Bring Me Home for Christmas (Virgin River #16)(15)

“Yeah, what else?”

“You said you felt responsible. And you haven’t been real happy about her being here,” he said.

“Look, it really threw me off, all right, her being here. And I tried to stop her, warn her, before she jumped out of the truck—we were stopped on a raised road by a muddy field and she fell…”

“You were stopped?” Troy asked.

“Talking. That’s all. We had some things to get straight so we could enjoy the rest of the week. You know I’d never let anything happen to her if I could prevent it.”

“I’ve never known you to be mean to a woman.”

“No, you never have and you never will. Really, I should get going…”

“Were you telling the truth when you said she wants you back at the hospital?” Troy asked.

Denny stiffened. “She said I didn’t have to. She said she didn’t need anyone to be there, but I said I wanted to.”

“Listen,” Troy said, stepping closer to the edge of the porch. “You gotta be careful with her. I get the idea you have issues with the ex-girlfriend. You get real pissed off around her and that’s not going to work.”

“Are you giving me advice about how to treat my—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “Hey, I feel bad enough that she fell without you telling me how to act.”

Troy frowned at him. “You should work this out, Denny. Without the drama. Without all the attitude.”

The fact that Troy was absolutely right didn’t go down easy. “Maybe I’ll get you to script that out for me later, since you’re such an expert.”

Troy touched his cap. “Give Becca my best. Tell her if there’s anything I can do, just let me know.”

“You bet,” Denny said. And he thought, Don’t worry, man. I got this covered.

Four

The throbbing ache in her ankle roused Becca. That and the fact that she had to pee. She groaned and Denny was beside her instantly.

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “It’s almost midnight.”

“Sleeping in the chair in case you need me,” he said, brushing her hair back from her cheek. “Um, I had to sort of lie for them to let me stay.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Lie, how?”

“I was pretty sure ex-boyfriend wouldn’t qualify, so I told them I was your fiancé.”

“But I told you to just send Rich in the morning. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“Well, you said I could send Rich. You said I didn’t have to come back, but I wanted to. Just in case. Is it terrible? The ankle?”

“I think the pain shot’s wearing off. Did you tell Rich what happened?”

“Sort of. I didn’t exactly tell him I figure it was my fault for pissing you off. He said your mother is going to kill him for letting that happen to you and I told him you didn’t want him to call your folks. He said you probably didn’t want to ruin their trip to Mexico, since you’re okay.”

“My mother,” she said with a groan. “Oh, man…”

“What?”

“I didn’t tell my mother I was coming up here.”

“You didn’t? Why not?”

“I didn’t want to deal with her,” she said, and winced.

He tilted his head. “Because…?”

“Because she adores Doug. Because she wouldn’t have approved of me going on a hunting trip with a bunch of guys that included you, even if Rich was part of the group.”

“Aw, Becca…”

She laughed a little bit. “Well, I’m old enough to make my own travel plans. Right? Maybe I’ll just explain when I get home….”

“I could’ve told him you wanted him here, but I didn’t,” Denny said. “He’s planning to play poker tonight and hunt tomorrow, anyway….”

“Good old Rich. He means well, but he can be clueless. Loveable, but clueless.”

Denny sat on the edge of her bed. He touched the ice pack. “You need a new one—this is almost warm. Can I look?”

“Knock yourself out,” she invited. “There’s nothing to see.”

He lifted the dead ice pack. “Nice bandage,” he said optimistically.

“It’s a splint,” she said. “It’s gauze, plaster and an ACE wrap. They’ll take it off to remove the stitches in about ten days.”

“Jeez, Becca.” He carefully put the useless ice pack back on her raised, ace-wrapped ankle. “Listen, can I ask you something?”

She gave a shrug. “What?”

“Did you really have a desire to go hunting?”

“Oh, gimme a break,” she said. “What do you really want to ask me? Like, did I come up here to see you?”

“Okay, maybe that crossed my mind. Did you?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Here’s the deal. Rich started talking about this guy-trip a few weeks ago—he was so jazzed. Then I lost my job. Then I thought, what the heck, I’ve never done anything like hunting but I have handled a shotgun and like shooting skeet. But I knew if I asked Rich, he’d tell me no. And if I even mentioned it to my mother, she’d freak out—she is in love with Doug. So I planned to give Rich no time to refuse.”