Chapter 5

The family was surprised when Nick came striding back into the library, Heath right behind him. They expected the fight to take longer, but they noticed that neither man had any blood on him. All they had were dirty pants.

"All right," Nick said as he came in. "Seems like our foreman McCall isn't gonna let us slug it out in the yard, so we're back in here, and I'm still not willing to let this boy into our family."

Victoria stood up and faced her middle son. "What do you have to offer to support your position? We'll listen, Nick."

"He looks like father, and he has a newspaper clipping," Nick said. "That's all he has, and you're ready to accept him as one of us. Tell me, Mr. Lawyer, how you think that's enough."

Jarrod looked at Heath, then at Nick. "I spent all day with him, Nick. I know who he is. Once you've spent time with him, you'll realize it, too."

Nick turned toward Eugene. "All right, kid, what's your position on this? Do you buy this boy's story?"

Eugene looked from Jarrod to Nick. "I don't know if I buy it completely, but Jarrod and Mother do, and they're a lot better at judging people than I am. I think we ought to give Heath a chance."

"So do I," Audra said abruptly.

But then Heath said, "And what do I have to do to prove myself with this chance? Do you throw me out if you just decide I don't pass this little test?"

Heath was starting to sound like he had the night before. Victoria realized the boy was getting to the end of his rope with this, and he had been patient all day. For all the anger and rejection he'd put up with the night before, today he was calm and considerate. But it was getting thin.

"That's not what this is about," Victoria said. "If we accept Heath as part of this family, he stays part of this family, for good, even if he decides to leave." She looked at Heath. "If you stay, you stay as my son, and I never give up on my sons, even when they give up on me."

Heath looked at those eyes and couldn't imagine any son of Victoria Barkley's ever giving up on her. He knew that if he stayed, he never could.

But Nick was not willing to give up, despite everyone taking a position against him. For several more hours he argued, he walked out, he came back in, he paced, he got into his brothers' faces, and he tried everything he could to get them to come over to his way of thinking. Heath calmly repeated everything he had said already, over and over again, and Nick came back with everything he had already said. It was past midnight before Victoria finally got up again and spoke.

"None of you has mentioned one other thing. Heath doesn't seem to be holding anything over you for the way you treated him last night. You threatened him and you tried to buy him off, but today he was ready to die for our cause."

The men looked at each other. Nick looked away first - if that last bit of truth got to him, that was the only way it showed. It got to Jarrod and Eugene, but with them, Victoria was preaching to the choir.

Victoria said, "We've discussed this as thoroughly as it's going to be discussed," she said. "Nick, we may not have swayed you, but the rest of us know what we're doing. We want Heath to stay."

Nick's back straightened. "And that's it."

"Yes," Victoria said, "and if you have it in that stubborn mind of yours that you will leave if Heath stays, I'll have none of it. I'll ask Heath to find you and drag you back, so don't plan on leaving here. We are a family, no matter what, and Heath is willing to live as part of this family. The rest of us are willing to let him, and knowing you as well as I do, you will come around to our way of thinking before the week is out. Now, I'm going to bed. Heath, the fourth room on the right after the top of the stairs is yours. Please get your gear from the bunkhouse and move in there tonight. Good night, everyone."

"Good night, Mother," all of her children said.

And Heath said, "Good night."

Nick glared at him. "If you ever disappoint that woman in any way, I'll have your hide."

Heath said, "I don't need the threat. I'll never disappoint her."

Nick brushed past Heath and out of the room.

Jarrod put a hand on Heath's shoulder. "I'll help you with your gear."

Heath gave him a lop-sided smile. "With only one good arm?"

"I'll go," Eugene said.

Heath said, "It's all right. I ain't got much. Just somebody stick around and point me to the right room."

Jarrod kept his hand on Heath's shoulder as they started out. "I think my one good arm can handle that."

XXXXX

Nick was still fuming in the morning when he came down to breakfast. They had not had the chance to gather the morning before – the men had been off to the Sample's farm far too early to gather together – so Nick was taken by surprise when Jarrod was already sitting at the head of the table. It was where Nick usually sat when Jarrod was in San Francisco.

Nick fumed even more, but took another seat at the table and reached for the food.

"Nicholas, it was my understanding we do not eat before the blessing is said," Victoria said.

Nick folded his hands in front of him.

"And such is not said until everyone is at the table," his mother continued.

"Well, that raises a good question," Nick burst out.

He was undeterred when Victoria reminded him they had discussed everything there was to be discussed the night before. He went off on a speech of his own about the threat to the hard working people of the valley from the railroad and the washed-out gold miners and everyone else from renegade Confederates to Indian tribes that lived a thousand miles away. He finished it up reminding everyone for the n'th time that "this is a WORKING ranch" and if he was going to stay here, Heath needed to be up with everyone else at five o'clock in the morning and ready to dig in.

At which point Heath came in, described everything he had already done from finding the mesquite that needed to be cleared to examining the broken bridge that he and Nick had caved in a few days before. Then Heath sat down, and Nick sat down – and they immediately stuck their forks into the same piece of steak on the platter between them and in front of Jarrod.

They glared hard at one another. Neither one was going to surrender that piece of steak.

Jarrod looked from one to the other and back again. Heaving a sigh and using his good arm, he took his knife and cut the steak into perfect halves.

Audra smirked.

Nick and Heath finally laughed at each other.

With a relieved sigh, Victoria began to give the blessing.

The End