Dr. Graham followed Jared back to Keypoint after the expedient and private funeral for Olivia and Carson in Coronado. He was disturbed to find that Lauren hadn’t yet regained consciousness, but said that he had done all he could.
“She’ll have to come out of this by herself and in her own good time. I just hope she’s… well, she received quite a blow on the head.”
He left them with those grim words. That had been five days ago. Jared had barely left the room since then, pacing back and forth like a caged animal and snapping at anyone who even suggested that he rest.
Now, as he sat with his head hanging low over his knees, Gloria and Rudy felt compassion for him. He had come so close to losing the woman he had only recently realized that he loved.
He spoke in a low voice. “She remembered shooting Kurt, and it was horrible for her. She feels so damned guilty.” He couldn’t meet their eyes. “She said that he didn’t… uh… do anything to her except… touch her. And Duncan… God! Will she ever be normal again?” He threw his head back and clenched his bared teeth, tormented by thoughts of the way Lauren had been mistreated. By everyone. By him.
“Did you tell her about Olivia and Carson?” Gloria asked.
Jared sighed wearily. “Yes. I wanted to spare her the details, but she wouldn’t let me.” He was still amazed that even in her own pain, she had consoled him for his mother’s death. She had reached out pale, thin fingers and placed them against his lips as he told her about the grisly sight that Rosa had found in the office.
“Do you know what she said?” he asked them rhetorically. “She said that Mother was to be pitied. How can she be so generous after everything Mother said and did to her?” He shook his head in wonder. His voice was choked when he added, “She said that Mother had loved me in the only way she could, that it wasn’t in her nature to love sacrificially.”
Gloria was touched by his desire to believe that. “I think Lauren is probably right, Jared,” she said.
“Yeah, well.” He cleared his throat and sat up straighter, trying to control the emotions that were so near the surface. “She was shocked to hear about Parker leaving Austin when he found out about Kurt’s death. Then I explained about the shady deals he was pulling off with some of his railroad buddies, getting kickbacks and so forth. She didn’t know that all these months I’ve been skirting Vandiver and his yes-men and going to the top executives of the TransPlains Railroad and working out my own deals with them. Vandiver barely crossed the state line into Oklahoma Territory before he could be caught. I haven’t finished with him yet.”
“What about the railroad?” Gloria asked.
“Oh, we’ll get it. On schedule, too.” He smiled. “I told Lauren the bank would be subsidizing Kendrick and helping him expand his power plant’s operation without jeopardizing anyone’s water supply. I even promised to initiate some more community improvements in Pueblo.” He laughed. “I feel like the Salvation Army.”
“Jared, you jackass. Why did you let her think you were in cahoots with Vandiver?” Rudy was thoroughly disgusted at his brother’s lack of openness with his wife.
“Because if we became too close, Mother and the Vandivers would have become suspicious. After I fell…” He blushed uncharacteristically. “After I fell in love with Lauren, I had to turn my back on her. Otherwise, they would have known I wasn’t on their side and I would have been powerless to fight them. She had heard our conversation on the porch that night, Rudy, and thought I was talking about their plan to raid Pueblo.”
“She didn’t know you were planning to take a virtual army of vaqueros and ranchers and storm the Vandiver office complex in Austin. Thank God I was able to talk you out of that!”
“She thought all these midnight rides of mine were for meetings with the toughs that Vandiver had hired and not the men we had gathered up to ambush that gang when they rode into Pueblo.” His lips curled into a half-smile. “She even had poor Pepe bury boxes of ammunition, thinking it was for the mercenaries. Pepe, of course, was sworn to secrecy about my organizing Pueblo’s defense. As soon as she went back to the house, he had to dig the bullets up again.” He laughed softly, then stared at the floor and shook his head. “I just hope we’ll be able to reconcile our differences after all that’s happened.”
“Lauren is strong, Jared. She has shown a lot of fortitude by putting up with you for so long.” Gloria went to her brother-in-law and hugged him. “Go on now, and please take a bath. And rest. I’ll wake you later.”
He looked down at her and then at his brother propped up on pillows in the wide bed. He smiled boyishly as he asked, “Does Rudy know about the baby?”
His brother winked at him broadly. “Yes, I told him,” Gloria said and patted Jared on the back as he slumped out of the room.
* * *
Gloria was true to her word and awakened Jared when she had seen to Lauren’s needs. But by the time Jared had dressed and gone into the bedroom, she was asleep again. He didn’t have the heart to awaken her, but sat quietly in the chair beside the bed and watched her as she slept.
The next morning, Lauren awoke feeling much improved. Her brain wasn’t fuzzy, even though she now realized the full weight of the past events. She felt stronger and had a much more active appetite.
“Well, that’s no surprise,” said Gloria when Lauren mentioned it. “You have lived on sweetened tea for almost a week now.”
Rudy came in to visit her. She was so happy to see him alive, she felt tears gathering in her eyes. Embarrassed by her emotion, he made light of his injury, not wanting to remind her of the horrors of Crazy Jack’s cave.
In the course of the day, everyone came to see her but Jared. Pride kept her from asking about him. She knew she shouldn’t have expected him. He always deserted her. She should be accustomed to it by now.
Gloria was furious with her brother-in-law for riding out that morning before anyone else was up and about. She tried to ignore the hurt she read in Lauren’s eyes.
Something quite unexpected did cheer her, however. The clear notes of her piano were instantly recognizable, no matter how discordantly the keys were being pounded upon by the children.
“My piano!” she exclaimed.
“Yes,” Gloria said. “Jared had it brought out here. He’s closed up the house in Coronado for a while. He knew you’d want it. Rosa is with Elena, helping her care for Jack. The stables are now under Pepe’s supervision. Jared also has another surprise for you, but I’ll let him tell you about it.”
Lauren’s eyes closed and Gloria asked softly, “How do you really feel?”