let him, and it would help him too if you did let him. Come home with us after the funeral. Let Jarrod handle your affairs here, and when he gets home, you two can talk about them and you can better decide what you want to do next. Nick, Heath and I will give you whatever space you need in the meantime, but we'll be there when you need us."
Lucy thought about it, but all she could say was, "I am alone, Mrs. Barkley. I have absolutely no one else now."
"You have us," Victoria assured her.
Lucy finally broke into tears then, and Victoria held her.
XXXXXX
The funeral was the next day. A lot of local people came, people looking very confused, very unbelieving. Some of the local lawyers knew Jarrod, but his demeanor kept them from saying anything to him at the service. He looked as terrible as he felt, but no one knew why. No one had told anyone here how Phil Layton died, other than to say, "He fell."
The service was a blur to all the Barkleys. Their minds were more on Lucy and Jarrod than on Phil, but ultimately it was over. The graveside service was over, and the local people wandered away. Lucy and the Barkleys stayed longer at the grave. Victoria stayed with Lucy. Heath stuck close to Jarrod. Nick put himself somewhere in between.
When everyone else was gone, Jarrod finally came to Lucy. "Lucy – "
She looked at him, tears in her eyes, then looked away.
Jarrod said, "You're going to need someone here, to see to Phil's business and to the will and his estate."
"I know," Lucy said quickly, then looked at him again. "You're the best one to handle all that, I know. Your mother and I talked last night. I'm going to go back to Stockton with your family while you try to – set things straight here. I'd appreciate that, Jarrod."
Jarrod felt like crying himself, but he only nodded. "I'll get right on it. I'll stay in touch and get everything in order."
Lucy nodded.
Nick said, "We'd better get things together and get to the depot if we're gonna make that afternoon train to Stockton."
Victoria nodded. "We'll see you at Lucy's house in about an hour."
"I'll get the powers of attorney over for Lucy to sign before you leave," Jarrod said.
They all nodded. They parted company – Nick and Heath off to their hotel, Jarrod off to Phil's office to get the paperwork and start seeing to Lucy's affairs, Victoria and Lucy staying by Phil's grave for now.
Lucy looked down and said good-bye to her husband. Then Victoria led her off to her home.
