Angel's Peak (Virgin River #10)(34)

Paul lifted one eyebrow with interest.

“The downside is, every time I hear the cartoon music I get a woody.”

After chatting with Noah, Sean went home to Luke’s and found three expectant faces in the house, looking at him oddly. They were all seated in the small living room as if waiting just for him. Luke, Shelby and Art. “What?” he asked. As if he didn’t know.

“Your Jeep was at Jack’s, but you weren’t anywhere to be seen. You didn’t come home last night. What’s going on?”

“I’m going to catch a shower, then I’m going to be out of town for a couple of days. Just a couple of days. I’ll be back. I’ll explain everything then.”

He was answered with complete silence. “All right, fine,” Luke finally said. “Or you could tell us now, before you leave town for whatever reason. What’s going on?”

Sean sighed heavily. “If I tell you, can you keep your big mouths shut till I square things away with Mom?”

“If that’s what you need,” Luke said with a shrug.

“Shelby?” Sean asked, and she nodded. “Art?” That man just stared at him, not quite getting the gist of this. “Okay, here’s the deal. It turns out Franci had a reason for drawing her line in the sand—marriage and family or she’s gone. She was pregnant. She didn’t tell me. I found out by accident this morning. She has a—” He cleared his throat. “We have a daughter. Rosie. Age three and a half.”

“Whoa,” Luke said with a groan, lowering his head to his hands.

“How wonderful!” Shelby said, jumping to her feet. “Oh, how wonderful!”

“Rosie doesn’t know about me yet. I have to take care of that. And I have to tell Mom. I’m going to have to go to Phoenix to tell her in person, because I have no idea what she’s going to do. She’s…you know…dramatic about some things. I think I’d rather auger in than tell Mom.”

“What do you mean Rosie doesn’t know about you? Weren’t you with Franci last night? You weren’t out all night trying to drink this away, were you?” Shelby wanted to know.

“Yes, I was with Franci, but Rosie was spending the night at her grandma’s down the street. I think Franci was just about to tell me when Rosie came through the door and jumped into Franci’s arms.” He put his hands in his pockets and smiled contritely. “Red hair, green eyes. She calls herself the Wide Iwish Rose.” His shoulders shook in a soundless chuckle. “Ah, no question about the DNA.”

“Well,” Luke said. “Talk about a revelation.”

“Yeah. So I’m going to get a shower, pack some things, go back to Franci’s to talk to my Wide Iwish Rose, then fly to Phoenix to tell Mom, who is going to beat me to a bloody pulp for every bad thing I’ve ever done.”

“She’ll be thrilled,” Shelby said.

“No, she will not,” Luke and Sean said in unison.

“She will be happy to have a grandchild,” Sean added, “but unhappy that she is three and a half and doesn’t know her Riordan grandma. And she’s going to want to kill me for not being married to Franci. If I don’t take a little time to talk her off the ledge, she’ll take over. She’s going to be a giant pain in the ass.” He looked at Art pointedly. “Ass is a swear word. I won’t say it again and don’t you.”

“I know which ones are the swear ones,” Art said indignantly. “Sometimes when we’re fixing the roof, we don’t say f**k piss shit, right, Luke?”

“That’s right, Art. We don’t say that. Good—you remembered.” Luke rolled his eyes. Then he swiveled his head toward Sean again. “Now what?”

“Now I’m going to have to get this straightened out. Franci will have to marry me. Or something.”

Shelby laughed and immediately covered her mouth. Sean was glaring at her so she said, “I was just thinking—you’re going to work on the proposal a little, right? Because, as proposals go, that one sucked.”

Sean ground his teeth. This whole thing was way bigger than he was. “I’m going to get that shower.” And then he took the stairs two at a time, hoping he could spend some time with his daughter and get to Phoenix before Luke told on him.

Seven

Dan Brady lumbered into Jack’s and headed up to the bar. He took his Shady Brady off his head and sat it on the stool next to him. It was early Sunday afternoon and he was the only person in the place. It took a minute before Preacher came from the back.

“Yo, Brady,” Preacher said, whipping a napkin onto the bar. “Don’t usually see you around town on Sundays. Your day off, isn’t it?”

Dan nodded. He worked for Paul Haggerty and had been promoted to the foreman’s position, which not only brought more responsibility, but more hours. He was on the job five and a half days a week, and that half day, Saturday, usually stretched into a full day. “How about some coffee?”

“You got it,” Preacher said, pouring. “Don’t you usually have a date with your girl on Sundays? Or did Cheryl finally get smart and dump you?”

The normally serious Dan grinned. “She’s meeting me here.” He looked at his watch. “In about twenty minutes. Where’s Sheridan? Taking a day off?”