Jarrod Barkley was in his law office in Stockton, California, wrapping up the last of the paperwork on a case he’d just finished that day. Exhausted and tired, he was headed for the ranch though it was early afternoon. He wanted nothing more than a glass of scotch and a long soak in a tub of very warm water. He picked up his satchel and was rising from his desk chair while reaching for his coat when his secretary, Mildred Landers, opened the door.
“Excuse me, Mr. Barkley, but there’s a man out here who insists on seeing you.”
“Mildred, I’m through for the day. Make him an appointment for in the morning. I’ll be glad to see him then,” Jarrod said as he put on his coat.
“I’ve already tried that. He insists you’d want to hear what he had to say.”
“Who is he?” Jarrod asked.
“He said his name is Matt Simmons,” she answered, and seeing the expression change in Jarrod’s face she asked, “Do you know him?”
Jarrod could feel anger rising in him, and admonished himself, ‘Ok, Jarrod, calm down. Surely this is not Heath’s uncle’.
“Mr. Barkley?” Mildred questioned again.
“I’ve heard of a Matt Simmons, and if he’s the one I’ve heard of, I don’t want to hear anything he has to say.” Jarrod’s eyes had a cold look such as his secretary had never seen on this Barkley’s face.
A voice from the door had Mildred and Jarrod turning around at the same time.
“Oh, I think you do want to hear what I have to say,” Matt Simmons said as he pushed his way past Mildred Landers to stand in front of Jarrod. He had a very smug look on his face.
Jarrod looked at his secretary and nodded. She looked at Matt Simmons and left the room shutting the door behind her.
By the manner the man entered his office and the look on his face, Jarrod was fairly certain this was the same Matt Simmons he’d heard about, and he had to fight the urge not to slam his fist into the man’s face. For a minute, he envied Nick’s impulsiveness. If Nick were here, he knew without a doubt, Matt Simmons would be unconscious on the floor, and they’d still have to pull Nick off of him. It was not in Jarrod’s nature to act first, so he did nothing but glare at the man across from him.
Matt Simmons was aware of the cold look he was getting, and for a minute he reconsidered his plan. It appeared his no account nephew had already shared some memories with his new found family, but then Matt Simmons smiled, after today, he’d have no family to share anything else with.
“Do you know who I am?” Matt asked.
Not one to give his hand away, Jarrod answered, “I believe you said your name was Matt Simmons.”
“I’m Heath’s uncle from Strawberry,” Matt said. He waited to see the effect of this revelation on Jarrod’s face, but he was disappointed. The man’s face showed nothing.
“I don’t believe we have anything to say to each other,” Jarrod answered, “so if you don’t mind, I was on my way out.”
“My, aren’t you the high and mighty one,” Simmons sneered. “Well, you won’t feel so high and mighty when you find out you have been taken for a fool. Your whole family’s been taken for fools.”
When Jarrod remained silent and apparently unmoved by anything he’d said, Matt Simmons became enraged.
“Heath Thomson is not Tom Barkley’s son. He’s played all of you.” Finally seeing a changed look on Jarrod’s face, he continued, “That’s right, Heath is not your brother.”
Jarrod looked long and hard at Matt Simmons, a man he despised; although, he’d never met him. He beat Heath when Heath was but a small child. According to Heath, Matt Simmons was cruel to his sister, Leah who was Heath’s mother, because he felt she’d disgraced him by having a child out of wedlock. He took his embarrassment out on both Heath and Leah.
“I think you should come to the ranch, and tell your story to the whole family. Say about 8:00 tonight?” Jarrod said quietly. He was thankful Heath was out of town picking up some horses. They’d have this problem over and done with before he returned.
Matt Simmons looked at Jarrod. It bothered him that he couldn’t tell what the man was thinking. He didn’t get the reaction he’d hoped for. He was prepared to answer a few questions, and accept some hush money, but he didn’t expect to be invited out to the big house. He had planned to only stick around long enough to see his nephew get booted out on his ears. That’s what his kind deserved.
“All right,” Simmons answered, “I’ll be there.” And with that he turned and left Jarrod’s office.
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“Why that low count dirty snake,” Nick snarled after hearing what Jarrod had to say. “I’ll give him what for. Coming here trying to start trouble for Heath.” Nick started for the door picking up his gun belt and strapping it on as he walked.
“Nick, you’ll have your chance to confront him when he gets here tonight,” Jarrod said to Nick’s retreating back.
Nick stopped and turned around, “I’m not waiting. Why, I’ll give you ten to one he’s in town right this minute spreading this lie around town as we speak; probably been doing it all afternoon. I won’t have him hurting Heath anymore than he already has.”
“Just a minute Nick,” Mrs. Barkley spoke up, “I think you are right, but you’re not going alone. We are all going to go with you.” She turned to Audra, “Audra go get our wraps please. Nick and Jarrod, you hitch the carriage. The quicker we settle this the better.”
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There was a large crowd gathered outside the hotel when the Barkleys arrived in town. A couple of men were holding a saddled horse in the front of the building. Nick and Jarrod dismounted their horses and made their way through the crowd.
“What’s going on?” Nick asked above the noise.
Before anyone could answer him, a man was shoved from the door of the hotel and landed face down in the dirt. Jed Carter, the owner of the general store, and Clint Webster, the barber, picked the man up and with the help of others, threw the man up on the horse.
“Now get out of town and don’t show your face around here again,” Jed Carter yelled. Shouts of “Yeah,” and, “Get out,” echoed throughout the crowd.
Jarrod, who came to stand by Nick, quietly said, “That’s Matt Simmons.”
“Simmons?” Nick questioned in wonderment. Then... “SIMMONS!” he yelled as he jerked the man from the saddle he’d just been put on. “I’m Heath BARKLEY’S brother,” he forcefully said then landed a hard right hook to Matt Simmons face. Picking him up from the dirt, he threw him belly down across the saddle and said through gritted teeth, “If you come back here to hurt Heath again, you won’t get off so light,” then he slapped the horse on the rump and watched until they were out of sight.
“What was going on here?” Jarrod asked the man next to him.
“That man, Simmons, did I hear you say?” the man asked.
Jarrod nodded.
“He was in the saloon and other places this afternoon spouting his mouth off against Heath. Seems folks here didn’t like it, so they dealt with it,” the man finished with a chuckle.
Jarrod pushed his hat back on his head, and said, “Well, I’ll be.”
Nick, who’d walked up, caught the man’s statement and his mouth was standing open, but then he broke into a wide grin. After all the trouble Heath had with the town people accepting him when he first came here, he never expected this kind of reaction from them. It warmed his heart good to see the town people unite and come to Heath’s defense this way.
Mrs. Barkley heard the exchanged, and her eyes filled with tears of joy, and she chewed on her lower lip to keep the tears at bay. Heath, the young man she’d come to love and think of as her own son, was loved, truly loved by the town people. Her thoughts were interrupted by Clint Webster.
“Mrs. Barkley, I’m glad you’re here. There’s something we need to say to you and your family. Most the folks in this town gave your family and Heath a hard time when he came to ya’ll. A small part of it was because we were protective of your family, but most of it was because we were prejudice against Heath. In the few months he’s been here though, he’s touched the hearts of all of us, and we’ve seen him for who he truly is. I can’t tell you all the things he’s done but to just mention a few - when Mrs. Anderson was sick, Heath cut her wood and kept a supply handy where she could easily reach it. When Jim Horton was out of work, Heath took the family groceries he paid for out of his own pocket. Timmy Johnson’s little dog was ran over and killed by a wagon just last week and Heath picked the little dog up and helped little Timmy bury him. And ma’am, that’s just to mention a few things.”
Tears were falling freely down Victoria Barkley’s face now.
John Lawson, the livery keeper, stepped forward. “No one is going to come in this town and speak against Heath again and not know what we think about it.”
“Thank you, thank you all so very much,” Victoria said through her tears.
Audra had sat through the entire incident without saying a word. She had a smile on her face. Seems everyone had come to know the brother she loved from the moment he’d arrived.
Nick swung up in his saddle with a smile on his face thinking ‘if Matt Simmons or anyone else wanted to mess with Heath, they’d better think again’.
THE END
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