Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(32)

She had a kind of melancholy smile. “Sounds like fun, actually.”

“I guess so.” Art came up behind Aiden. “Oh, Art—this is Erin. Erin, this is Art.”

“How do you do?” she said, nodding.

“Thank you,” he answered, and they both laughed.

“I’m sorry, Erin, I have to get Art back. I’ll see you later. The garden looks good.”

“So do you,” she said quietly.

Art perked right up. “Maureen says he looks…he looks…ghost…gast…”

“Ghastly,” Aiden said by way of helping. “My mother put her hands on both sides of my face and said I looked ghastly. Horrible. Dangerous. So I guess you weren’t alone in that early opinion.” He turned and handed the long-handled tine to Art. “Would you mind putting this out in that shed?”

“Sure, Aiden.” And he trudged across the yard.

“He’s very sweet,” Erin said.

“He is that. How are you doing?”

“Great,” she said with a smile. “Totally great.”

“Good. See you later.”

“I’ll chill the beer.”

Six

“Are you going to date with her?” Art asked while Aiden was driving them back to Luke’s.

“I think we’ll just be friends,” he said, though he had started hoping they’d be more. He wasn’t sure when or how, but he’d figure that out after their next beer together.

“Luke says dating is talking and holding hands and watching TV.”

Aiden thought, I don’t remember Luke dating like that.

“Maybe dating with a girl is drinking beer, too,” Art said.

Aiden chuckled. “You know, Art. Sometimes you catch more than you miss. Listen, would you do something for me, please?”

“Sure, Aiden. What?”

“Would you mind if we didn’t tell anyone about the garden?”

“Why?”

“Well…” Aiden thought for a minute. “Well, at the end of summer when there are fresh tomatoes and some vegetables from the garden, I might get to have some. And I could surprise Luke and Shelby with them.”

“Oh,” Art said. “Okay, then.”

By the time Aiden and Art got back to the cabins, Sean had just arrived and the carnival atmosphere had been cranked up a notch. There was nothing to compare to the air of celebration surrounding a returning soldier, or in this case, airman. The crowd wasn’t limited to the Riordans and Booths; some folks from town had stopped by—Jack and Preacher, their wives and kids, other friends and neighbors. Luke had pulled out the large gas grill and two coolers were filled with ice, sodas, bottled water and beer. Walt Booth had brought wine; he uncorked the white and settled it against ice in the cooler and uncorked the red and put some bottles out on the picnic tables to breathe. Even the folks who rented the cabins were invited to join them.

After embracing his younger brother, Aiden set about helping Luke turn hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. The women put out condiments, chips, potato salad and coleslaw. Preacher brought a couple of pies and Jack contributed a big tub of ice cream.

Sean could not be urged very far from Franci’s side; he hadn’t seen his wife in six months and his first night stateside in a San Francisco hotel was spent with his wife and little girl. His arm was securely attached to Franci’s waist or shoulders, pulling her closer whenever he could. His mother finally came to his rescue.

“Rosie, would you like to spend the night with Grandma tonight?”

“Do you still lib in dat RB?” Rosie asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes. There’s an extra bed. And we can have popcorn and watch a movie if you like.”

“But Daddy said you din’t lib in dat RB right now. He said you libbed in sin. Where is dat?”

There was a slight hush just before laughter rocked the whole compound. When it finally let up, Maureen replied coolly to her granddaughter, “Ask your daddy, sweetheart. He’s an expert.”

Sean flushed scarlet, but when the laughter subsided he looked at his watch and announced, “Time to pack up Rosie for Grandma’s, honey. Then we better get to bed so all these nice people can go home!”

Once the party had broken up and Aiden had helped Luke with cleanup, he retired to his cabin and turned on his laptop. He had seventeen e-mails, but he checked the one from his friend Jeff first. You didn’t call her, you loser, and she won’t stop calling me. No matter how many times I tell her that calling me won’t get you to change your mind, she won’t stop. Do a guy a favor, huh? Call Annalee. She says it’s urgent. She won’t tell me what’s urgent, but she won’t stop! Here’s the number you probably threw away.

Aiden wrote back at once. She won’t tell you what’s urgent because nothing between us is urgent and talking to her at all is like inviting the plague into my life. Please—just tell her I’m dead.

Things in Virgin River had been pretty quiet, even if there was family en masse out at the Riordans’ on the river. A couple of days after welcoming Sean home from Iraq, Jack Sheridan was in his usual place behind the bar when one of his favorite customers came in. Brie, his younger sister, was seldom seen around town during the day. She was a lawyer with an active practice that usually had her driving all over the mountains and valleys and as far as Eureka where she consulted with the D.A.