Angel's Peak (Virgin River #10)(85)

He threw back his head in a fantastic, deep, wonderful laugh. “Viv said I’d love you! African-American, Korean, Native American and Caucasian,” he said.

“It’s a pleasure. How long have you been in Eureka?” Maureen asked.

“Over twenty years. My late wife was from Fort Bragg and we ended up starting the practice here. It’s a good place to raise kids—I have a boy and a girl.”

“So Vivian told me,” she said. “Can I help with dinner?”

“From what I hear about you, it will be hard for you to sit idle for even five minutes, but just pull a stool up to the breakfast bar and visit with us. You’re going to love this,” he promised, turning back to the stove. “How about a glass of wine?”

“Perfect,” she accepted. “Something white and maybe dry?”

“Red is better for you,” he said. “How about a merlot?”

“Office hours are over, Carl,” Vivian scolded, getting out the glasses and pouring Maureen the same chardonnay that she had for herself.

When Maureen had her glass, she said, “Now, I want to hear all about how the two of you met.”

Carl had a rumbling laugh that Maureen instantly loved. He was truly a beautiful man; his blended background gave his complexion the color of heavily creamed coffee and his large, dark eyes had a slight, almost exotic slant. He was well over six feet, perhaps as tall as six-four, while Vivian was a small average at about five-four. She was petite and he was large; he was dark brown and she was pale blond. And yet they seemed perfect for each other. They joked and bantered and shared quick affectionate pets and pats in the kitchen while they worked together.

“How we met is pretty boring. My partner hired Vivian. The practice was getting very busy and, rather than bringing in a fourth doctor, we decided on a PA.”

“I worked for a women’s health clinic in Santa Rosa for years before moving up here with Franci. I didn’t think my chance of finding a good PA’s position here was very good, given the size of the county. And it turned out I landed the best job at the best doctor’s office in the entire state.”

Carl turned from the stove and grinned. “She might be just slightly prejudiced about that. We have a nice little practice. We do some good work.”

“So, your partner hired her, and then what happened?” Maureen boldly asked.

Both Vivian and Carl turned and gave her their full attention for a moment, as though it was curious she asked. Then Carl answered, “We had good rapport but, at the time we started working together, my wife was very ill, and shortly after that she died. Honestly, I couldn’t focus on much else at the time. It was a year after my wife’s death before I asked Vivian for a bona fide date. We’ve been dating since—a little over a year. But my wife has only been gone two years, and my kids, still under twenty, haven’t adjusted very well. My nineteen-year-old daughter, especially. She really can’t imagine me with a significant other and I’m giving her plenty of time.” Then he smiled broadly, put his arm around Vivian and pulled her closer. “Plenty of time, but not forever. She’s in her second year of college and soon we’re going to talk about how everyone gets a life, not just the kids.”

Carl prepared an astonishingly good goulash and they sat around the dining table long past dinner, visiting and laughing. Carl was the one to clear the table and serve slices of cheesecake with coffee, extending their good time. When it was time to clean up, Vivian and Carl wouldn’t let Maureen in the kitchen. She was shuffled off to the living room to watch TV, read or do her needlepoint, and they promised to join her in just a few minutes.

While she sat in the chair that had become hers, she found herself thinking that even though she’d lived independently, happily, she’d somehow allowed her life to become too narrow. She had quite a lot of friends, but they were acquaintances really—people she’d known for years, but none of them felt as close as Vivian had become in just weeks. She’d been constantly busy—activities day in and day out, and yet nothing really got her motor running. She never took chances, never tried anything the least bit daring. She was stunned and embarrassed by her surprise to find Vivian in love with a black man, and how narrow was that?

Or how about an almost-nun traveling the country in an RV with a minister?

In the end it was what she heard in the kitchen that filled her with envy. When the water stopped running and she could hear the quiet sounds of conversation and soft laughter as dishes and flatware were being stored away, she longed for that in her life. A deep and romantic relationship, love and affection, laughter and adventure.

She heard Vivian giggle and Carl purr. Six months suddenly seemed like a very long time, and right then she offered up a promise to herself.

I’m in my sixties; it’s late to become enlightened. I hereby vow to be relentlessly happy, ridiculously daring, outrageously open-minded and passionately optimistic.

At the onset of Thanksgiving week, specifically on Sunday at noon, Jack’s Bar was full of people with bags and boxes filled with nonperishable food items. Jack and Preacher had been collecting the donations for Thanksgiving baskets for a couple of weeks. Jack liked the idea of presenting the food in a classy Harry & David type basket with a beautiful arrangement of food, but that was impractical for what they had in mind. Instead, he went to a shipping outlet and bought some sturdy boxes.