Hidden Summit (Virgin River #17)(65)

“He’s kind. Sensitive. Sweet. Good to the boys. Conscientious. Trustworthy. Dependable.”

“He could be all those things and have a little more backbone, I’m thinking,” Conner said.

“He has plenty of backbone!” she replied, a little heat in her voice. “He has a successful practice, is respected in the community, is a good family man....”

“Hey, don’t get mad. He’s not like the other men in your life. Not like Charlie was. Not like me or Dad.”

Her chin dropped. “But he’s so kind. Sweet.”

“Seems to be,” Conner said. “But, Katie, what’s with that hand on the shoulder? Is that the extent of his physical…you know…”

“He’s been up front about that. He doesn’t want to get physical with an employee. Even though he really likes me.”

“He said that?” Conner asked.

“He said that.”

Conner whistled.

“Oh, stop it! I know he’s not like other men I’ve been attracted to, but…” And then, inexplicably, she began to cry. She lowered her face into her hands, and soft, quiet sobs came from her.

Conner moved closer to her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Aw, honey. What’s the matter?”

“What’s taking him so long?” she asked. She lifted her face and peered at her brother. “All I want is a kiss! Well, okay, that’s not all I want, but we have to start somewhere.” She leaned against Conner and wiped her cheeks.

He stroked her pretty hair. “He’s safe, is that it?”

“Partly,” she said. “Or maybe mostly.”

“Is that the way to go?”

“Well, jeez, Danny…I mean Conner. At least he isn’t going off to war!”

“There are lots of guys who aren’t quite as…quiet and refined who aren’t going off to war.”

“There is nothing wrong with quiet and refined!”

“You know what I mean. It just doesn’t look like he’s going to ring a lot of bells, if you get my drift.”

“Yeah, I know. I thought about this a lot. The kind of guys I’m used to, the kind I’ve always been attracted to, men like my father and brother, are risk takers. Been there, done that. I’m ready to play it a little safe. I don’t want to keep losing husbands—I don’t want my boys to keep losing fathers.”

“But, Katie, honey, I’m not a risk taker,” he argued.

She laughed outright. “Yes, you are. An ordinary guy would run for his life after being threatened after seeing a murder, but not you! You’re going to take the stand, look him in the eye and convict him! You risk your life to do that!”

“Not exactly,” he said. “I’m taking every possible precaution.”

“I want a quiet life,” she said. Her eyes grew sad; she shook her head in frustration. “I want my kids to have a good education, a safe upbringing, a stable environment....”

“And good teeth,” he said with a laugh.

She wiped her tears and laughed, too. “And good teeth.”

“He’s…like…perfectly normal. Right?”

“Just because he loves kids doesn’t make him a pedophile,” she said.

“But you don’t take that for granted, right? You got your eye on that, right?” Conner asked, because he couldn’t not ask.

She lifted her head off his shoulder and with her blue eyes in slits, peered up at him. “Like white on rice.”

He let go a big laugh and squeezed her tight. “Katie, Katie.” This was what people didn’t get about her because she appeared so docile. She was a lioness. A dragon. Because she stepped and talked softly, people sometimes took her for a pushover. Not Katie. No way she was letting her boys near an “iffy” guy.

“You’ve had your eye on him,” Conner said.

“Every second. Every. Second. I swear, I won’t stop watching, but he just plain loves kids. He wants to have some of his own. He feels like he put it off too long, and he hopes it’s not too late.”

“Don’t get into this for the wrong reasons, Katie,” Conner said. “I can respect safe, but he also has to ring all your bells.” He ran a knuckle down her jawline. “I saw how you were with Charlie. Just try to get lit up by the right guy because, seriously, I’m getting old!”

“Isn’t Leslie kind of safe?”

He burst out laughing. “No!” he said. “No-ho-ho!” he emphasized. “She’s got some of her own crap. Not quite as dramatic as mine. She has a weird ex who wants to be her best friend even though he’s remarried and has a pregnant wife. And her parents, who are actually awesome people, are pretty eccentric. But safe? Oh, man—so not safe. She blows my mind. Falling in love with her is huge.” He tilted Katie’s face up to his. “If she dumps me or otherwise hurts me, I’m a guaranteed wreck. Leslie is a big risk for me. That make you feel better?”

She looked at him and shook her head. “No. I don’t want to do that. I don’t feel like taking chances.”

“Then tell me, honey. Tell me what he does for you....”

She took a breath. “He makes me feel comfortable. Cherished in an everyday way. Seriously. There are times at the office or over lunch away from the office when he talks about simple things like riding bikes with the boys through the park, and he’ll remark on how they will absolutely stop at the end of the sidewalk and wait for me before crossing the street. He’ll tell me how much he admires the job I’ve done with them, a mother alone without a husband. He sees that Mitch and Andy are secure, that they don’t act out like a lot of little kids.... He has said, a number of times, that I’m exactly the kind of woman he’d want to raise his children, and he says, ‘If you take that to mean hope relationship grows, you’re right.’ Sometimes he’ll ask my opinion about something minor to me but major to him—like whether to seed or sod that new yard of his, like whether to texture and paint walls or look at wallpaper.... I know, that doesn’t seem like anything, but it just feels so normal. And God, Conner…I just want to feel normal.”