Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(36)

“No! And you can be damn sure I’m not making any more!”

He pulled out a chair from the kitchen table. She pulled out a chair and sat. He leaned toward her. “You don’t have to go. If the doors are closed, I don’t think they’ll break in. Well, a raccoon might sneak in, but they’ll often run if you just bang a pot.”

“Do you have any idea what you’re saying?” she asked.

“I’m saying—don’t go, Erin. Just give it a few more days and you’ll see—the wildlife won’t bother you if you’re unobtrusive. If you see a bear, bang a spoon inside a soup pot. Really, they don’t like people.”

She frowned. “Unobtrusive? What kind of a word is that for an EMT to use?” she asked.

He lifted a brow and grinned. “Big?” he asked hopefully.

“I don’t know. I should pack and start driving….”

“Don’t,” he said. “We can have some fun, you and me….”

“I haven’t seen you in days! I’m going—”

“The family was gathering and I had to help. To tell you the truth, they’re already on my nerves. But I think they’re all settled in now. Stay a few more days at least.”

She leaned toward him. “Why?” she asked earnestly.

He shrugged. “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve seen in Virgin River.” He grinned. “I’ll leave you the repellent, but you’ll have to drive me to town. There’s a bear hopped up on chocolate out there and I’ll be unarmed.” He leaned toward her. “Listen, take your phone and repellent into the bedroom and close those doors when you go to bed tonight. Put the dresser in front of the door if you want to. Make sure you don’t have any food or garbage out where a bear could smell it or get to it, and see if you don’t feel better about this in a day or two. You can always call the sheriff’s department and tell them a bear got right in your house—they might put out an alert, just in case it’s a troublemaker.”

“My good sense says that staying would be taking a ridiculous chance.”

“Really,” he said. “Don’t go. Not yet. Honest—I wouldn’t suggest it if I thought there was any real danger.”

She thought for a minute, then she shook her head and said, “If a bear eats me, you’re going to feel terrible.”

“I think if you leave I’ll feel terrible.”

Luke Riordan had always been an early riser, but it was definitely more pronounced now that he had a wife in the late stages of pregnancy. It was hard for Shelby to get comfortable, or stay comfortable, and sometimes she was up in the night rooting around for Tums or ice cream for the heartburn that inevitably settled in after she’d been lying down.

He had no complaints about the lack of sleep or the early hours. He wished she could have it easier, of course. It looked to him as if she was carrying way too heavy a load for her small frame, and he had concerns about her being able to give birth to his son. That kid was ready to ride a skateboard out of Shelby, and she still had at least a couple of weeks to go! Fortunately he was surrounded by experts. Mel said, “Yeah, I think I was pretty much that size or worse—amazing, isn’t it?” Jack said, “I feel your pain, my brother.” Aiden said, “She’s sure getting there, isn’t she?” No one was panicked, so he decided not to panic.

He woke early, wandered through the cabin area with a cup of coffee, checking out the grounds, which were usually peaceful at that hour of the morning. After just a couple of nights with the RV in the compound, George and his mother had taken it over to Noah’s place so they could spend some quality time with George’s family. Then they had reservations at an RV park in Fortuna where they could get a hookup, which meant their plumbing and electricity would be maintained by the park. Much more convenient. And since they had towed his mother’s small sedan, they had no trouble getting around without dragging their entire house with them.

Sean, Franci and Rosie weren’t up and about yet. Art wasn’t a real early riser. Aiden had begged off dinner the night before, saying he was going over to the coast and would get something to eat over there. There was nothing mysterious about that. Why would a thirty-six-year-old bachelor feel like spending night after night with his brother and incredibly pregnant sister-in-law?

But as Luke walked past Aiden’s SUV, he noticed the man had the backseat collapsed and there were a couple of new bikes in there. He peered into the window and saw they were trail bikes, a boy bike and a girl bike. Interesting. Couple of helmets there, as well. And there was a basket thingie—like something that attached to a bike. A picnic basket? Luke wondered. Well, how precious.

While Luke was standing there with his cup of coffee, the door to Aiden’s cabin opened and he came out. Luke nearly stepped back in shock. Aiden was clean shaven. He didn’t even look like the same man. With that beard gone and his black hair trimmed, Aiden didn’t look capable of producing that big red bush on his face. “Whoa,” Luke said.

“It got a little itchy,” Aiden said.

Luke just grinned. “You lyin’ sack of shit. You did it for a woman!”

“Get real,” Aiden said.

“Who is she? You meet someone over on the coast?”

“Nah. I just got tired of looking like a vagrant, that’s all. And Mom hated it.”