Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(103)

“What do you mean?” he asked, stepping toward her, scowling down at her.

“Whatever happened to you that makes you want to control people, that makes you depressed, makes you want to lock up little children,” she said, backing away.

“You don’t know what you’re saying. All I want to do is make it up to you,” he said. “You know, I liked you. I really did. I could take care of you. And them. It was really easy to see you needed someone like me—someone who could take charge and take care of you. You admitted it yourself—you just couldn’t do it.”

“Certainly you no longer have any kind of job,” she said to him. “What am I saying? I don’t care if you’re president of General Motors! No, Arnie. Never. No way. Be smart—get a lawyer, get some help. It has nothing to do with me.”

He made a growling sound and moved toward her, taking three quick steps.

“Stop!” Noah shouted from the side doorway into the sanctuary. “Don’t take another step. Back away from her. I mean it!”

Arnie stopped. He grinned at Noah. “You again?”

Ellie skittered to stand beside Noah and Lucy. Noah slipped his arm around her waist, pulled her against him and said, “Ellie gave you excellent advice. Find a lawyer to help you. Get some help for yourself. You’re done here.”

“This is about me and Ellie,” he said. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing there anymore, Arnie,” Noah said. “Move on. Before this gets any more complicated for you.”

The man gave a short laugh and moved quickly toward them. He reached out to grab Ellie by the wrist. Noah’s hand gripped Arnie’s forearm instantly, so the three of them were locked together. And Lucy lost it. Without warning, she snarled and lunged, sinking her teeth right into Arnie’s leg. With a howl of pain, Arnie kicked the dog off his leg and sent her skidding and yelping into a nearby pew.

In the melee, Noah lost his hold on Arnie, but Arnie continued to grip Ellie’s wrist. Ellie twisted her wrist sharply toward his thumb rather than fingers, breaking the hold. And then she kneed him hard in the groin. With a grunt, he doubled over for just a moment.

Noah stepped between Arnie and Ellie, grabbed Arnie’s arm and twisted it behind his back. “Ellie, get out of here,” he growled. Then, with Arnie’s arm as leverage, he marched him back down the church aisle toward the front entrance. As Noah pushed him toward the exit, he informed him, “You ever go near her again and I can’t be responsible for my own actions. You have no claim on Ellie, as if you ever did, and I intend to keep her safe from the likes of you. The sheriff has been called and until he gets here—”

The front entrance to the sanctuary opened and Jack and Preacher stood there. “Right here, Noah. We got him,” Preacher said, as they stepped forward, taking one arm each, dragging him toward the door. Noah was Arnie’s equal in height, though trimmer, but these two at six-two and six-four with shoulders like door frames, dwarfed him. Arnie moaned with each step, no doubt still hurting from that shot to the testicles. “Sheriff’s deputy, Henry Depardeau, should be here in ten minutes,” Jack said.

Noah turned back into the church and saw Ellie on her knees in front of Lucy. Lucy was alert, but down on her belly. When Noah came toward her, she looked up at him and gave a wag of her tail, but she didn’t get up.

“I think she’s just stunned, Noah,” Ellie said. “After her accident, maybe you shouldn’t chance it. Maybe you should take her to the vet, just to be sure.”

Noah knelt in front of Lucy, gently petting her head. “Remind me never to get into a fight with either of you girls,” he said. “Want to come with me?” he asked Ellie.

“I have to see my kids,” she said, shaking her head. “I stopped by Jo’s and they weren’t there. I came here looking for you, to tell you all about Arnie. Brie has a ton of information on him. He must have seen me come in here. Noah, did you hear the way he was talking? He just wanted to do it all over again. He said we could start over and this would all go away. He said I was his.”

“Yeah, well, he’s delusional,” Noah said. He stood up and pulled gently on Lucy’s collar. “You gonna stand, girl?” Slowly, Lucy got up, then started wagging and panting. “I think she’s all right. But I’ll take her over to Nathaniel anyway.” He looked at Ellie, who seemed to be staring at Lucy, but not seeing her. “Ellie? Forget him, he’s crazy.” She didn’t respond. “Are you in shock?” Noah asked her.

She lifted her gaze to his face. “Hmm? No. No, just thinking. Take Lucy, Noah. I’m going to check on my kids. I have to tell Jo about court.”

“Sure,” he said. He leaned toward her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, then.” He looked at her closely, frowning. She was completely pensive, which was unlike Ellie. “Ellie, what is it?”

“Hmm. Sorry. Thinking.”

So Ellie went to the Fitch house and found everyone there—Nick was in his den, reading the newspaper while the kids had their one hour of after-school TV in the same room. Jo was in the kitchen, working on dinner. Ellie stepped right in without needing to be asked, getting out the salad makings and going to work on it. While Jo seared meat and cleaned and cut vegetables, Ellie worked on their salad and told Jo all the news of the day. At the end of a softly told tale, she said, “I don’t think the kids need to know about court on Friday morning—it will just stress them out. They’ve already had a short meeting with their attorney, which didn’t seem to upset them, and they don’t have to be in court. Better to tell them when it’s over, I think. I mean, if I thought there was some reason to prepare them for the worst, I’d do that,” Ellie said. “It will be so nice to tell them when it’s over. That we’re a family again.”