Love Without Restraint

 

Jarrod greeted the reverend and his wife after the sermon and stepped out into the late morning sunshine. Looking around, he was slightly surprised to see his brothers talking to Dave and raised an eyebrow when Nick waved him over.

“Hey, Jarrod,” Nick called as he got closer, “Heath and I are planning to go fishing and Dave’s gonna join us. You in?”

Jarrod masked his shock. “Sounds good to me.” Nick had never offered to spend any time with Dave before, other than agreeing to join a posse or something that might come up in the way of the sheriff’s duties, and Jarrod was pleasantly surprised by the apparent change in attitude.

“I’ll go get my gear,” Dave told them with a well-timed wink for Jarrod, “where should I meet you?”

“How about Snyder’s Creek?” Heath offered and as everyone agreed, they were interrupted.

“Oh, there you all are.” The men turned to see Emily and another young woman walk up to them. “Have you all met my friend Georgina Harrington?”

Jarrod groaned inwardly as the pretty brunette gave him a brilliant smile. He could only guess what Emily had told her, but resolved to be polite.

“Georgina’s family just moved here from Philadelphia,” Emily went on. “Her father bought Mr. White’s harness shop.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” Heath said, tipping his hat, and the others did the same.

Jarrod opened his mouth to excuse himself before Emily said anything else, but she was too quick.

“Georgina and I were just talking about the dance nest Friday,” she said brightly. “Nick and I are going and Sharon said you’re leaving the baby with Victoria so you can come, right, Heath?” Heath tried to answer, but Emily didn’t pause. “Do you have a lady you’re taking, Jarrod?”

“No, Emily, I was---”

He saw the look Emily and Georgina exchanged as the brunette spoke up. 

I’d love to go with you, thank you, Mr. Barkley,” she gushed.

“Miss Harrington, I---”

But again, Emily didn’t give him a chance to protest. “You’ll pick her up at seven?” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Jarrod.” Jarrod was left staring after them as they walked away, talking about what they should wear. He looked over at his brothers and then at Dave. They were all trying to hold in their laughter.

“She got you good, big brother,” Nick chortled.

Jarrod glared at him. “Not funny, Nick.” Then he mused, “Maybe I can come up with a reason to leave town.”

“Not unless you want to miss Daniel,” Dave reminded him. Dave’s eyes were full of mirth. “He’s coming home on Thursday and has to leave again early Sunday morning.”

“Besides, it’s only a dance,” Heath said. “We’ll be there to protect you.”

Jarrod gave Heath a dirty look. “Like you protected me just now?”

Nick laughed and clapped him on the back. “C’mon, Pappy, let’s get home and change so we can go fishing.”

“I’ll meet you at the creek,” Dave told them and leaned closer to Jarrod as his brothers walked away. “Maybe I should put the cage on you so you’ll behave yourself on Friday,” he teased.

“Funny man,” Jarrod grumbled. “You’re just lucky you don’t have any brothers.”

Dave just chuckled and winked. “See you in an hour or so.”

*

“Pa?”

Dave thanked the woman presiding over the punch bowl. He smiled at the bevy of young ladies sighing in his direction, causing them to giggle and turn away, and looked at his son.

“Where’s Maude?” Dave was attending the dance as chaperone to his son and the young woman who had currently caught his eye. When he’d watched the young man, dressed in his Sunday best, give Maude his arm and escort her into the hall, Dave had to wonder where that eager boy who made his pocket money catching frogs had gone.

Daniel shrugged and grinned. “She ran into a few of her friends and they said they had to go ‘freshen up’. I think that’s just a code for gossiping about us men.”

Dave chuckled and resisted the urge to tousle Daniel’s hair.

“Pa, why did Jarrod bring Georgina Harrington to the dance?”

That was the other reason Dave had so willingly agreed to chaperone. Jarrod’s brothers had explained to him Emily’s plan to marry the lawyer off and Dave decided wouldn’t hurt for him to be at the social to provide moral support. And he had to admit to finding a perverse pleasure watching Jarrod try not to show his discomfort at the lovely Georgina’s attentions as he saw her cling to his lover’s arm.

“He was blindsided by the young lady and his brother’s fiancée,” Dave told his son with a grin, “and wasn’t able to come up with a polite way to turn her down.”

Daniel just shook his head before he spotted his date. “Women. I’d better get back to Maude,” he said, “but don’t you think you should give him a breather and rescue him for a few minutes?”

This time Dave gave in and ruffled Daniel’s hair.

“Pa!” the young man said indignantly as he smoothed it back down. “You be careful or I’ll get Jarrod to help me pay you back.”

As he watched Daniel make his way back over to Maude, Dave decided Daniel was right; he did owe it to Jarrod to rescue him from Georgina’s clutches. He finished his punch, placed the glass back on the table and strode over to the couple just as the band was starting up a waltz.

“Evening, counsellor.” Dave inclined his head towards his escort. “Ma’am.”

“Hello, sheriff. Isn’t it a wonderful party?” Georgina gushed. She beamed at Jarrod. “Did you know Mr. Barkley is the most wonderful dancer?”

An image came to mind, but Dave put away the thought of their bodies moving together beneath the blankets. “No, ma’am, I didn’t. I hate to do this, but I need to talk to Mr. Barkley for a moment.” Dave caught the grateful expression in Jarrod’s eyes.

“Oh, sheriff, can’t it wait?” Georgina pouted.

“ ‘Fraid not, ma’am.”

Jarrod extricated himself from her grasp. “The sheriff wouldn’t disturb us if it wasn’t important,” he said smoothly.

Georgina huffed slightly. “Well, I guess I can take the opportunity to go and powder my nose. Don’t keep him too long,” she admonished before she flounced away.

Jarrod tucked his fingers into his pockets. “Why don’t we take this outside?” he suggested.

“Fine by me.”

The two men strolled out an open door that opened on the back of the building. Jarrod pulled out a cigar and offered it to Dave. He procured a second one out of his pocket along with a box of matches and they enjoyed the fragrant smoke in silence.

“Daniel told me I had to rescue you,” Dave said with a grin after a few moments.

Jarrod chuckled. “Remind me to thank him.” He took another drag on the cigar and watched the smoke swirl away. “I hope you have a client for me that will keep me too busy to squire the lovely Georgina again.”

Dave gave him a rakish wink. “Reckon I can think of a few other ways to keep you busy.” Jarrod’s eyebrow quirked in response. “Nick invited me to help out on roundup if I have the time.”

This time Jarrod’s eyebrow shot into his hairline. “Now that is a surprise. First fishing, now roundup…”

Dave reached out and briefly caressed Jarrod’s hand. “Maybe he’s finally accepting us,” he said softly.

“Maybe.” They smoked their cigars in silence for a few more moments. “My mother wants you to come out to the ranch more often,” Jarrod offered. “She said we have just as much right to share our love with the family as my brothers do.”

It was Dave’s turn to be surprised. “Your mother’s a fine lady. Don’t really see us holding hands in her parlour, though,” he added in an offhand manner.

“No,” Jarrod agreed with a wry chuckle, “can’t you see poor Emily’s face?”

Dave grinned. “At least she might stop trying to marry you off.”

“Speaking of which…” Jarrod dropped his spent cigar and ground it out under his boot. “I should get back to Georgina,” he said with a sigh.

“Reckon you can sneak away after seeing her home?” Dave suggested devilishly. “Daniel won’t mind if I don’t come home tonight.”

Jarrod’s answering grin sent a thrill up Dave’s spine. “I’ll tell the family not to wait up,” he replied huskily and Dave’s mind started coming up with plans as they went back inside.

*

Sweaty and sated, the two men lay close together in the darkness of the secluded cabin.

“I love this, y’know.” Dave propped himself up on one elbow and his other hand smoothed the damp hair off Jarrod’s forehead. “Getting to go to sleep with you beside me and knowing you’ll still be here when I wake up.”

Jarrod pulled Dave down on top of him. “Me too,” he murmured before kissing him passionately. “I wish…” Jarrod didn’t have to finish; even without Dave’s murmur of, “I know,” he knew that Dave shared the same wish, that they could love each other without the restraints law and society put on that love. They drifted off to sleep, making the most of their stolen time together as they lay tangled in each other’s arms.