My Kind of Christmas (Virgin River #20)(50)

From behind her, he ran his knuckle along her cheek and chin. “Will you tell me when it would help to have me along? Because the priority here is Megan.”

“Yes. Of course. But I’m going to do it. I’m not shy, it’s just that it’s easier for me in familiar surroundings, with people I know. With Lorraine’s permission, I’m taking the before and after pictures Mel has on file to small and large businesses and ask for donations to the Megan Reconstructive Surgery Fund that my aunt Brie set up for me at Farmers Trust Bank. I’m also going to create a Facebook page that I can take down as soon as we have enough funding.”

“Even though it’s hard…”

“Even though,” she said. “The thing is, I’ve always been okay with showing off my gray matter. I didn’t mind if people thought it made me look dorky or dull—that only meant they’d leave me alone. But when I have to try to showcase my looks or personality, it’s tough. I can’t help but feel like I don’t measure up. You know?”

“You don’t give yourself enough credit, Ange. You measure up and then some.”

“You’re being very sweet. Is it because you think you’re getting sex tonight?”

He laughed at her. “I assume I’m getting nothing more than the sound of your snoring unless you feel like sex....”

“I don’t snore.”

“Oh, yes, you do. It’s very cute.”

“I doubt I’ll be able to sleep while I’m with you now,” she said. But a big yawn followed that statement, making them both laugh.

“I was very proud of you today,” he said. “You knew what you wanted, what you needed, and although it wasn’t easy for you, you got the job done. Very proud.”

She turned her head to look back at him. “I don’t know if you’ll understand this, but since meeting you I feel like my best self is coming out. Maybe it’s because of your confidence in me. It kind of trumps my own lack of confidence.”

They talked for a little while, snuggled together in the chair in front of the fire. Angie hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until she felt herself being lifted into his arms and carried to bed.

“Let me help you get comfortable,” he said, pulling off her clothes. “Want a T-shirt?”

“Yes, please,” she said, holding her arms out for him.

He stripped down to his boxers and crept under the covers where he curved himself around her back.

“Did you know I’ve never slept with a man before?”

“Sure you have. You had that ex-boyfriend.”

“Mmm-hmm. But I didn’t sleep with him. He couldn’t get out of bed fast enough.” She burrowed into his arms. “He didn’t know what he was missing. Snoring or not, I’ve never rested better in my life.”

It was quiet for a long moment before Patrick kissed the back of her neck and said, “Me, too.”

* * *

After Angie had left in the morning, Patrick dialed Marie’s cell phone.

“What great timing,” she said. “I’m sitting in the parking lot outside the day care at my mom’s church. It’s my old church, but from a long time ago. My mom convinced me to let Daniel go to day care a couple of mornings a week. She didn’t want me to get too clingy right now and then get a job and suddenly shift him into full-time or almost full-time. She’s right. He doesn’t realize he lost a father. And he needs other children.”

“Probably wise. How are you doing?”

“Up and down,” she said. “You know—I have periods of thinking I’m doing better, then I have a couple of days I don’t want to get out of bed. This is when having a two-year-old probably saves my life—my mom would let me lie in the bed, I think. But Daniel won’t. How are you doing?”

“Okay,” he said, feeling so guilty that his life had never felt better. “I got involved in a special project. There’s a young woman here, a visiting relative of someone in town, actually. She’s on break from med school and she helps out at the clinic and she became aware of a problem that needed fixing. A little girl with a bad facial scar and no money to repair it. So this woman took it upon herself to find funding through donations and I offered to help. It’s kind of taking the focus off me and my self-pity.”

“Really, Paddy? That sounds wonderful. Where did you meet her?”

“In the bar—the town bar. She’s the niece of the owner. She’s pretty young, but she makes up for it with a lot of courage.”

“Aw, you sound so tender when you talk about her....”

He wanted to tell her more—about Angie’s accident, her struggle to recover, the issues with her family and her efforts to make her own way in the world. To pay back or pay forward. And he wished there was someone he could tell that his life had never felt this kind of peace, not even before his losses. But he said, “It’s easy to admire her efforts. I would have seen that little girl’s scar and just felt bad about it. Not Angie. She saw it and said, ‘What can we do?’ and got after it. She’s trying to get financing for corrective surgery. I found out that rather than going back to medical school right away, she’s going to give a couple of years to the peace corps.”

“Do you think she’ll get the funding?” Marie asked.