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Winning the War	By : cowgirl65 Category: 1 through F > The Big Valley Views: 1709 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own The Big Valley and make no money from writing this

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The unflappable Silas greeted the unexpected guest with a warm smile and another place was waiting at the table when he called the family to dinner after making sure Janie was comfortable in one of the guest rooms.
“So, Janie, how long are you staying?" Victoria asked after they said grace.
“Well, I hadn’t quite decided.” Janie smiled that sweet smile that Jarrod had discovered he loved so much. “I don’t want to put anyone to any trouble.”
Nick passed along the mashed potatoes after taking a generous helping. “Janie, as far as I’m concerned, you stay as long as you want. Jarrod’s been cranky as an old bear since he hasn’t been able to see you.”
“Now, Nick,” Jarrod protested, but stopped and grinned at the chuckles around the table. He then looked over at Janie and smiled at her faint blush. “But my brother has the right idea, Janie. You’re welcome here as long as you’d like.”
Janie returned his smile. “A few days, I suppose. I shouldn’t leave Papa for too long.”
Jarrod let everyone else carry the conversation over dinner and just watched Janie’s interaction with his family. She seemed very at ease with them and they with her. In spite of her claims of not being well-educated, she held her own in the discussions around the table and Jarrod knew he wanted her to be a permanent fixture there. He had been seriously considering asking her to marry him; after all, no gentleman would court a woman and only a cad would kiss her the way he had on several occasions without intentions in that direction, but he had been a bit concerned how his sweet Janie would fare if he won the nomination and was elected Attorney General. She loved her home and Jarrod couldn’t see her being happy in a big city like Sacramento. The realization that he wasn’t a politician and that a lawyer was all he’d ever really wanted to be was the main reason he turned down the nomination, but Janie had been a close second.
That she’d made an impromptu visit to see him made him happy beyond belief and told Jarrod that Janie was taking their relationship seriously as well. Jarrod chuckled to himself as he recalled exactly how much she’d seen of him. That on its own would be grounds for most people to rush them to the altar. Then Janie glanced over at him and Jarrod knew he had to ask. He had to make his intentions known to the woman he’d fallen in love with.

*
Jarrod met Janie in the hall on his way to breakfast. All night he’d been thinking of how to propose and he’d decided that simpler was, in this case, better.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked as he took her hand.
Janie dazzled him with her lovely smile. “Yes, I did, Jarrod, thank you.”
They walked down the stairs together.
“It’s another beautiful day,” Jarrod observed. “I was wondering if you might like to go for a drive?”
“I’d like that,” she replied brightly.
They wasted no time after breakfast and soon Jarrod was driving the buggy down one of the lanes that led to the river. The day promised to be extremely hot, but the morning was still cool enough to be pleasant. Jarrod didn’t drive far before he found the perfect setting for what he wanted to ask. He pulled the horse to a stop, set the brake and helped Janie out of the buggy.
“Have I told you yet how glad I am that you came to visit?” he asked softly as he pulled her close.
“Not exactly,” she told him, smiling as she slipped her arms around his waist.
Jarrod bent down and kissed her gently. “I am very, very happy you came to see me,” he said. “There’s only one thing that could make me happier.”
Janie gave him a curious look. “And what’s that?”
“That the next visit you make, you won’t have to leave because you’ll be coming as my wife.” Jarrod took a step back to gaze into her eyes and was shocked to see not only surprise but dismay on her face as well. “Janie?”
She stepped out of his embrace and walked a few steps away, her back to him.
“Janie, I’m sorry,” Jarrod said. He felt as though his world had just been knocked out from under him. “If I overstepped, or misread your feelings…”
Janie shook her head. “No, Jarrod.” She turned to face him, her arms hugged tightly over her chest. “You didn’t.” A tear glimmered on her cheek. “But until you asked, it didn’t hit me. I’m not ready to leave my home, or leave Papa.” She hung her head. “I mislead you, Jarrod, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Jarrod walked up to her, wiped the tears off her cheek and held her close. “You have no reason to be sorry.” He kissed the top of her head softly. “You know, I could always relocate to Mineral Springs.” He’d considered it; he knew how much her home meant to her and it wasn’t as if Mineral Springs was that far from Stockton.
Janie smiled wanly. “Your life is here, Jarrod. Your work, your business, your family…”
“I have a business in Mineral Springs,” he reminded her with a smile. “And if you marry me, I’ll have family there as well.”
“I know, but you’re a lawyer and that’s what you love doing,” she argued. “There wouldn’t be enough work to keep you busy in Mineral Springs, your practice would keep you away and I’d never see you…” Janie blinked back more tears. “I just don’t think it would work out, Jarrod.”
Jarrod sighed. His heart would be irrevocably broken if he couldn’t win her over, but in that moment, he knew even professing his love for her wouldn’t be enough to convince her. He knew how stubborn Janie was; that was one of the things he loved about her. “We’ll work it out, Janie,” he promised as much to himself as to her. “We made a future for your town, we just have to try to make one for us.” They’d won the battle for Mineral Springs, now he had to win the war. After all, even Janie Moore was no match for the stubbornness of a Barkley.
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Winning the War