Chapter Two

Previously:

" Where's the fire, lad?" Nick smiled, though he quickly grew somber as Emmett handed him the telegraph …..

"It's from your wife." Emmett, who really wanted to stick around and find out just when the famous Stockton rancher got married, had to force himself to turn around and hurried back to the telegraph office…

When it came to Nick, his jaw felt like it had fallen to the ground. He looked at the unopened telegram in his hand and felt shock waves roll over him more than once...

The noise level in Stockton's bank was at an all-time high when Nick entered the building. At least, in his eyes it was. The establishment had recently been remodeled, allowing for another teller to help their patrons. The old chairs had all been replaced by newer, more comfortable, ones. The once quiet and orderly bank now buzzed with the sound of conversations taking place between various bank employees helping a number of people who had entered the bank. The bankers hope was that the new layout would improve efficiency and yet retain a friendly, professional atmosphere. Nick wasn't sure about if the changes really accomplished all that, but he really didn't care either. He just wanted to find Heath and get out of town. After all, the sooner that happened, the sooner he could read the telegram he'd just received.

"I thought maybe you weren't going to make it in this morning. What did you do? Find a pretty..." Heath stepped out of a nearby office and walked up to Nick only to be shocked when Nick cut him off.

"Do you have any more business in town?" Nick asked abruptly.

"No, what is wrong?" There had to be something amiss for his brother to cut him off like he had.

"Not here," Nick turned and headed for the front door only to bump into Emmett Stone once more. He stiffened, afraid the young man would say something about 'his wife' again. The first time was bad enough-though at least, from what Nick had seen, no one was close enough to hear what had been said. Now, there were enough people well able to hear anything that the young man might say.

Saying anything was something Emmett Stone might have done only he wasn't blind. He could see how uptight and unhappy Nick was. There was no way he was going to say anything-to anyone- until the famous rancher was in a better mood. After all, another person might actually start teasing Nick-and it would, eventually, come back to bite Emmett. Well, that was Emmett's fear anyway. "Excuse me, Mr. Barkley." The young man quickly moved out of the way and let Nick and Heath walk by.

Heath tried more than once to get Nick to say something only to be told to be told there was nothing to say until they were out of town. Needless to say, they wasted no time going to the livery stable, picking up their horses and leaving Stockton.

Once they were a good mile out of town, Nick stopped his horse. The landscape around them was a mixture of rich farmland and acres of undeveloped land, with the water from a canal glistening in the distance. Before Heath could say one word, Nick was pulling out the telegram. On the outside it said to Nick Barkley from Mrs. Nick Barkley. He shook his head slightly as he began opening it up.

"Who is it from?" Heath leaned forward in his saddle, knowing that it had something to do with his brother's foul mood.

"Supposedly, my wife." Nick stated bluntly as he opened the telegram up.

Heath felt like he was about to fall out of his saddle. Normally, he would have assumed Nick was joking, but the seriousness in Nick's tone and the grave expression on his face said otherwise. It was these two things—Nick's tone and look—that kept Heath from speaking as Nick's eyes scanned the telegram.

Per your request, necessary paperwork filed at Merced Courts STOP Have marriage certificate in hand STOP My brother and I will arrive on afternoon stage Tuesday STOP Mariah

"Nick?" Heath asked once Nick folded the paper and put it back into his vest pocket.

Nick, who was mentally going through his memories trying to pull up a woman by the name of Mariah and any event connected to her, turned and looked at Heath, telling him exactly what the telegram had said. "I don't know a Mariah. The only papers filed at the Merced courts were the ones I handed in myself- over the cattle deal I went down there about. This telegram doesn't make a lick of sense."

Heath agreed wholeheartedly with the last sentence. However, debating the issue wasn't going to change anything. "If she's arriving on Tuesday, I suggest we go straight home and talk to Jarrod. Maybe he can find something out in the next few days."

"I hope so because I can't be married to the woman. As I said, I don't even know her." Nick pushed his horse forward, still trying to remember a Mariah, where they would have met and why there were legal papers filed in any courthouse stating the two of them were now man and wife.

As he and Heath rode towards the Barkley ranch in silence, Nick thought silently on his trip to Merced. It had been rather uneventful except for the wild celebration that had been held at the home of his friend's-one Antonio Garcia's. The black-haired and brown eyed gentleman stood five feet six inches and was as think as a bean pole. He owned quite a bit of acreage. Antonio was famous for saying someday he'd have enough land to refer to his home as a true hacienda. Whether or not the was the case, Nick did not now-though, he did not doubt it either.

When it came to the celebration, it had been held for Antonio's sister, Bonita, and her new husband. Antonio's and Bonita's parents would have hosted the celebration, only they had passed away the year before. Nick had to admit, he'd had his share of drinks, but not to the point of getting so drunk he couldn't remember what he'd done or who he'd met. He didn't know a Mariah, and he sure hadn't requested any kind of papers be filed that would state she was his wife. The marriage certificate had to be fake; they couldn't be married….could they?