Harvest Moon (Virgin River #15)(79)

It was very late in Honolulu when Lief called his house in Virgin River. A very sleepy Kelly picked up, and he said, “Hey, babe. Mission accomplished. I have Courtney back. We got to Honolulu and she’s asleep. I’m out on the patio. Can you hear the surf?”

“I think I can. What time is it there?” she asked with a yawn.

“Midnight. It’s been a very long couple of days. Stu nabbed her, manipulated her and tried to strike a deal with her to act as babysitter to another couples’ preschoolers so he could work a movie deal. This is why so many of his deals don’t work out very well—he’s an idiot.” He explained how Muriel had helped him flush Stu out. “His biggest concern was that we get our issues handled so he could have his meeting with Muriel. You should have seen the look on his face when I broke it to him that she’d set him up.”

She laughed into the phone. “Oh, sorry. It was probably inappropriate to laugh.”

“I’ll tell you what, if Stu gives me any trouble about keeping Courtney with me after what he tried to pull, I’m going to fight dirty. I don’t know exactly how, so I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m tired, relieved, and I miss you like crazy. I’ve got the hotel’s travel agent working on flights back to anywhere in California, but it’s a bad time of year for this last-minute travel. I fed Courtney, tucked her in and came outside with a drink.” He sighed deeply. “What a circus.”

“Thank God you’re back in the driver’s seat!”

“Kelly, we might not get back by Christmas… The chances of getting a seat on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day…”

“I understand… I wasn’t expecting you until January second,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t miss you…”

“You want to know how much I miss you, honey?” he asked. “The only thing missing from my life right now is holding you. Once we get home, maybe life can get a little normal.”

She laughed a little. “You think so, huh?”

“Okay, I admit, we have some adjustments ahead. Courtney has been through a lot of emotional turmoil, thanks to Stu. I’m going to get her in to the counselor before school starts up again. But surely there’s sanity in the future. The near future.”

“Boy, aren’t you an optimist,” she said sarcastically, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

They talked until Lief finished his drink and could barely hold his eyes open. He recharged his phone. It was ringing first thing in the morning. The travel agent got them on a flight into San Francisco on Christmas Eve. Perfect—that’s where he’d left his truck in the first place.

Tired as they were, emotionally worn out as this whole adventure had left them, a little laugh at the airport was the last thing either of them expected. While they were waiting to board, who should arrive in the boarding area but Ann and Dick Paget and the little kids. They wouldn’t even have noticed Lief and Courtney if Alison and Michael hadn’t run up to Courtney, so happy to see her.

“Well, hello,” Courtney said. “Going for a plane ride?”

“Going home,” Michael said.

“Children!” Ann called. “Over here! Now!”

Ann was looking a little frazzled. Haggard. She kept pushing a lock of limp hair back out of her eyes, and she didn’t seem to be wearing her “nice suit” today. She seemed very irritable. Maybe chasing a couple of kids around the beach wasn’t really working for her. And Dick was harassing the gate agent about upgrading, though she repeatedly told him there was nothing available in first-class.

Lief had taken the only seats available—they were first-class. He exchanged glances with Courtney and they both tried very hard not to laugh.

Moments later, they started boarding—first were special-needs passengers, then first-class. Ann glowered at them as she and her family passed through the first-class cabin to find their coach seats.

When the gear was up on that flight, Courtney leaned over to Lief and said, for the hundredth time, “I’m never going back to Stu’s house. Never.”

“Okay,” Lief said.

“Seriously. I don’t care if the Supreme Court says I have to.”

“You won’t have to.”

“What if they do? What if some judge says—”

“No,” Lief said. “First of all, I don’t think there’s going to be a problem. Second, if by some weird twist of fate there is, I’ll find a way to deal with Stu. Maybe I’ll get him a meeting with Muriel St. Claire or something.” Then he grinned at her. “Anything else worrying you?”

“No,” she said, settling back in her seat. “But I wish, you know…”

“Wish what, Court?”

“You know. That it could be just us.”

“Huh? What are you saying?” When she just shrugged and looked down into her lap, he nudged her. “What? Be specific.”

“I wish you wouldn’t get married again…”

He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “I haven’t made plans to get married. I haven’t even mentioned marriage to anyone. But I’m very fond of Kelly and she’s been real good to us—I wish you’d give her a chance. She doesn’t have to be your friend unless you want her to be. She’s my friend. But I don’t have plans to get married. Not at this point.”