Letters

Chapter 1

"August 5, 1880

Dear Nancy,

Well, it's been another eventful few days here at the Barkley ranch. It seems like I'm always telling you that, doesn't it? At least this time I don't have anything in the way of bad news to pass on. It's all good news.

Maggie has recovered completely from the buggy accident and is up and around, but carefully. The doctor wants her to rest a lot, and he's warned her and Jarrod that she's likely to be totally bedridden for a spell before the baby is born. She's a trooper about it, though, willing to do anything as long as it's good for the baby. Jarrod has the same outlook, but frankly, being the homemaker of his marriage is something he's going to need a lot more practice at."

"Maggie?! Do you know where the coffee is?!" Jarrod called, half awake. It was early in the morning, and Maggie woke up, uncomfortable, so they decided to rise and shine as best they could.

"Same place it always is, darling – the top part of the corner cabinet," Maggie responded as she walked gingerly from the bedroom and through the living room.

Jarrod yawned and found the coffee as Maggie sat down gently at the kitchen table. She was nowhere near able to pull up to the table anymore, but she still liked to sit there and help Jarrod prepare meals. He was pretty good at it, but first thing in the morning, he couldn't seem to remember where anything was.

They heard a rider coming up into the yard. Nick had lent them a couple ranch hands to stay overnight in case they were needed. They stayed in a small bunkhouse built in next to the stable, but they would be riding out rather than in, and they hadn't done that yet. Jarrod left the coffee to have a look out at who might be coming in so early.

"Who is it?" Maggie asked.

"It's Nick," Jarrod said and opened the front door for him.

Nick came in, carrying his hat.

"What are you doing here so early?" Jarrod asked. "Is something wrong at the house?"

"No, no, everything's fine," Nick said. "I just wanted to catch you before you went into town."

Jarrod scratched his head, remembering. "Oh, yeah, I was going to file those deeds with the land records today."

"Yeah, I figured you'd forget," Nick said. "Morning, Maggie. How are you feeling today?"

"Just fine," Maggie smiled. "Stay for coffee and Jarrod's scrambled eggs?"

"I already had Silas's scrambled eggs, and Jarrod's can't compare," Nick said, "but I will have a cup of coffee."

"Have a seat," Jarrod said.

Nick sat as his brother went back to fixing coffee.

Nick said, "Actually, I wanted to chat with the two of you about something else."

"What's that?" Maggied asked.

"Well, I don't know if you knew, but Nancy and I have been writing to each other quite a bit."

Jarrod said, "We know."

"Well, by the way, Jarrod, she's getting along really well with that lawyer you put her onto," Nick said. "Really well."

Jarrod turned and looked at him. Nick was getting jealous. It was written all over him. "What do you want to know about him?"

"Well, everything. All I know is his name."

Cy Claiborne. "I've known him for years," Jarrod said. "He's an honest, hardworking man. What else do you need to know?"

"Is he married?" Nick asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"He was the last time I heard. Why? He hasn't been improper with Nancy, has he?"

"No, no, not that I know of anyway. It just seems – well, she writes about him a lot, how much she likes how he's taken care of her, how secure she feels."

Jarrod got the coffee going and came back into sit down at the table with his brother and his wife. "Nick, you know how clients can get with their lawyers. How many clients have I had over the years – women who are alone, some married – thought they were in love with me."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Nick said.

"Why don't you go up and see her?" Maggie asked.

"Can't, I got a drive to the army in Modesto starting in a couple days," Nick said.

"Go see her when you get back," Jarrod said.

"When I get back, we'll be harvesting the peaches and pears, and then we'll need to put in the winter feed crop – "

"Nick, you can't build a relationship unless you put as much of yourself into it as you put into your ranch," Maggie said.

"Maggie's right," Jarrod said. "You have to put Nancy in there somewhere."

"I keep hoping she'll get her property sold and move to Stockton like she plans," Nick said.

"If you don't play your cards right, she may not move here," Jarrod said.

"At least write to her about it, see if she'd like you to come," Maggie said.

"Heath can handle the fruit harvest," Jarrod said. "See how Nancy feels about you coming up that way. Or are you changing your mind about her?"

"No, I'm not changing my mind," Nick said. "I'd still like her to move here so we can get to know each other better and see if we really are right for each other."

"How often have you told her that?" Maggie asked.

"Every chance I get," Nick said, smiling a little.

Jarrod got up to check on the coffee. "Then take a couple days after the drive and go see her, but ask her if it's all right first. I'll bet she jumps at it, and that'll make you feel better about going."

Nick considered it, and nodded.

"Why else did you come over this early?" Jarrod asked.

"What, I can't just visit my favorite older brother and his wife?" Nick asked, winking at Maggie.

"I'm your only older brother," Jarrod said.

"I want to go into town, too," Nick said. "Thought I'd go with you."

Jarrod hesitated a little, but said, "Sure. But I won't be able to go to the land records office until nine."

"I can wait," Nick said. "I'm seeing Sam Jenkins about him joining his herd with ours for the drive. Sam won't be in town before nine himself."

"Why don't the two of you have a good lunch and spend some time together?" Maggie suggested.

"Only if Nick gets the hands to stay here until we get back," Jarrod said. "I don't want you to be alone."

Nick got up. "I'll go talk to them now. Maybe we can catch a good poker game, too, Jarrod."

Nick headed out the door and off to the bunkhouse, where he found his two hands making their own breakfast. They didn't mind staying around The Grove for a while. There were a few chores they thought they could handle here. Nick told them to plan to stay the day, and then he went back into the house.

Coffee was ready and on the table when Nick went back in. "All set, Maggie. Jack and Lou will be here all day. They got a couple things they thought needed doing anyway."

"Good, I'll be fine," Maggie said. "You two go on, have a good day in town, spend a little time together and see if you can avoid getting into an argument."

"We don't argue," Nick said.

Both Jarrod and Maggie looked at him in disbelief.

"All right, Nancy, Jarrod and I do argue now and then, as you well know. But we always have. He and I are both stubborn as mules and when we get our minds made up on something, we don't back away easily. But our trip into town wasn't that kind of trip. It was a time we could talk about important things and not blow up at each other."

Jarrod and Nick rode into town together, in silence for the most part, but as they neared Stockton, Jarrod spoke up.

"It could take me a while at the records office," he said. "How long do you plan to be with Jenkins?"

"Oh, we'll met at the Cattleman's, have some coffee, chew the fat," Nick said. "Maybe an hour or so."

Jarrod hesitated, but then said, "I need to stop by Dr. Merar's after the records office."

Nick threw him a concerned look.

"No, no, I'm fine," Jarrod said. "He just likes me to check in now and then, let him know how I'm doing, how Maggie's doing. Shouldn't take me too long."

Jarrod's plan to see the doctor raised up something in Nick.

"Jarrod, I want to ask you something. I need your opinion – well, it's not just that I need your opinion. I guess I need your permission, too – "

"Spit it out, Nick," Jarrod said. "You're starting to ramble."

Nick sighed. "It's about your heart. We've talked a little about it before, and Heath and I did talk to Dr. Merar about it. It's about the chance that what you have is hereditary."

"What did he say?" Jarrod asked, somewhat solemnly.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," Nick said. "But the point right now is – Nancy and I are getting closer all the time. I don't think I want it to go a lot farther without her knowing we might have this thing running around in the family."

"What do you want my opinion about?"

"Whether you think I ought to mention it to her yet."

"And what do you want my permission about?"

"Whether I can tell her about you. It's hard to tell her about what might happen to me without mentioning what's happening to you."

"So, Nancy, Jarrod thought it might be a good idea I let you know about this thing now, and he told me it was all right to talk to you about it. I feel like we're getting closer, even if it's only on paper so far, but you should know something before you decide if you want to move to Stockton and see where you and I might go from here.

You see, Jarrod has a problem. He has a bad heart, and he's suffering from pain at times that gets pretty nasty. And his heart will probably kill him someday. He'll probably leave us years before he ought to. We're all making our peace with that, but where you come in is this. Our father had a similar problem, and it's possible that Jarrod inherited his illness from him. Which means it's possible that I have inherited it, too.

I just want you to know that, as you make your plans. I'm not suffering from anything yet, and the doctor says it may never happen to me. We just don't know."

"Are you ready for Nancy to break everything off if you tell her about me?" Jarrod asked after he had given Nick his permission to tell her.

"Better now than later, I guess," Nick said. Then he looked over at his older brother, riding beside him. "Am I being responsible, Jarrod, or am I being too cautious?"

Jarrod shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't face this with Maggie. She saw my symptoms and remembered them from her first husband. She knew what was going on before I brought it up. But Nick, I'd say you have to do what you think is right, and when you think it's right."

Nick thought about it and nodded.