Moonlight Road (Virgin River #11)(7)

“Oh, Aiden,” she said. “I was going to call you, but I’ve been so busy.”

“Yes, packing up and shipping all our childhood treasures back to us. Luke thinks you’re dying….”

“Luke probably wishes I was dying,” she said wryly. “Hardly. No one wants my old-lady furniture, so I packed up all the heirlooms spoken for, along with all the stuff I’ve saved since you boys were little, and put the rest in storage. Since I have that cell phone you got me, I thought it was okay to shut down the computer and disconnect the landline. One of my friends has a recently widowed sister who needs a place to rent while she looks around for something to buy. I’m going to let her move in here. We have a six-month agreement.”

Aiden reached into the refrigerator and got his brother a beer. He handed it to him, and into the phone he said, “And after six months?”

“Obviously I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t expect to fall in love with this lifestyle, traveling around, seeing the sights and the family. George will be here tomorrow with a brand-new motor coach. I’ve seen pictures of it and I can’t wait to see it in person. He’ll help me oversee the packing and moving of my household, which is all arranged. Then we’ll be off. Of course, we’ll head straight to Virgin River, but it might take us a while to get there—we’re going through Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and maybe a stop off in Las Vegas. Can you believe I’ve never seen Sedona or the Grand Canyon, though I’ve lived in the same state for years?”

“You must be looking forward to it,” Aiden said. “Luke wants to know if you’re getting married.”

Luke choked on his beer and began to violently shake his head.

“Actually, not that I know of. George is very considerate—he said if it was important to me to do that, he would certainly understand. But I think we’ll just wing it.”

Aiden laughed sentimentally. “Have you ever winged anything in your life?” he asked his mother.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “And if you’d asked me a year ago if I ever would, I would have said no. Emphatically no. But here we are. Aiden, how is Shelby doing?”

“Big as a house,” he said, winking at his sister-in-law. “She says she’s feeling good and is very excited about the dishes. Oh—and Luke says that if things don’t work out with George, he just wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if you didn’t agree to come and live with him.”

Luke shot to his feet, his eyes as big as dinner plates. His cheeks actually reddened and he shook his head again.

“Tell him I’ll go to a nursing home first—he’s a pain in the butt even to visit, much less live with!”

“This is very unlike you, you know,” Aiden said with a kind of tenderness he reserved only for his mother.

“I know. Isn’t it perfect?”

“As long as you’ve thought it through,” he said.

“Of course I have, Aiden. Now, don’t hesitate to call if you want to discuss it further.”

“I won’t. And would you like Luke to call if he has concerns to discuss?” he asked, lifting one dark brow toward his brother.

“Actually, no. But thank him for the offer. Luke is not exactly the man I’d take relationship advice from, although he has certainly landed on his feet. Hasn’t he?”

“Absolutely. And yet you’re willing to discuss it with me?” Aiden asked her. “I haven’t hit any home runs lately.”

“I suspect you just haven’t been up to bat enough, sweetheart,” she said with a laugh. “Now, I have to run. Give everyone my best and I’ll see you in a week or ten days, something like that.”

“Please be careful, Mom.”

“Have you ever known me to be careless? Now, enjoy yourself until I get there and turn the whole family upside down with my wild ways.”

He laughed as he said goodbye. Then he looked at Luke, who seemed to be fuming.

“I can’t believe you told her I wanted her to live with us,” Luke said.

“Listen, if you’re going to tell her how to live, you have to be prepared to be responsible for her living conditions. Big step, Luke. Lucky for you, she’s not interested.”

“I can’t believe this,” Luke said. “Our mother, who was almost a nun, living in sin with a retired Protestant minister?”

Aiden cocked his head to one side and shrugged. “She’s sixty-three and he’s seventy. There’s probably not nearly as much sin involved as they’d like.”

There were a number of things in addition to a terrible headache that put Erin in a cranky mood. Like the fact that they had shaved a little bit of her hairline in the middle of her forehead to put in three tiny stitches. She wasn’t planning on going anywhere except her hideaway in the woods, but still! She was very particular about her hair. Now she had the opposite of a widow’s peak—very ugly.

And she didn’t feel like spending the night in a hospital, wearing a hospital gown. Gown? They should not insult high fashion by calling this rag a gown. Her absolute worst painting clothes were nicer.

And she had a roommate. The roommate, who had had a hysterectomy and was staying two nights, had visitors. She was staying two nights, lived ten miles away and her entire freaking family had to come to the hospital to visit her? And there was apparently no rule about how many visitors one could have.