Forbidden Falls (Virgin River #9)(88)

“Are you sure you feel all right here tonight?” Noah asked her. “If you’d like me to, I can stay.”

She shook her head and smiled. “Didn’t you say George is leaving in the morning? You should be home tonight, Noah. I’ll be fine.”

He pulled her gently forward and held her against him. “You’ve had a grueling day. You must be exhausted.”

“The most important things are taken care of,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Noah, this could have been so much worse. At his worst, Arnie wasn’t that scary.” She took a breath. “You just have no idea how relieved I am that they’re right next door to me, safe and asleep.”

“Did you know Jo was a licensed foster parent?”

“I did,” she answered. “But it never occurred to me it could benefit us in any way.”

“You need to lock your door tonight, Ellie….”

“Oh, believe me!”

“Maybe pull the trunk in front of it, or something.”

“Noah!” She laughed. “Try not to wig out on me now. The lock is good and if I hear a sound, I’ll call you. I’ll call Nick and Jo, too. Do you think after Arnie struck out with the sheriff and highway patrol tonight, he’d come around here and try something?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I think he’s crazy.”

“No thinking about it, Noah, Arnie’s nuts. I’ll lock the door.”

“Good.” He ran a hand up and down her back. “I’m impressed, Ellie. It was an emotional, scary day, but you kept your head.”

She laughed softly. “I came real close to losing it a couple of times. If you hadn’t been there, who knows…”

“Anything you need to talk about before I go?”

“You mean, like the fact that Arnie told everyone at the bar that I was a stripper, that I was a hooker and drug addict?” Ellie pulled back and looked up into his eyes. “Noah, sometimes people are just waiting to believe the worst. I can’t do anything about that. But the people who know me, the people who I consider my new friends, they know I’m not like that. All I’ve really cared about since the second I got here was getting my kids back. Arnie’s just full of jealous shit, that’s all.”

He smiled at her. “Shit’s not even on the cusp—it’s full-out swearing.”

“But I’m not in front of your church people or the kids and you’re all grown up. Let’s not worry about things we can’t—” She stopped suddenly and her eyes grew round. “Oh, Noah, I’m sorry! You must be worried about how this will look for you, starting a new church! It could be bad for you because you hired me and helped me so much.”

He shook his head. “Aw, people have found plenty of reasons to judge me. I’ve made a lot of waves in the church—I’ve got a rebellious nature. I can’t worry about things like gossip. It would take precious time away from important work. No, I was only worried about how you were holding up under that slander.”

“What in the world could anyone say about you? You’re the most Goody Two-shoes guy I’ve ever been around. And for sure the most straitlaced guy I’ve ever been involved with.” Then she grinned. “Except for sex, but I won’t tell. What could anyone be judgmental about?”

“Oh, you’d be surprised. I hate my very well-known, saintly father. I was wild in my youth and wasn’t even married in the church. There are about a hundred things I did before hiring a stripper as my assistant. And that turned out to be the smartest thing I ever did. Now, would you do something for me before I kiss you good-night?”

“What do you need, Noah?”

“I need you to look behind the shower curtain and under the bed. Then lock me out and put the trunk against the door.”

“Noah, did you have monsters under the bed when you were little?”

He touched her nose. “No. Because I checked.”

It was the smell of coffee and the sound of shuffling coming from the RV’s bedroom that first woke Noah early the next morning. Then it was a cold, wet nose right on his temple. Whoever made up that old wives’ tale that if a dog’s nose was wet and cold, it was healthy, would be pleased to know Lucy was fine. He sat up on the couch and threw the blanket back. Then he watched the coffeepot perk. He glanced at his watch: 5:30 a.m. “Want a trip out back?” he asked Lucy. She went straight for the door. Noah stood outside his RV in his boxers while Lucy had her morning constitutional.

When the coffee was done, he grabbed himself a cup and sat back down on the sofa, trying to get his morning bearings. George appeared in the bedroom doorway, dressed, perky and grinning.

“Well, good morning,” George said cheerfully.

Noah made a face. “If we had married, it wouldn’t have worked,” Noah grumbled. “What in God’s name gets you up so damn early?”

George laughed. “I don’t know what it is—when I was younger, I liked sleeping through the sunrise, liked staying up late. Somewhere along the line, that changed. I might be a lot happier in the morning if someone didn’t take up most of the bed,” he said, peering at Lucy. “Why does she have to sleep across the bed?” He shook his head. “So tell me—is everyone safe and sound?”