Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(60)

“Soon,” Shelby said. “And not a moment too soon!”

The day was drawing to a close, the sun beginning its downward slant, when someone came up behind Mel and covered her eyes with their hands. Mel instinctively whirled and faced a smiling Darla Prentiss. “Hey, there,” Darla said.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it today!”

“We had family stuff going on at my sister’s house,” Darla said. “But we still wanted to stop by and say hello. Mel, things are a little better. I wanted to thank you for being so sweet and kind.”

“Oh, I didn’t do anything that any friend wouldn’t do. Did you get some counseling?”

“More than I bargained for. We saw a therapist recommended by the fertility clinic and then spent a little time with Pastor Noah Kincaid. A good friend of mine goes to your church and said he was a wonderful counselor. He helped us a lot. We might have to give your church a try sometime.”

Mel smiled. “We love Noah. As I understand it, he was a counselor before he attended seminary. Very experienced. We’re lucky to have him. And I’m so glad you’re feeling a little better.” She shook her head. “There’s just no way I can express how sad it makes me that you and Phil haven’t had better luck, nor how sorry I am for your loss.”

“Time will heal,” Darla said.

“Where is Phil?” she asked, looking around.

“Over there.” Darla pointed. “Probably telling lies with Jack, Preacher and anyone who will listen.”

Mel saw Phil standing in a clot of men including Noah and Luke, holding a beer, talking and laughing. “Is he doing all right?” Mel asked.

“I know he grieves as much as I do,” Darla said. “But he’s so wonderful—he puts all his attention on making sure I’m all right. I don’t know if you can even understand this—probably the hardest part is that Phil should be a father. He’d be the best father in the world. He’s strong and patient and kind and has more love in him than any man I’ve ever known. I’m so lucky to have him.”

Mel smiled and gave Darla a hug. “Well, he’s pretty darn lucky, too.”

“Thanks for being there for us, Mel. You’ve been such a comfort.”

Mel wasn’t often moved to prayer—but in her heart she was saying, God, can you cut these folks some slack here? They’re so ready for a break!

Eleven

The first thing Erin was going to remember to tell Aiden was that a few stolen kisses behind a tree or the church at the town picnic was not nearly enough. Ian and Marcie stayed over Monday night and left early on Tuesday morning; if they’d left after the picnic Erin would have asked Aiden to come to the cabin. But it was summer; people took vacation days and stretched out holiday weekends.

She had been so happy to see her sister and brother-in-law. She was completely okay with them leaving her to get back to her lover.

Once they were gone, she wondered why she hadn’t formulated a plan with Aiden, finding out just how soon they could next be together. She wanted to call him, but something from way back in junior high about not calling boys you liked prevented her from doing so. She might have been far braver if it hadn’t meant calling Luke’s house to get a message to him.

It was a very long morning until Aiden called her at noon. “Have you looked outside your front door yet?”

“Why?” she asked. “And why aren’t you here?”

“Just look,” he said with a laugh. “And for once in your life, follow instructions.”

And he hung up on her. Just hung up!

She opened the front door and found a large white dress box outside the door. She brought it in and opened it. Right on top of piles of green chiffon was a note. Dress up for me and be ready at seven—I’m picking you up. A.

She lifted the dress out of the box and actually winced. My God, it was obnoxious. All that fluffy emerald-green, flowing chiffon—she’d never buy something like that. Erin, five-nine and trim, was pretty much a little-black-dress woman. She strove for elegance and simplicity while this was entirely too froufrou for her. Did he just instinctively know she hadn’t brought any kind of evening or cocktail dress along to the cabin? Was he taking her to the best excuse for a fancy restaurant he knew and didn’t want her going in capris and flip-flops?

And as she examined the dress further, she realized that—ew—it wasn’t new! It did have dry-cleaning tags, but good Lord, it was a used dress! And with it came a pair of silver slip-on sandals.

She just frowned her confusion. Would he be terribly insulted if she took a quick run over to Eureka and found something a bit more to her tastes? Something she considered appropriate? She couldn’t even remember a time she might’ve bought a dress like this. It looked suspiciously like a bridesmaid’s or prom dress, but even when she was seventeen…

Prom.

She started to laugh to herself. Oh, he wouldn’t. Would he?

She had complained about missing the prom, and what appeared on her doorstep but a prom dress.

Perhaps it was premature and naive, but she trusted him. Completely and totally, she trusted Aiden. A woman of her age and experience didn’t put her body in the hands of a man without believing in him very strongly. So she shrugged and took the secondhand dress off to the bedroom.