Walt was sixty-two, but his only sibling, his sister Midge, was all of forty-four. She’d gotten pregnant at eighteen, had a six-month marriage to the father of her child and then lived her entire adult life as a single mother with her daughter. Shelby had just barely turned twenty-five. When Shelby was still in high school Midge had been diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease. It had been Shelby and Midge all along, so it was no surprise that Shelby ended up as a caregiver when the disease progressed.
For the first couple of years of Midge’s illness, Shelby was able to either go to school or work part-time in addition to helping her mother, but it wasn’t long before Midge was a full-time job. The disease had been in its final stages for a couple of years, and while Midge had been ready to go, Shelby hung on. She’d told her uncle Walt many times she couldn’t say goodbye to her mother unless she believed she’d done everything she could to make every day count.
The tragedy or blessing of Lou Gehrig’s is that the body withers and fails while the mind remains alert and functional—Shelby and Midge chose to see this as a great blessing, for their time together had rich, sentimental moments. Midge had gone into a wheelchair four years ago, finally into a hospital bed two years ago, and soon after she was completely paralyzed. Shelby got a little help from her uncle who visited almost every week once he had retired. There was a home-nursing service, and then hospice.
They were in Bodega Bay and Walt had been prepared to move there after his retirement from the Army, but it was Midge who urged him to look further. She knew she wouldn’t last long and she didn’t want her brother to establish a retirement home based on her location. In fact, Walt had retired less than a year before her death and even that had been longer than any of them had predicted for Midge.
The drive from Virgin River to Bodega Bay was about four hours. Tom was dozing in the backseat of the SUV with the baby while Vanni sat up front with Walt. They’d made many such visits—most often Walt went alone, sometimes with Tom, sometimes with a pregnant Vanni—but now they were all going to say a final goodbye. Mike Valenzuela had offered to take care of the horses for them while they were gone.
Vanni said nothing as they drove, but stared out the window.
“I never even had a chance to ask you how your getaway with the doctor went,” Walt said. “With Paul waiting so apprehensively for the same reason, and all…”
“It was fine,” she said. “I was just thinking, I never got down there with the baby to see her—and I should have made that trip the first one. Before Carol and Lance. Midge was on borrowed time….”
“Don’t kick yourself about that,” Walt said. “The household of an invalid is complicated. We talked about it—it would’ve been hard on Midge and Mattie, not to mention Shelby. Midge understood, believe me. And Matt’s parents had a priority there. They lost their son—it was good that we went.”
“Instead of going to Mendocino, I should have gone to Bodega,” Vanni said.
“Vanni, Midge would rather you have had a nice weekend—she was at peace with her destiny. That’s the one thing that gives me comfort. She was ready. She wasn’t holding out for anything.”
“Shelby will need help now, won’t she?” Vanni asked.
“Shelby has her own ideas. We’ve been over this many times. She wants to sit tight for a while, continue with her ALS support group and get her bearings. Caregivers have huge adjustments after the end—she wants to figure things out before she makes a big change. I think that’s smart. After all, she was only a young girl when this all started, she hasn’t had an adult life at all, at least not the usual kind. The house is hers now, and she’ll either sell it or keep it, but it needs a lot of work and I’ll help with that. At twenty-five, it’s finally time for her to start her life.” Then he took a deep breath. “Midge wasn’t in pain. Emotional pain, yes—she felt she was a burden. My little Midge—she didn’t have it easy.”
“Daddy, are you okay?” Vanni asked.
“Honey, I’m relieved. She was leaving us so slowly. At last she has her reward. At last…she can walk and laugh again…”
* * *
Shelby had been born in the small house that had been her widowed grandmother’s and she had lived there all her life. Her father had never showed his face during her entire childhood and there were no support payments of any kind—but her uncle Walt had always been there for them. When her grandmother died, Walt refused any of the insurance benefit and took over the house payments. In addition to that, since Shelby had no male role model in her life, she spent summers with her uncle’s family where she learned to ride, shoot skeet, and had what passed for siblings with her cousins, even during Walt’s Army tours abroad. Shelby had lived summers in Germany and Denmark with the Booths. Because of the Booth family, Shelby’s childhood had been rich with family.
The life of a caregiver is a hard one, emotionally draining and physically exhausting. Shelby couldn’t have done otherwise—her mother was her best friend. So when the Lou Gehrig’s began to get bad, although Shelby was very young, her life went on hold to care for her. But hers was not a lonely life by any means—the support system for families with life-limited members was a strong one. They helped each other in every possible way and formed incredibly strong friendships. The evidence of this was obvious at Midge’s memorial—nearly a hundred people turned out for a woman who hadn’t left her bed in over two years. They were clearly there for Shelby.
Midge had been cremated. She had not wanted to take that wasted body into eternity. The house had become run-down during her illness and neither an open house nor a reception was possible; the living room had held the hospital bed and support equipment needed for her care, all of which had been quickly swept away within a day of her passing. Midge’s wishes had been spelled out very clearly—no fuss, just kind words and friendship—but Walt and Shelby had made arrangements with a funeral parlor months preceding her departure and secured a room that was bright and spacious, and refreshments were catered in. There were a few tasteful arrangements of flowers and one large, gorgeous spray sent by Paul Haggerty.
Walt and his family arrived Sunday night and by Wednesday all the farewells had been said to Midge. He wanted Shelby to pack up and come home to Virgin River with them, but she wouldn’t. “I have things to do,” she said. “Important things. Not only does this house need a lot of work—most of which I can do myself—but I have a big transition to make. I’m staying with my support group until I’ve had a chance to adjust to the change. And,” she said, “I’m not sure I want to leave Bodega Bay. I’ve been here all my life.”
“What would you like to do now?” Vanni asked her.
“That’s part of the transition,” Shelby said. “I don’t know yet. People in my group have talked about trying to make changes too fast—it can be devastating. I’m not going to let myself fall into that trap.”
So Walt went about the business of helping Shelby make a list of repairs and renovations that should be done to make the house presentable again. It was paid off now, so Shelby could do with it as she pleased. Shelby’s list contained mostly cosmetic items from cleaning and painting, to tearing out old window coverings to replace with new ones. Walt’s list was a little more industrial—he thought it was time for new doors and frames, windows and baseboards, not to mention new plumbing fixtures and updated appliances. After all, this had been his mother’s home. He felt a responsibility to it, he always had. He would personally contract most of this work to be done for Shelby.
Shelby herself needed some remodeling. Even though her caregiving job had been very physical, she hadn’t been getting the right kind of exercise and had gained weight. Her complexion was pale and blemished, and she hadn’t bothered with makeup in years. Her hair had grown long—she’d never had it cut—and she wound a single honey-colored braid around her head to keep it out of the way. Shelby had plans for some personal changes, but she didn’t discuss any of that with her family because she wasn’t sure where to begin. And she wasn’t sure it was even possible.
The Booths left on Friday to make the drive back to Virgin River, though leaving Shelby was hard. But she was adamant—she needed the time to grieve, to be alone, to figure out how to have a life that wasn’t consumed by a loved one’s illness.
* * *
They were about halfway home, Tom nodding off beside the baby in the backseat while Vanni sat up front, staring out the window. “It was a sad week in many ways,” Walt said. “But it’s also the end of a sad time. I’d worry more about Shelby being on her own if she hadn’t shouldered so much responsibility by herself for the past few years.”
“She has many wonderful friends,” Vanni added.
“Are you all right, Vanni?” he asked.
“Hmm, just a little melancholy, that’s all.”
“It’s hard to tell what’s bothering you most—Midge’s passing or some problem you’re having with Paul.” She turned to look at him and he said, “Anything you want to talk about?”
She shrugged. “There’s not too much to talk about, Dad.”
“You could help me understand a couple of things, you know.”
“For instance?”
“Oh, don’t be coy—you stood Paul up to go away with the doctor and if I know anything about you, you’re not that interested in the doctor. Hell, you’ve been in a strange mood since Paul left after Mattie was born. You knew Paul was coming for the weekend—and despite his best efforts to be circumspect, you knew he was coming for you.”
“I wasn’t so sure about that.”
“I heard you fight with him, Vanni. Did you and Paul have some kind of falling-out?”
“Not exactly, Dad.”
Walt took a breath. “Vanessa, I don’t mean to pry, but it’s pretty apparent to me how you feel about Paul. And how Paul feels about you. And yet…”
“Dad, while Paul was here last autumn, we got a lot closer. We were good friends before, but of course with all we went through together… Dad, before all that happened, Paul had a life in Grants Pass. One that’s not so easily left behind.”
“Vanni, Paul loves you, but something happened between you recently…”
“He let me know—there are complications in Grants Pass. Something he’s been struggling with. It’s kept him from being honest about his feelings,” she said. “He has commitments, Dad.”
“A woman?” Walt asked.
Vanni laughed softly. “We shouldn’t be so surprised that Paul actually had women in his life, should we? Yes, apparently there was a woman. Is a woman…”
“Jesus,” Walt said under his breath. “He’s not married, is he?”
“Of course not. He wouldn’t keep something like that from us.”
“Engaged?”
“He says there’s enough of an entanglement there to make his position difficult. That’s why he wasn’t around after Mattie was born.”
Walt drove in silence for a while and Vanni resumed gazing out the window. After a few moments of silence Walt asked, “What about you, Vanni? I know you care about him.”
“Dad, Matt’s only been gone a few months. Should I even have such feelings? Should I be completely embarrassed? I’ll miss him forever, but I—”
“Please don’t do that to yourself, honey,” he said. “Haven’t we learned by now? Life is too short to suffer needlessly.”
“Will people say I—”
“I don’t give a good goddamn what people say,” he growled. “Everyone is entitled to a little happiness, wherever that is. And I think for you, it’s with Paul.”
She sighed and said, “I’m asking myself why I thought I had some claim on him. He was very good to us all, I’m so grateful—but why didn’t I realize that a man like Paul wouldn’t have any trouble attracting the attention—the love—of a woman? I’ve been so angry with him for not telling me, but… Why didn’t I ask?”
“Now what, Vanni? Is he trying to make a choice, is that it?”
“We were having a discussion, not a very pleasant one, right when the call came from Shelby. It left his intentions up in the air a bit. But there’s one thing I won’t do, I can’t do—I can’t ask Paul to choose me over a woman he has an obligation to. I tried to make it very clear, his duty to me as his best friend’s widow has expired. He doesn’t have to take care of me anymore.”
“I have a feeling it’s more than duty,” Walt said. “I have a feeling it always has been…”
“He has to do the right thing,” she said. “I’m not getting in the way of that. A man like Paul—he could regret the wrong decision for the rest of his life. And frankly, I don’t want to be the one left to live with his regret.”
“Oh, boy. You two have some talking to do.”
“No. Paul has business to take care of. I have nothing more to say about this.”
* * *
Paul arrived in Virgin River about midafternoon on Saturday. He left his duffel in the truck, allowing for the possibility he wasn’t welcome at the Booths’. He hadn’t talked to Vanni since the Sunday before—she’d been busy with the family in Bodega Bay. Besides, the conversation they needed to have wasn’t for the telephone. But the way things had ended between them caused him to hit a wall. He couldn’t let her get away again, or he’d never be the same. She could push him back, be angry about his screwup, but he was going to keep coming at her until he had her attention. She was going to have to tell him, convincingly, that she didn’t love him, and didn’t want him in her life. That was the only way he’d let go. And he was done tiptoeing around the issue.
He was greatly relieved to note the doctor’s car was not parked outside the general’s house. Tom opened the door for him. “Is Vanni here?”
“She just went for a ride. She’ll be back in about an hour. Two at the outside.”
“Mind if I wait around?” Paul asked.
“Of course not,” Tom said. “You look all stirred up.”
“I just need to talk to her, that’s all.”
“Yeah, I know. Good luck with that. She hasn’t been in a real talkative mood. Coffee?”
“Thanks,” Paul said. “I’ll get it.”
So, they knew, he thought. No surprise there—she was all worked up and angry when they parted a week ago. And she was close to her brother and father; she wouldn’t hesitate to talk with them about her problems. Their problems.
As he moved toward the kitchen, he saw the general out on the deck leaning on the railing, looking out at his view. The other thing Paul dreaded was facing Walt before he faced Vanni. But he wasn’t going to blow it this time; he’d lay it out there and face it like a man. Then he was going to beg Vanni to forgive him. It could take time, but he’d gladly wait her out.
He took his coffee out to the deck and, as he stepped onto the planks, Walt turned.
“You did show up here. I predicted you would.”
“Well, I’m fearless, sir,” he said. Then he swallowed nervously.
“You must be. She’s really got her back up this time. Vanni’s down at the stable, but I’d like a word with you before you go after her, if you don’t mind.”
I mind, Paul thought. Do I have a choice? “Certainly,” he said.
“You know, I’ll forgive a man a lot of things, but toying with my daughter’s feelings, hurting her after all she’s been through, that’s a tough one. That would be hard, even though we owe you for all you did.”
“Sir, I’m not toying with her, I’ll make it up to her somehow. I just wasn’t thinking real clear after we buried Matt, and after little Matt was born. My judgment wasn’t keen. I’m afraid I made a mess of things.”
“Well, I can’t say much about that—I don’t know that anyone’s judgment was as good as it could have been. It’s been a painful, difficult year.”
“Thanks for saying that, sir. I appreciate it. I guess you could be a lot less understanding.”
“Right now my only concern is Vanessa. Mind if I ask what your intentions are?”
“Not at all, sir. You have every right, under the circumstances. I’m in love with your daughter….”
“That couldn’t escape my notice,” Walt said, leaning his elbows back on the railing. “Yet it doesn’t appear the two of you are on the same page there.”
With that full head of silver hair, tanned skin and bushy black eyebrows, Walt could look downright menacing. Paul gulped. “She mentioned the situation in Grants Pass?”
“She did. She has some concerns about you doing the right thing.”
“Oh, I’ll do the right thing—there’s no reason to worry about that. I tried to explain, the relationship wasn’t serious. I’m not very proud of that, sir. I didn’t see the woman very often—a few times in a year, that’s all. But it is what it is—I can’t deny I was involved.”
“And now?” Walt asked.
“Well, sir, even if Vanessa tells me I don’t stand a chance in hell, I’m still not inclined go any further with the other woman. It just wouldn’t work.”
Walt frowned. “Maybe Vanessa misunderstood you,” he said. “I thought there was some kind of commitment.”
“Absolutely, sir. I’ll take care of her and my child. I’ll support them and it’s my intention to be an involved father. But as for the mother—I hope for her sake she can find a man who’s right for her, a man who isn’t in love with another woman. Regardless of that, I plan to help raise my child. It’s the only way. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what I want to do.”
Walt was speechless for a moment. Finally, in a stunned breath he said, “My God, you have a complicated life.”
“Surreal. Sir.”
“And when were you planning to drop this little bomb?”
“Frankly, sir, I wanted to wait until I was sure of a couple of things before I admitted to what an idiot I am. I don’t know the woman a tenth as well as I know Vanni and I have to be sure there really is a child, that it’s my child, that sort of thing. Since I did what I could to protect her from pregnancy, there leaves a little doubt—but I can’t deny the possibility. And—I wanted to be sure Vanni knew I feel as committed to little Matt as my own child. If she’ll have me with all these complications, that is.”
Walt crossed his arms over his chest. “Sounds like you’ll have women and children all over the place. That could be an expensive proposition. Spreading yourself a little thin, aren’t you?”
“Money isn’t going to be the biggest problem. I have a successful company, a supportive family. Shared custody, a situation that wouldn’t appeal to any man, that’ll be tough. But I’m not going to ignore my responsibilities.”
“I give you credit for that,” Walt said wearily, shaking his head. “I suppose you’ll verify all this quickly?”
“Of course. I’m going to the next doctor’s appointment and then… I just want to be sensitive. The woman is understandably upset and I don’t want to suggest she’s lying, but we have to be sure. Too many people are going to be hurt by my actions as it is. Once the facts are indisputable, I just hope Vanni can forgive me. Accept me with my baggage…”
Walt looked over his shoulder at a sound and both men watched as Vanni opened the corral gate, mounted Chico and rode away from the ranch, down along the riverbank. “Well, she’s getting away from you. If you have a case to plead and don’t want to do it in front of her father and brother, I guess you’ll have to go after her.”
Paul put his still-full cup of coffee on the patio table. “Can I borrow a horse, sir?”
“Knock yourself out,” the general said.
“Thank you, sir,” he said, clambering down the deck stairs and taking off for the stable.
Walt watched him run. Then he shook his head and said, “Holy Jesus.”
* * *
Paul saddled up Liberty, the general’s stallion, the feistiest horse in the stable, but also the fastest. It took a while to get him ready, though he hurried. He’d been on this horse once before and remembered him to be difficult, hard to handle. Tom, the more experienced rider, didn’t mind taking Liberty and leaving Chico for Paul. But today Paul wanted to catch up with Vanni and he really hoped Liberty didn’t throw him and break his stupid neck before he found her.
He took the stallion at a fast trot along the riverbank for a good twenty minutes before he saw her up ahead. He urged the horse a little faster and when he was within her hearing, he whistled. The piercing sound cut through the air and Vanni turned her mount toward him. She took one look at him, turned and kicked Chico’s flank, taking off.
“Goddammit!” he swore. So, this was how it would be—not easy. He was going to have to take off the gloves. He risked being thrown by giving Liberty a snap with the end of his rein. The stallion reared. Paul hung on, then leaned low in the saddle while Liberty closed the space between them. By God, he was going to catch her, make her listen, get through to her. There was no one within shouting distance to distract them. For once in his life, he was going to finish! Even if he had to cover Vanessa’s mouth with his hand!
It only took him a few minutes to catch up to her, thanks to Liberty, the champion of the stable. Pulling alongside Vanni he reached out over her hands and grabbed her reins, pulling Chico to a stop. The expression she turned on him was fierce.
“What?” she demanded.
“Listen to me!” he retorted.
“Make it quick!”
“Fine. Here’s quick. I love you. I’ve always loved you.I loved you before Matt saw you, but I didn’t have hisguts and I hung back. I’ve regretted that forever. Now I have—”
“A baby coming,” she interrupted, lifting her chin.
“Listen! I don’t know much about being a father! Just what I watched when I was growing up! And you know what I saw? I saw my parents with their arms around each other all the time! I saw them look at each other with all kinds of emotions—love and trust and commitment and—Vanni, here’s the ugly truth—if I made a baby, I’m not angry about that. It wasn’t on purpose, but I’m not angry. I’ll do my damn best, and I’m real sorry that I’m not in love with the baby’s mother. I’ll still take care of them—and not just by writing a check. I’ll be involved—take care of the child like a real father, support the mother the best I can. What that child is not going to see is his parents looking at each other like they’ve made a terrible mistake. I want him to see his dad with his arms around his wife and—”
“Did you try?” she asked. “Did you give the woman who’s got your baby in her a chance?”
“Is that what you want for her? She’s a decent person, Vanessa—she didn’t get pregnant on purpose. You want her stuck with a man who’s got another woman on his mind? I didn’t want this to happen to her—I’m not sticking her with half a husband! She deserves a chance to find someone who can give her the real thing.”
“But she loves you. She does, doesn’t she? She wanted to get married.”
“Vanessa, she’s scared and alone. It’s what comes to mind. She’ll be all right when she realizes I’m not going to let her down. And I’m not going to—”
“All this because you couldn’t open your mouth and say how you felt, what you wanted,” she said hotly. “I wanted so little from you—just a word or gesture—some hint that you had feelings for me. Instead, you took your wounded little heart to another woman and—”
She stopped her tirade as she saw his eyes narrow and his frown deepen. He glared at her for a long moment, then he jumped off the stallion, her mount’s reins still in his hands. He led the horses the short distance to the river’s edge, to a bank of trees.
“What are you doing?” she asked, hanging on to the pommel.
He secured the horses at a fallen tree, then reached up to her, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her none too gently out of the saddle. He whirled her around and pressed her up against a tree, holding her wrists over her head and pinioning her there with the whole length of his body. His face was close to hers. “You never opened your mouth, either,” he said.
She was stunned speechless. She couldn’t remember a time Paul had ever behaved like this—aggressive, commanding.
He leaned closer. “Open it now,” he demanded of her just before he covered her mouth with his. Her lips opened under his and he moved over her mouth with passion, with heat, and she responded with her own. Her gentle, shy Paul, not only filled with all this desire, but clearly aroused. He let go of her wrists and circled her waist to pull her harder against him, and with a sigh and a shiver of lust, her arms went around him, yielding. Not just yielding—inviting.
Feeling her response, he couldn’t bring himself to end the kiss, but only deepened it, invading her velvety mouth with his tongue, letting his breath out slowly as her tongue came into his mouth. It was with a great deal of regret that he reminded himself they had to talk it through, get all their issues in the light and dealt with. But when he left her mouth, he stayed so close to her, he was whispering into her parted lips. “Vanessa, you have the worst goddamn temper.”
“I…”
“And you’re the bossiest woman I’ve ever known. I want you to listen to me—I can’t change what I feel, what I’ve felt for years. I tried, because I never thought I’d have any kind of chance, I never imagined that we’d lose Matt. And even with you in my arms, finally, I’d give anything to have him back. But we can’t, Vanni. It’s going to be you and me now. That’s all it can be. Now stop all this fucking around—because I want you so bad, my head is pounding!”
“I never knew how you felt.”
“I know that, Vanni,” he said quietly. “You weren’t supposed to.”
“I loved Matt, you know.”
“I know. And he loved you.” He took a breath. “And I loved you both.”
“But you were the guy who caught my eye the night we all met. You. Yet you never even talked to me. Maybe if you’d talked to me…”
“He beat me to it. And once that happens…”
“What did she do, Paul? The woman in Grants Pass? How’d she manage to get your attention?”
“I told you. She was pretty. Seductive,” he said. “And I was lonely. I let it happen, Vanni, because there was no reason for me not to. You belonged to someone else. Not just anyone else, but Matt.”
“And later? When I didn’t belong to anyone?”
“I thought you still belonged to Matt, to a memory,” he said. “And I was pretty much out of my mind. It was stupid. I told you—I’m not good with women. I never have been, or you’d have belonged to me, not my best friend.”
“I don’t have any regrets, you know. Matt was good for me, good to me. He made me happy, he gave me a beautiful son. I’ll never regret a day…”
“Vanni,” he whispered, brushing that thick, copper hair away from her face. “Vanni, as much as I love you, as much as I wish I’d had the guts to pursue you before he got to you, in the end I wanted you happy. I wanted him happy. But now…” He gave her a kiss. “It is what it is. I want us to go forward. I want to take care of you and Mattie. And probably one more…”
“You’re still not certain?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “Vanni, be prepared—I don’t think I’m getting out of that one. If I’m responsible for a child, I’ll see it through.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Could be a large family in the end.”
“You’ll stand by me through that?”
She shrugged. “You’d stand by little Matt, wouldn’t you? That’s how it is. We don’t leave babies out there alone, without parents who love them.”
He smiled into her eyes. “You’re wonderful, you know. But very hard to shut up.” He pressed himself against her, kissing her deeply. “God,” he said in a whisper, going after her again, so desperately she laughed against his lips. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you?”
“If you’re telling me the truth, I know exactly how long. Paul, I want you to know something—while I was Matt’s wife, I didn’t have one second of doubt or temptation. Not one split second. I loved him completely.”
“Vanni, I know…”
“It wasn’t until later, after the baby, months after Matt was gone… And I didn’t think you’d ever see me as anything more than your friend’s wife… I used to talk to Matt about you. I’d stand out at that grave and tell him that I’d always love him, but I was going to love again and, if he approved, he should give you a nudge. You were so much more than a friend, but you didn’t seem to see me as a woman. I thought you couldn’t separate me from your best friend and his death.”
He ran his hand down her hair. “Oh, I saw you as a woman—too much woman for me. I was fighting for my life, I was so guilty about the way I’d felt for years. I didn’t know what to do except give you time, watch you come out of mourning and plan my approach. And trust me, I wasn’t planning this one.” He shook his head. “The goddamn doctor got there ahead of me. The fact that you were a recent widow sure didn’t slow him down.”
“Does she know about me?” Vanni asked.
“She does,” he said. “God, I hope she and I can work together on this. Most of all, I hope you’re not making a big sacrifice because of my screwup.”
“I couldn’t let a child of yours go any more than you could.”
“Vanni, I want to marry you, take care of you and Mattie.”
She frowned slightly. “Wait a minute—is there anything else you should tell me before you propose? Any other little secret stuffed in the back of your closet?”
“Honest to God, that’s it. Until very recently, I had the most boring life in Grants Pass!”
“You’re sure about that? Because until last week, I thought I knew everything about you. I mean, I’ve known you for years, lived with you for months. We spent so many hours just talking…”
“That’s it. Jesus, isn’t that enough? I want to marry you and Mattie. In fact, once we get the lay of the land, I’d like to have more children. Maybe at least one that we actually make together. I’d give anything for that, Vanni.”
She smiled. “Let’s see how many you have so far before we make those kinds of plans, huh?”
“Then you’ll marry me?” he asked, brushing the hair away from her brow.
“You’re a very interesting guy, Paul. It takes you years to tell me you love me, and minutes to ask me to marry you.”
“I’ll wait till you’re ready, but I want us to be together forever.”
The corner of her mouth lifted along with one reddish brow, teasing. “Don’t you think we should see how we work out sexually? See if we’re good together?” she asked, grinning playfully.
“Vanessa, we’ll be good together. Well, you’ll be perfect and I’m sure I’ll catch on eventually.” He kissed her again. “Are you going to say yes or make me beg?”
“Do you think I want to live with my father and have a weekend boyfriend forever? Yes,” she said. “I’m probably going to marry you.”
“Oh God, thank you,” he said, grabbing her to him again. “Is tomorrow too soon?”
“A little bit. We’re waiting on the Grants Pass baby, remember? It won’t make a difference, but I think we should know how many people we’re bringing into this family.”
“We’ll do that. Right away. That’s perfectly reasonable,” he said, grinning. Then he shook his head in sheer wonder. “You’ve been wonderful about this. I didn’t really expect you to come around so quickly. I thought you were going to drive me crazy…”
“Well, I’ve turned it over in my mind for a while now. When it happened, we didn’t know where we stood with each other. It’s not as if we said the I love you’s and you went to bed with another woman.”
“Yet you insisted I try to see if I could love her?”
“I had to be sure. I don’t want another woman’s man, even if it’s you.”
“You’re remarkable, you know that? In fact, your whole family is remarkable. Your dad was pretty civil about it, too.”
She was quiet for a moment, a startled look on her face. “My dad?” she asked.
“Yeah. He just wanted to be sure I wasn’t playing with your feelings. And he seemed kind of interested in how I was going to manage, financially. I told him the company’s doing well, that’s not going to be a—”
“You told my dad?” she asked, cutting him off.
Paul was frozen, staring at her for a second. “No,” he finally said. “You told your dad. Because he asked me if I planned on… Oh shit, what did he ask me? Something about whether I had commitments in Grants—” He leaned over her shoulder and let his forehead bang against the tree. “And I said, ‘Absolutely, sir—I’ll support the woman and my child.’ Oh God.”
Vanni, laughing, pushed him away slightly. “You told my dad!” she exclaimed, laughter shaking her.
Paul grimaced. “You didn’t tell him, huh?”
“Of course not,” she said, her eyes alight and her smile huge. “That’s a little personal, don’t you think? Plus, you said you still had to be sure it was for real.”
“Oh God.”
“Paul,” she said, “what did you do?”
“I thought you’d told him. What did you tell him?”
She looped her arms around his neck, but she was laughing too hard to speak for a while. “I told him we shouldn’t be surprised to learn you’d actually had women in your life before you came to Virgin River. That there was a woman…” And she dissolved into laughter again.
He leaned against her once more, pressing her back to the tree. “It isn’t that funny.”
“Are you kidding? It’s hilarious!” She laughed a little more and finally said, “Paul, he’s a trained interrogator. You walked right into it!”
“I don’t see the humor…”
“Well, if you don’t have a sense of humor, I don’t know if I can—”
She was cut off by his mouth finding hers. In fact, he kept her from laughing for a long time, covering her with his body. They kissed and held on to each other. Finally he released her lips and asked, “You done laughing?”
“I am. I think you worked it out of me.”
He touched her swollen lips with tender fingers. “Do you think your father will shoot me?”
“Probably not,” she said, smiling. “But if you hear a rifle cock, you might want to duck.”
“Funny,” he said, kissing her again.
“I think I have whisker burn,” she told him.
“Yeah.” He grinned. “Looks good on you, too.”
“We have to go back. I have a baby to take care of.”
“I don’t want to go back…. He’s going to be waiting for me….”
“You might as well just face it,” she said, and laughed again. “We’ve been out here a long time.”
“Not quite long enough,” he said, and kept her just a few more minutes, afraid to let her go.
She wiggled her hips against his. “Paul, it’s pretty obvious, pinning me against a big old tree turns you on.”
“I know,” he said. “We need to get alone.”
“Uh-huh. I need that, too. Probably more than you do. And the sooner the better.”
* * *
Vanni left Paul to tend to the horses while she rushed back to the house to check on the baby. It took him the better part of an hour to get them brushed down and stabled, the tack put away. He might’ve been dragging his feet a little when he went back to the house. By the time he got there, Walt was standing at the dining-room buffet fixing himself a short drink. Paul had lived with the man for months; even given the untimely death of his son-in-law, he hadn’t been a daytime drinker. If tragedy or depression didn’t drive him to the bottle, this had to be celebratory.
Walt turned, regarded Paul and lifted one bushy black eyebrow. “Fix you a little something to take the edge off, son?” he asked.
“Thank you, sir.” And mentally he added, “You dog.”
“Bourbon? Scotch? Canadian?”
“Crown?” Paul answered in question.
“My pleasure,” Walt said, selecting the bottle from the cabinet and pouring a short shot on ice. He passed it to Paul and said, “You didn’t do much undercover work in the Marine Corps, I guess.”
“No, sir.”
“Obviously.” He raised his glass. “Here’s to me winning the game I didn’t even know I was playing.”
“To you,” Paul said grudgingly.
After having a sip, Walt said, “I know you pretty well, Paul. Before today, I never had a doubt about you. So, I’ll only ask once—you plan to treat my daughter well?”
“Like solid gold, sir. Despite everything.”
“If you’re her choice, that’s good enough for me.” And he raised the glass again.
“Thank you, sir.”
“But really,” he said, chuckling. “You walked right into it.”
Vanni and her father were so alike it was scary. In addition, she had a fiery temper. And he asked himself, Do I want a general for a wife? The answer came quickly. Oh, yes. Oh my God, yes.