Paul knew that Jack was right—he’d have to make his presence felt in Virgin River soon. He couldn’t let the doctor be the only one there when Vanni came out of mourning and was ready to get on with her life. So he called the general and asked if it would be all right to come down for a weekend visit, to see the family and the baby.
He got up early on Saturday morning and made the drive in record time. He pulled up in front of the house and what he saw from the driveway gave him pause. Vanni was dressed in well-worn jeans, chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up, boots and a Stetson, standing out in front of Matt’s grave. She pulled the hat off her head and shook her hair down her back. Then she wiped at her eyes. Damn it, he thought. I told Jack she was still in that dark place.
He left the truck and, rather than going to the front door, he went out to the grave. As he came up behind her, she heard him and turned. Then she quickly turned back and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist. “Having one of those days?” he asked gently.
“Yeah,” she said. “Every once in a while I just get so lonely.”
“I know, Vanni. It’s going to be okay.”
“Dad’s worried about me coming out here to tell Matt about it.” She laughed uncomfortably. “He wishes I wouldn’t do this.”
“It’s okay to do this,” he said.
“I’m not brooding. Really. Sometimes I can’t think of anyone else to complain to.”
“You can always complain to me,” he said.
She turned around and looked at him; for a moment her eyes flashed. “And how am I supposed to do that? I hardly ever talk to you. I almost never see you.”
“I’m sorry, I meant to do better. I know I went missing for a while after leaving here. It’s complicated, Vanni. I can explain.”
“Any more complicated than losing a husband?” she snapped. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me just now. My God, you lost your best friend—I’m sorry. Paul, you don’t have to explain…”
“Yeah, I think I do. After we buried him and I stayed on for Mattie—I was kind of like a grenade with the pin out. I hadn’t unloaded, and man, I really needed to. I was a little out of my head, Vanni. I didn’t use the best judgment. I had to take a time out, some space—a few weeks. I had to get a grip on things, you know? And I didn’t want everything between us to be about grieving over Matt. There’s a lot more between us than that.”
“There is?” she asked hopefully.
“Well, Jesus, we delivered a baby together.” He rubbed a thumb along her cheek under her eye. “Sorry. My hands are so rough.”
“No,” she said. “No. Your hands are fine. Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you?”
“Not half as much as I missed you. We’ve been through a lot together, you and me.” He reached for her hand. He couldn’t tell her now, here, in front of Matt’s grave with the general waiting right inside the house. “Go get cleaned up. Tom’s probably got a big date tonight, but I’m going to take you and your dad out to dinner.”
She smiled. “Anywhere special?” she asked.
“Your favorite bar and grill. I made a reservation.”
* * *
By the time Paul got the general, Vanni and baby to the bar, the few customers were finishing up their early meals and leaving. Tables were pushed together and the usual crowd gathered around. The April nights were still cold, so the fire was lit in the hearth. Jack divided his time between the tables and his favorite spot behind the bar. Paul drifted back there and said, “Look at your wife, my man. She’s almost more baby than woman. And she’s got a kind of wild look about her. Her cheeks are awful pink.”
“I know,” Jack said. “We just had a doctor’s visit—John Stone said if we turn her upside down we might see the color of Emma’s eyes. Stand back. She’s going to go early. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to keep her still. I’d like to keep this one inside at least a couple more weeks.”
“She’s real animated. Kind of like Vanni was that day she made me watch the childbirth movie.”
“Yeah. I’m not experienced enough to know how early is too early. I thought about calling John…” Then he smiled at Paul and said, “I see you made it right down here. Good thinking. You make any progress with Vanni?”
That changed Paul’s expression. “When I drove up to the house today I caught her out at the grave, crying. I told you—she’s still on real shaky ground.”
“My advice—which, by the way, Mel says I am not, under pain of death allowed to give—is be sure you’re around when the ground stops shaking.”
“Jack, I should talk to you about a couple of things. This whole business with Vanni—it just keeps getting more complicated.”
“Yeah?”
“For one thing, I have some pretty stiff competition…”
“Oh, yeah? Join the club, my brother.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Mel’s husband was a doctor.”
“Yeah,” he said. “An E.R. doctor. A saver of lives who, by all accounts, was also perfect in every other aspect of his life.” He swallowed. “He was neat, smart, humorous and probably great in bed. A fucking god.”
“You didn’t stand a chance, intellectually speaking,” Paul said.
“I know it,” Jack said. “And yet…”
“I need to talk to you about a couple of things,” Paul said. “Maybe you’ll point me in the right direction.”
“Paul, you don’t need my input. You just have to tell her how you feel.”
He hung his head briefly. “I don’t think it’s gonna be that simple. I think I might come by in the morning. So we can talk.”
“Come by the house then,” he said. “I try not to get too far away these days. I haven’t been coming into the bar until a little later in the morning.”
When Paul sat beside Vanessa again, she looked at him with sparkling aquamarine eyes and he almost melted. His very next thought was how he’d probably see those eyes flash in pure rage when he unburdened himself. She had a fire in her, and he’d seen a hint of that earlier today, out by the grave. It caused a shudder to pass through him. Then he noticed her hand was resting on her thigh, right next to him, and he reached for it, holding it under the table.
It was still early when they got back to the general’s house. Vanni took a little time alone with the baby, nursing him and settling him for the night. While she was busy, Walt built a fire. Then he went down the hall, leaving Paul alone in the great room.
Paul wanted a drink, but he didn’t dare. He was afraid it would loosen him up, make him either talk too much or do too much. Then Vanni joined him. She’d brushed out her hair and it fell in silky curves onto her shoulders, glistening in the firelight, making him want to scrunch it up in his hands.
“Where’s Dad?” she asked, curling up in the big leather chair beside his.
“He fixed up the fire and left the room,” Paul said. “It’s kind of early for him to turn in, isn’t it?”
“Maybe he’ll be right back. Can I get you anything? A nightcap?”
“No, thanks,” he said a little nervously. “So—rumor has it the doctor was here last week…”
She smiled. “Mel was right. If there’s anything you want to keep secret, get out of this town!”
“Did you want that to be a secret?” he asked, lifting his brows.
“No reason for that,” she said with a shrug. “I didn’t invite him. Yes, he came to town. I showed him around, had dinner at Jack’s, took him for a ride. He’s not great on a horse.” She grinned.
“How is he off the horse?” Paul heard himself ask.
She laughed at him, then said, “Cameron seems to be a very nice man. But then, we knew that.”
“A woman in your position—you’d probably be very interested in someone like him,” he said.
“Well, Paul, I have to admit, it’s nice to finally have a man pay a little romantic attention to me. It’s been a very long time. I know I haven’t been widowed all that long—but it’s been almost a year since…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away.
“Since?” he said, talking like a man who had had that drink.
She let her gaze drift back with a mysterious half smile on her lips. Vanni almost laughed, wondering how poor Paul would react if she said, “Since someone melted my bones with an orgasm…” A secret chuckle escaped her. Paul was sweet and affectionate, but far too taciturn. She reminded herself to treat him gently. He was very cautious with women. If he weren’t, he’d have been married years ago with a flock of children by now. “Since anything, Paul,” she said. “Anything at all.”
“Sorry,” he said, dropping his chin. “I didn’t mean to get so personal…”
She laughed at him. “Paul, you weren’t this shy with me when I was delivering Mattie. What’s going on?”
He took a breath. “Vanni, Vanni… I have things to explain. Difficult things. I know I don’t seem like the kind of guy who’d have complications in his life. I seem more like the kind of guy who has no life at all. But before Matt… Before I came down here to finish Jack’s house… I went out sometimes, you know?”
She laughed a little. “Paul, even though you never said anything, and I know you’re kind of shy around women, I assumed—”
“Stupid,” he said, interrupting. “I’m mostly stupid around women.”
“Uncertain, maybe. But under the right circumstances…”
“Exactly,” he said, almost relieved. “Under the right circumstances things can happen that you just don’t expect.”
She frowned slightly. “Paul, I understand you went out with women. Why wouldn’t you? You’re a handsome, single man.”
“It’s about me being a little absent since Mattie was born… I have a situation to work out.”
“A situation in Grants Pass?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said, rubbing a hand across the back of his sweaty neck. He took a breath. “Before I came down here last fall, I went out with a woman a couple of times. Just a casual thing. Nothing serious. But then the whole goddamn world shifted, Matt was killed, Mattie was due, I stayed here with you, we got a lot closer during that time. It might’ve been all about Matt and the baby at first, but that’s irrelevant—we got real close. You and me.”
“As close as brother and sister?” she asked him softly, hopeful about what could be coming.
“A lot closer than that, Vanni. At least in my mind. Then I went back to Grants Pass and not that much had changed there. I had changed, boy had I changed, but things back home were…”
“The same?” she asked. And she thought, there’s a woman in Grants Pass. Someone who had perhaps become important to him. “That woman you went out with a couple of times—when did you meet her?”
“Why?” he asked, perplexed.
“When?”
“God,” he said, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. “I don’t know. About a year ago, I guess.”
“A year ago? Jesus, Paul. Why didn’t you just tell me!”
“Tell you what?”
“There’s a woman! All this time, there’s been a woman!”
“No. No. There was just this woman I saw a couple of times and…”
She stood up abruptly. “That wouldn’t be complicated.”
He stood, as well. “I had a few things to figure out, Vanni—that’s why I wasn’t in touch for a while. And now I have an…unexpected situation at home I have to work out, but I’m going to get that under control and I’ll be here a lot more, I promise.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” she spat out. “Just say it. You’re involved with someone and it doesn’t work into your plans to spend time in Virgin River!”
“That’s not it,” he said nervously.
“You know everything about me! Yet you couldn’t even casually mention you were seeing someone at home?”
“It’s not like that. Listen, I just need some time on this. Some patience. Because I really intend to do better by you than I have. I know I haven’t been here for you like I meant to be and—”
“Stop!” she said. “I haven’t asked you for anything except to stay in touch! Stop whimpering!”
He scowled. His neck got red. “I’m not whimpering!”
“Well, you sure as hell aren’t talking! Man up!”
“I’m trying! But you’re doing all the talking for me!”
She had a few more hot retorts, but bit her tongue against them. She pursed her lips. He had been in Virgin River for months, but he went back to Grants Pass almost every week for a day or two. He had said it was to check on the construction company he’d left in the hands of his father and brothers. And to check on her? It must’ve been pretty hard on her to be asked to understand he had to be away so much, tending to his best friend’s widow. Imagine now, being told he’d have to make frequent trips to Virgin River to make sure the widow and baby were doing all right. Talk about complicated. Well, she wasn’t interested in that kind of relationship.
“I think you’re trying to tell me there’s a woman back in Grants Pass who’s counting on you. You have obligations there.”
“Yeah,” he said weakly. “But, Vanni, I have obligations here, as well. You and Mattie, you’re awful important to me…”
Being referred to as an obligation should have made her want to cry, but instead it made her furious. “Well, don’t worry your little head. We’re getting along just fine—better every day. You have a life in Grants Pass. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”
“You’re not listening,” he said, his voice raising to match hers. “I want to be here with you, as often as possible,” he said. “I’m doing my damn best!”
“It sounds like you have other things, other people you’d better pay attention to.”
“Listen, things can happen that you don’t plan, don’t expect!”
“Oh really?” she asked sarcastically. “Tell me about it,” she said. She hadn’t expected her husband to die, or to fall in love with Paul. If there was one thing she knew about the men in her life—her father, her late husband, Paul and all the guys who seemed to gather around him—they didn’t make commitments lightly, and once a promise was made, they never broke an oath. “I’m sure you’ll get everything straightened out,” she said. She tried to keep the angry edge out of her voice, but she was thoroughly unsuccessful. “Please, you have no obligations here. We’ll be fine. I don’t know why you didn’t just tell me—a long time ago! Did you think I wouldn’t understand you had to get home because there was someone there? Someone who was counting on you?”
“It isn’t like that!”
“You could have just told me!”
“Vanessa! For God’s sake—” Paul attempted.
Walt walked into the room. He looked stricken, startled. “Are you having an argument about something?”
“No!” they both said.
“Oh,” Walt said. “Poetry, I guess. Some new kind of poetry?”
Vanessa hissed and Paul just shook his head.
“I hear the baby,” she said, whirling out of the room.
“I hear something, too,” Paul said, leaving in the opposite direction, charging out the front door and letting it slam behind him.
Walt was left alone in the great room in front of a blazing hearth. “Well,” he said to himself. “Glad to know that wasn’t an argument.”
* * *
Vanni cursed herself. She’d lost it. She hadn’t given him much of a chance to explain, but then the time involved in him actually getting to the point might have taken a lifetime. She lay on her back on her bed, fully clothed, the back of her hand on her forehead. She kicked her feet furiously and groaned. She had a short fuse sometimes, she knew that. It rarely reared its ugly head like that, but Paul had frustrated her so much. How could you love and hate the same thing about a person? She adored that he was kind of shy and reluctant; that a woman had to mean everything in the world to him for him to speak at all, for him to embrace, smile, kiss. But she hated that he couldn’t take charge! Stake his claim! He should have told her long before Mattie was born that there was a special woman in Grants Pass, and that he had to get back to her!
Vanni was not going to be like Nikki, hoping to change a man’s mind. Or his feelings. More to the point, she wanted nothing to do with another woman’s man!
Then, despite the fact that her cheeks were still hot with anger, she cried. Then damned herself for crying.
* * *
Paul had a hard time sleeping through the night. He’d made a half-assed and totally unrehearsed attempt to explain things to Vanni and, in his bungling, left it undone, maybe worse. Of course, having the general right down the hall, maybe ready to walk into the room right at the moment Paul announced, “She’s pregnant!” didn’t help. But that was no excuse.
He had to get this done, and the very thought curdled his stomach.
If he was going to be a father he would be an involved father. He was more than committed to taking on little Matt and he hoped…no, he prayed, Vanni could accept his child as part of the package. But he had no idea how to go about telling her. Vanni scared him to death. She had a helluva temper.
It was just after dawn and the household was quiet. Paul dressed, made a pot of coffee and took a cup with him down to the stable, thinking of having a little morning chat with the horses. Maybe he could get some advice about the embarrassing fact that he was thirty-six years old and was still trying to figure out how to get close to a woman he’d been in love with for years. Not to mention the fact that he had this little complication of another woman having his baby.
He was leaning against a stall when he heard a sound. He turned around and saw that the tack room door was ajar. His first thought was that the general might be up, so he pushed open the door. There, seated on the bench, elbows on his knees and head down, was Tom. His jacket was tossed over the bench beside him and his shirtsleeves were rolled up. “Hey,” Paul said.
Tom lifted his head. His expression was troubled. “Hey,” he said.
“You been out all night?” Paul asked.
“I was out late, yeah. Then at Brenda’s. I got home a couple of hours ago.”
“Have fun?”
Tom shuddered. It was unmistakable. “Yeah,” he said in a breath. “Yeah.”
“What’s the matter, bud?” Paul asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Just thinking.”
“Yeah? Maybe if you think a little louder, I can help.”
Tom studied him for a long moment. “I sincerely doubt it, Paul.”
“Try me. I’m older. Maybe I’ve been down this road.”
“If you have and you’re still single at thirty-six, I really don’t want your advice,” he said glumly.
“Whoa,” Paul said. “What the hell’s this? Thinking about marriage at eighteen?”
“Nah. Not quite that. It’s just that… Brenda, man. Jesus, I love that girl. I didn’t think I could love a person this much.”
“Doesn’t sound exactly like a bad thing so far. Unless she doesn’t feel the same way…”
“Whew,” Tom said. His cheeks got a little pink and he shook his head. “She feels the same way. Whew.”
“So. You crossed that line, did you?”
“Whew,” he said again. He stood up, turned around and ran sweaty palms down his pants. When he turned back to Paul he said. “It should come with a warning, you know?”
Paul put a foot up on the bench and forced himself to take a leisurely sip of his steaming coffee, trying to get mentally ready for just anything. He hoped to God he and Tommy didn’t share the same problem. “Oh, yeah?”
“Can I talk about this? Does it make me a real jerk to talk about this? Because I was always taught men don’t talk about the women they… My dad always said a real man never talks about private things that happen with his girl.”
“It won’t go any further. We’re a long way from the locker room, Tom. I think I can be trusted.”
“It’s just that… Well, damn. She took her sweet time, you know? And I was real patient, even when I thought I was going out of my mind. But I just wouldn’t have felt right if she wasn’t sure. We had all the ground rules in place—double protection, we did a lot of talking first, were totally sure how we felt about each other. I promised I would be totally faithful to her, only her, unless she changed her mind, but I’m not changing mine. And she said the same thing to me. We love each other, Paul.”
“Yeah?”
“I figured it would take a little time, you know. Getting used to. I figured it would go real slow, maybe be a little clumsy. At first.”
“Yeah?” Paul asked, wondering what the hell this kid was getting at.
He ducked his head, then made eye contact. “It wasn’t.”
“Wasn’t what?”
“It didn’t take any time at all. It isn’t clumsy. It’s freaking incredible. She’s freaking incredible.”
Paul shook his head in confusion. “Is there a problem in here somewhere?”
“I’m leaving pretty soon,” he said. “Right after graduation I go to basic, then West Point. For years.” Then he hung his head.
“Aah,” Paul said. So, the boy had tapped the honey pot and found it sweeter than life. He wanted that to be a part of every day for the rest of his life. And West Point was going to lock him up for four years—you couldn’t live away from the academy, couldn’t graduate if you got married. “You won’t be gone forever,” Paul said.
“It’s going to seem like it.”
“I bet it will. But if she feels the same way you do, you have something very nice to look forward to. When the time’s right.” Paul took a sip of coffee. “Hey, man, even if you didn’t have West Point, eighteen’s just too young to do the forever thing.”
“Does it ever happen? Do people like me and Brenda fall in love as kids and stay together?”
“Happens more than you might think,” he said with a shrug. “My buddy Zeke, firefighter from Fresno? Married his high school sweetheart and so far they have four kids. They managed to do that even with being separated by the Marine Corps for at least two years. Phillips and Stephens were married pretty young—have nice little families. And they’re still so crazy about their women, it’s almost ridiculous. You’d think they just met them.”
“I never expected this,” Tom said. “I didn’t expect it to be so natural, so awesome. Makes me feel like I can’t live without her. Makes me feel sick to my stomach to even think about her ever being with another guy. I can’t imagine ever being with another girl. It just has me torn up inside.”
Paul chuckled in spite of himself. “Tommy,” he said, putting a strong hand on his shoulder. “You’re talking about the thing that makes the bucks lock horns, makes bulls tear down barn doors to get to the cow. Men go into battle for less. Makes you think you’d risk anything, give up anything, lay awake at night in a cold sweat…”
“Shew,” he said. “I guess that’s what they mean when they say love hurts,” Tom said.
“No, buddy, it doesn’t. You just said so yourself—it feels wonderful to love someone and to make love. Keep your focus—separation hurts, breaking up hurts, infidelity hurts—but love, man, that’s what we live for. Because it feels good.”
“Sounds like you know what you’re talking about,” Tom said. “But it doesn’t look like you do.”
Paul frowned and gave that shoulder a squeeze. “I know. I just haven’t worked out all the details yet.”
* * *
At nine Paul threw his duffel in the back of his truck. He shook Tom’s hand and told him to hang in there, shook the general’s hand and thanked him for his hospitality, and after checking Vanni’s eyes and seeing that she had softened and wasn’t going to bite him or kick him, he slipped an arm around her waist, kissed her forehead and said, “I’m going to call you when I get back to Grants Pass tonight. We have some things to talk about. Maybe without the yelling part.”
She turned her sparkling turquoise eyes up to his face and said, “I’ll be here.”
Before heading up the highway to Oregon, Paul took a swing by Mel and Jack’s. He knocked softly on the door and Jack answered, David still in his pajamas balanced on his hip. “Morning,” Jack said. “Heading out of town?”
“Yeah. But if you have a few minutes, I need to talk.”
“Sure. We can sit out here so we don’t wake Mel. She was up half the night with her back hurting and she’s sleeping in. I have coffee. Want a cup?”
“That would be great,” he said, though he’d already had enough coffee to screw up his nerves pretty good.
Jack handed off David to Paul while he went for coffee and a bowl of dry Cheerios for his son. They settled in the Adirondack chairs, looking out over the valley below. David sat on the porch floor with his bowl of cereal between his legs.
“You don’t look too good,” Jack said.
“I’m not too good. I’ve really messed things up. After little Matt was born, after I went home, I was pretty shook up. All those months of hanging in there with Vanni and not really taking any time to grieve my best friend took a toll, I guess. Might’ve vented a little bit. There’s this girl back in Grants Pass…”
“You vent on this girl?” Jack asked.
“I vented in her. She’s pregnant.”
“Well, holy shit. That was brilliant. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking we were protected. I’d been with her a couple of times before. You know—before Matt was killed. How impressed are you with my timing, huh?”
“What are you going to do?” Jack asked.
“I’m going to support her, naturally. She’s having the baby, so I’m going to do my part. I’m not going to marry her because I don’t… Aw hell, I wouldn’t be doing her any favors. I met her in a bar a while back—little over a year ago. I wasn’t seeing her regularly. I feel terrible about this.”
“Man,” Jack said.
“What’s your best advice, bud?”
“How pregnant is she?”
“It happened after I got back to Grants Pass. A couple of months now. I’m going to have to tell Vanni. Pretty soon. I tried last night, but I screwed up. And even without knowing the details, she flipped out, tore my head off just thinking I had a girl back home I hadn’t mentioned. Man, that woman has a real short fuse. She’s going to kill me. No figure of speech here—she’s good with a gun.”
“Hold on there,” Jack said. “One thing at a time. You should probably get yourself tested for STDs—do that tomorrow. If you used protection, I don’t know…maybe there’s a chance this baby isn’t yours…”
“I thought of that. Thing is, she says she hadn’t been with a guy for so long, she got a little lazy with the pills and I used a condom I’d been carrying around for months…”
“She suggest marriage?”
“Yeah, that was the first thing…”
“Listen, Einstein—what if she’s not even pregnant, huh? Outside chance, but possible. Before you make a lifetime commitment to support someone you don’t know very well, you better get all the facts. Just don’t move too fast here, pal.”
“I gotta call Vanni tonight, and tell her. I’ve got her all confused and totally furious…”
“Paul, you can’t tell her on the phone,” Jack said.
“But—”
“Paul! She’s gonna hang up on you! And then the next time you show your face, she’s going to put a bullet in your head. And Walt will help her line up her shot.”
“Well, what am I gonna do? Huh? She thinks I have a woman back home—she wouldn’t give me a chance to explain any—”
Mel appeared in the doorway, her robe covering her huge pregnant tummy. Her face was freshly scrubbed, but her hair was mussed from sleep. She gave Paul a smile, then went to Jack, sitting on his lap.
“Morning,” she said to Paul. “I heard that. I can’t wait to hear why you’re going to be shot.”
“Aw, man…”
“Relax,” Jack said. “Really, this is the person you should talk to. And she never tells. It’s infuriating.”
Paul went through the facts slowly, embarrassingly. It made his neck red. He was not able to make much eye contact with Mel while he spoke, but at the end of the story he was amazed to look into her crystal-blue eyes and find they weren’t wide with shock. “I guess you’ve heard it all, huh?” Paul asked.
“Pretty much. This must be very difficult for you, Paul,” Mel said. “You’re worried.”
“You have no idea,” he said.
“Of course I do. I guess your first concern is whether you’re actually the father of this baby?”
“Um, I figure I am—but…”
“You should probably verify that as soon as possible. Remember, Paul—the lady knows who the mother is. You’re entitled to the same assurance. Ask her to offer that to you.”
“Mel,” he said pleadingly. “How in God’s name do you suggest I do that?”
“In an honest and straightforward manner,” she said. “You might be able to learn something from an ultrasound. It will at least show exactly how pregnant she is, and if you can narrow down the times you were in contact—”
“Time,” he said. “Just one time.”
“Then you know exactly how pregnant she is and an ultrasound will either verify or dispute the gestation. But if there was another partner involved at approximately the same time, it will require a paternity test. Blood types, DNA, etcetera.”
“I don’t want to upset her. Offend her.”
Mel smiled patiently. “Let’s see—the two of you didn’t have a conversation for six months and when you did, it escalated to intimacy rather quickly—do I have that right? Paul, if she’s offended by your desire to be sure you’re the father of this baby before you commit yourself personally and financially, you’re not going to have an easy time with this. It’s a very reasonable request. If she’s absolutely certain, I’m sure she’ll cooperate with you.”
“And if she doesn’t?” he asked.
“Tell her you’ll hire a lawyer to assert your paternal rights. She can be prevented from aborting or having the baby adopted, and you will be obligated to support your child, which I assume you’re prepared to do anyway.”
“If she’s having my baby, I’ll take care of her. Of course.”
Mel smiled. “Of course you will.”
“And Vanni?” Paul asked.
“Oh,” Mel said. “She’s not taking it well?”
“She doesn’t know. I tried to tell her last night and I got as far as telling her I dated a woman in Grants Pass when she came unhinged because I hadn’t told her sooner.”
Mel made a face. “Take care of that, Paul. If you have feelings for Vanessa, it isn’t fair to leave her confused and wondering. She deserves the truth.”
“She’s going to shoot me in the head,” he said miserably.
“I doubt that. She might need time to consider the facts, however.” Then she smiled patiently. “Paul, you’ve played around with this long enough. If you care about her, assert yourself. Explain. You didn’t betray her—you didn’t break the law. You have to behave responsibly toward both women—that’s all there is to it.”
“Yeah,” he said.
“This will work out. Babies are miracles of life—no matter the extenuating circumstances. Don’t lose sight of that.”
“Yeah,” he said again. He leaned toward her, kissed her brow as she sat on her husband’s lap. “Thanks, Mel.”
“Sure,” she said. “Best of luck.”
He shook Jack’s hand, ruffled David’s floppy golden hair and headed for his truck. Once he’d turned around and was headed off the Sheridan property, Mel looked at Jack to find him grinning hugely. “Melinda,” he said. “Did you just get involved in someone’s relationship?”
She lifted a brow. “Do you really want to mess with a woman who’s about seventeen months pregnant?”
“I’m just saying…”
“Try shutting up,” she advised. “I believe I was asked.”
“You did,” he laughed. “You got right in there, got your hands dirty in someone’s relationship. Just admit it—it’s irresistible. You’re just as nosy as I am.”
She glared at him. “Jack, no one is as nosy as you are.”
* * *
Right after Paul left, the phone rang at Jack’s house. He knew who it was; it was a regular Sunday morning call. He lifted Mel off his lap and dashed for the phone, grinning from ear to ear.
There had been a boy in Virgin River who was like a son to Jack. Ricky. He’d taken him under his wing when he was only thirteen because it was just Rick and his grandmother. Jack taught him to hunt and fish, did what he could to teach him the ways of the world. He’d pridefully watched as he grew tall and strong, a young man of impeccable character who could take the toughest stuff life could serve up and hold his head up, stand straight and do a man’s job. The boy had gotten close to Preacher, to Mel, to the Marines from Jack’s old squad who still gathered there.
At eighteen Ricky had signed up. What was the young protégé of a bunch of tough old Marines going to do but sign up? And Semper Fi suited him. Ricky had excelled. He’d gone from Basic to Airborne to Sniper training to Reconnaissance training to SERE—Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape training. In every program he’d been the best. He was nineteen years old and at least six feet of proud, muscled, skilled Marine. He just phoned to say he had ten days of leave coming up in a couple of months.
And then he had orders for Iraq.
“No sniveling, Jack,” Rick said. “I want you to remember when you were going—you didn’t want your parents and your sisters acting like you were walking into a grave, right? So—we’ll have a drink. Maybe smoke one of those nasty cigars you and Preach like so much. Tell some dirty jokes. I might even let you cheat me out of some money at poker…”
“You got it, kid. It’ll be great. I’ll even call some of the boys…”
“Aw, they don’t have to come. They’re your boys, not mine. And there’s no hunting now anyway.”
“We’ll see. Virgin River’s going to want to celebrate you a little bit. We only send our best.”
“Thanks. I can’t wait to see you.”
Jack straightened his spine, took a deep breath and told himself they were going to have to make his leave in Virgin River memorable and positive—there’d be no whining and worrying. After all, Jack had gone into war five times and the only really bad injury he’d sustained was a pretty miserable shot in the ass. Not everyone who went to war came out crippled. Or dead. Rick was sharp. And this was what Rick wanted.
Ricky had grown up too fast. He lost his parents in an accident when he was so young, he didn’t even remember them. At sixteen he’d fallen ass over teakettle in love with a girl two years younger than him and they’d had a baby together, a baby that hadn’t lived.
Mel came into the kitchen to find Jack leaning on the counter, looking down. He lifted his gaze. “Ricky’s coming home in a couple of months,” he said. “He’s got ten days.”
“Oh-oh,” she said, knowing something was bad about this.
“Then he’s going to Iraq.”
She was quiet for a moment. Her eyes misted over. She pursed her lips and then said, “Damn it!”