Post by catgirl63 on Nov 25, 2010 2:08:48 GMT -4
Chapter 99
Jarrod found the kitchen of the hotel, stopping in the doorway and examined the scene before him. Matt Simmons stood over Heath whose face was raised with eyes closed as his uncle administered to the remnants of the younger man’s battle with Gil Anders. Nick sat opposite the blond sipping on a cup he assumed was full of coffee. Having dispatched the women in the hotel who had all been witness to the brutal fight back to their rooms in hope of continuing on in sleep, he had sought out the other members of his gender.
Stepping into the kitchen and making his way to take a seat beside Nick, he smiled his thanks as the rancher filled him a cup from the pot in the middle of the table. Twinkling blue eyes caught the wizened eyes of Matt Simmons as he asked, “Well, Dr. Simmons….what is the prognosis?”
Smirking as he continued working, Matt advised, “He won’t be looking too purty for a while, but he should make it through.”
Opening an eye after flinching from the sting of antiseptic a cut on his forehead from a shard of glass, Heath replied dryly, “You’re a funny man, Uncle Matt.”
“Funny, huh?” retorted Matt as he studied the wounds on his nephew to ensure his services were no longer needed. “You won’t be finding me none too funny when I have you pack more glass from Pine Crest to fix that window, boy. Last time it took you three times to get it all back here in one piece.”
“Last time?” queried Nick, his hazel eyes filled with curiosity at the low sigh of trepidation escaping from the blond. “You broke that window before?”
“Just once…it wasn’t all my doing,” answered Heath as he filled a cup and offered the same to his uncle who shook his head.
“No, thanks Heath,” declined Matt squeezing his nephew’s shoulder before placing the bowl of water and cloth he’d been using in the sink. “We can clean up stuff tomorrow cause now I’m headed back to bed…night boys.”
The older man acknowledged the parting words from the trio of younger man with a wave before departing the room. He would leave the Barkley men with his nephew for they didn’t need him in the room for the discussion he was sure to come. Heath hadn’t offered any further elaboration to the previous episode as he gingerly touched his fingers to the swollen dark spot on his jaw.
Jarrod smirked as Nick fidgeted on the bench, growing impatient for the explanation that seemed too long in coming. Raising the cup and taking a sip of the hot brew, he counted silently to himself and when his count didn’t exceed ten, congratulated himself on his knowledge of his middle brother’s traits and personality.
“Well?” asked Nick.
Meeting the hazel eyes across the table, Heath replied, “Well, what?”
“Getting information out of you Heath is like trying to dig out a stubborn sliver from your hand,” stated Nick in exasperation before mumbling under his breath, “You just have to keep digging at it….all the while it can be damn irritating.”
Arching an eyebrow at the irritation on the tanned face, the blond looked to Jarrod who was watching with a bemused look on his face. “I ain’t sure…but I don’t think that was a compliment….”
Chuckling and shaking his head, Jarrod wisely decided not to reply at the scathing look he received from the man seated on his right. He was enjoying the moment beholding a feel of brotherly bonding in the room warmed by more than the fire in the cook stove.
“Last time?” prompted Nick his eyes letting the younger man know he wasn’t about to let the subject go.
“Oh that…well, it was really nothing…” offered Heath with a small lop-sided grin at the agitation he felt welling up inside of the older man before his eyes turned somber and he added seriously, “It was a few years back…some guy passing through thought an old man and three ladies were easy targets….he didn’t know I had shown up during the night. His bullet missed and broke the window...mine didn’t.”
It was only a few words from the blond but they painted a picture in the minds of the dark haired men. A man seeking to prey on the weak who were unfortunate to be in his path had been stopped by the youngest in the room.
“Thank you Heath for watching out for Audra, again,” said Jarrod, his eyes were met from across the table before a quick nod was received in acknowledgement.
Leaning his forearms on the table and cradling the tin cup in his hands, Nick inquired, “And Anders…do you think he’ll come after you for this, Heath? You were just protecting Audra but I don’t think that’s gonna matter to him.”
Shaking his head negatively, the blond answered, “Nah, Gil likes to sell wolf tickets mostly.”
Jarrod’s confused face turned to Nick who elaborated, “Anders likes to talk but doesn’t do the walk….does a lot of barking and no biting…..”
“Ah, I see,” replied the prominent lawyer after the translation was provided.
Glancing into the dark liquid in his cup for several minutes, Heath scowled before offering suddenly, “I had no idea he would have bothered Audra like that…too much whiskey I guess. If I had, I’d have never let him stay here.”
“Well, too much drink can cloud one’s judgment and make them do things they wouldn’t normally do,” agreed Jarrod.
“Don’t I know it. That’s why I don’t take it any more,” retorted the blond before taking a drink of his coffee and adding quietly. “Still, we spent a lot of time together and I’d never seen him bother any women before…..”
Nick picked up the pot and touched off the cups as he offered, “Don’t beat yourself up about it….Audra’s fine, you’re fine….he’s gone….can’t say the window is fine though.”
The room fell silent while the three men contemplated the events of the night. Jarrod wanted nothing more than to try to break the blond’s resolve against returning to Stockton and yet was reluctant to dissipate the comfortable atmosphere surrounding them. Even Nick seemed to welcome the serene envelopment of the ambiance of the room in the presence of the blond. The third son of their father was a third point of a triangle in which they were all connected with the lines of brotherhood….the son who had called Audra, sister and had given no thought to his own safety as he defended her honor.
“How did you know it was Anders?” inquired Heath suddenly, meeting the eyes of the older men.
“It was Nick actually who put it together.” Admitted Jarrod.
“It was the way he sits his horse…off to the side like he’s off balance and ready to fall off.” Pointed out the rancher before adding, “I didn’t put it together at first but when I did, I knew it was him even though that day he was too far away for me to see his face.”
Recalling the scene where the rancher and some of the crew came upon them as they had left the box canyon all those weeks ago, Heath nodded in understanding. “Yeah, he’s always ridden that way…while long as I’ve know him.”
“Not many ride that way,” inferred Nick.
“It wasn’t Gil’s fault…I’m the one that asked for help me with the rustling. I knew he’d do it cause of our past together and for the money.” Said the blond taking responsibility for his actions and decisions of the past. “I’m just sorry Logan got shot.”
“You were also shot that day, little brother, remember?” chided the eldest at the table. “You were just lucky Nick’s a bad shot.”
“I am not,” protested the rancher quick as a flash. “You probably wouldn’t even know how to load a gun lawyer…you’d rather use case law to bore people to death.”
Heath suddenly felt as if he were standing on the outside and looking in from the brotherly bantering occurring between the two men. He was overpowered by an immense surge of longing and an explosive desire for the same brotherly bond. Looking down into his cup, he closed his eyes for a moment and tried to shove the hunger back into his inner pandora’s box. He couldn’t allow himself to be swayed by these strong emotions…he needed to remain in control for Joy’s sake…for her future.
Nick’s badgering of Jarrod stopped at the pained look spreading across the lowered face of the blond. Suddenly as one would douse a fire with water in the cold of the night, he felt a change in the air around the blond across the table….almost of if he were the flame lessened with the water. The rancher could sense him taking a mental step back and had only a moment to wonder if the flash of pain he’d seen was physical or a wounding deep inside before the man he’d been studying, pushed himself upward.
“Reckon I’ll see you boys in a few hours,” announced Heath after mentally deciding he needed to place some distance between these out of control surges and the men seated at the table. He felt a flash of guilt at seeing the puzzled look in the two sets of eyes at his abrupt change and he hesitated for only a moment.
“Just leave the cups and stuff here, we’ll take care of them in the morning,” added Heath before turning, taking a step before pausing and looking back over his shoulder to the table. “Night.”
