Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(52)

“I haven’t met her, no,” Aiden said.

“Well, she’s a spitfire. She was determined to find Ian and make sure he was all right, that he didn’t have posttraumatic stress disorder or whatever. Ian had risked his life to save Bobby’s and had been wounded in the process, then just disappeared. So Marcie felt she had to know what happened to him. But Erin was very concerned. She came up here to bring Marcie home.” Mel laughed and shook her head. “Marcie wouldn’t go and Erin was a little beside herself. She was used to calling the shots in the family, used to being the parent figure…”

“I guess things worked out,” he said. “Marcie’s the one having a baby, right?”

“That’s right. I haven’t seen Marcie since just before Christmas. She and Ian like to come up here for the lighting of the town tree.”

“I hear they’re due back for a visit—maybe they’ll come into town.”

“Oh, I hope so,” Mel said. “She’s an amazing young woman, but all that determination…I just can’t imagine what it must have been like raising her.”

Preacher brought out a steaming plate and placed it in front of Aiden. “Morning, Doc,” he said. He reached under the bar for utensils rolled in a napkin. “That do it for you?”

“Perfect. I really appreciate it.” Then to Mel he said, “Erin said her folks have passed away, so I guess you’ll never know.”

“Erin would be the one to ask. She raised her brother and sister.”

The fork was midway to Aiden’s mouth and stopped in midair. “She said she had a lot of responsibility….”

“Well, that’s putting it mildly. Erin’s mother died when she was eleven years old. Marcie was four and her little brother, Drew, was about two years old—still in diapers. As I understand it, their father was kind of oblivious—grief-stricken and all. When he wasn’t grief-stricken and oblivious, he was working and Erin was needed to manage the house and kids. Erin rushed home from elementary school and then junior high to babysit, clean house, do laundry, start dinner and get babies settled into bed. Then, when the younger kids were just teens and Erin was in her first semester of law school, their father died. I think the youngest was thirteen. Really, she’s been mothering since she was eleven.”

The prom, he thought. “Eleven?” he asked. He put a forkful of omelet in his mouth, though his horrendous appetite seemed to have dried up.

“Quite something, isn’t it? And it’s not as though she got them to the age of eighteen and could finally have a life of her own. Drew went to college and then medical school—Marcie said he’d never have made it without Erin. Oh—and Marcie? Well, she had a disabled husband and gives Erin all the credit for eking every available benefit out of the Marine Corps for his care. And she didn’t just manage that—she was there at the nursing home along with Bobby’s family and Marcie, helping hands-on. I know she doesn’t look like your average nurse’s aide, but Erin was as involved as anyone in the two families.”

He took another bite, though he could barely swallow. Eleven? A full-time law student running herd on teenagers? A lawyer with a busy practice helping to care for a disabled marine in a nursing home? “Sounds like she had to work unbelievably hard her entire life….”

“To tell the truth, I think she missed a lot of her childhood,” Mel said. She jumped off her stool and walked around the bar. She grabbed the coffeepot and refilled his cup. “Marcie and Ian just moved out of her father’s house last summer. Drew went to L.A. to start his residency in orthopedics. I don’t think Erin’s had a life of her own before now.” Then she smiled. “You just can’t imagine how happy it makes me to think you’ve been seeing her. A good man to pass the time? That’s perfect. So, don’t tell me anything that will make me blush, but how do you pass the time?”

Aiden grinned at her and it was the best acting job he’d ever pulled off. “Well, let’s see—I chased a bear out of her kitchen.”

“Get out!”

“I did. I think that’s what made her decide I was man enough for other activities. She was baking cookies, left the doors open while she was in the bathroom and Yogi paid a visit. There’s a bear out there somewhere with a bellyful of chocolate-chip cookies and cookie dough. Then I took her biking along the coast and almost killed her—apparently she hadn’t indulged in any strenuous exercise that lasted longer than fifteen minutes. So, next, we had dinner together—lifting the fork worked out. A little sightseeing, a lot of getting to know each other…you know…”

“It’s been a long time, but I think I remember. Jack took me to see the whales.”

“I guess since we’re all going to be around town for the Fourth, we’ll meet each other’s families,” Aiden said. “I’m anxious to meet Marcie and Ian, but I don’t know if I’m ready to introduce Erin to my family.”

“Why ever not?” Mel asked in surprise. “You have a wonderful family!”

“Have you met my brothers? Do they ever shut up?”

“Oh, I see—you’re going to be teased.”

“Pretty much relentlessly,” he said.

She patted his arm. “You’re a big boy. You’ll get through it. And if it’s any comfort to you, I won’t tease you. And if Jack starts, I’ll step on his foot.”