Paradise Valley (Virgin River #7)(44)

She grinned at him. There was a reason she’d gone to that hotel room.

Seven

It was ten days after Mel and Cameron’s emergency run to Valley Hospital with Dahlia Creighton when Cheryl came to Virgin River. Mel had heard that Dahlia hadn’t survived long enough for bypass surgery. She’d had far too many medical problems to get through what might have otherwise been an uncomplicated surgery.

This was only the second time Mel had seen Cheryl since she’d entered an alcohol-treatment program over six months ago and the change in her still startled Mel and brought a bright smile to her lips. When Cheryl walked into the clinic, despite the fact that she had just lost her mother, Mel nearly beamed at her. She had to quickly reel in the reaction. This was not a time to grin stupidly. But Cheryl looked so good—fresh, healthy, pretty. It was hard to imagine her the way she’d been when Mel first met her, slouched and dirty, wearing men’s clothes, looking bruised both physically and emotionally.

“Hi, Mrs. Sheridan,” she said. “Did you hear the news about my mother?”

“I did, Cheryl. I’m so sorry for your loss. We did all we could.”

“Of course you did, as did the other doctors. My mother was very sick. Really, she didn’t stand a chance. And she wouldn’t even consider medical treatment before. Truthfully, I don’t think she thought she needed any. And between my father and I, we weren’t alert or smart enough to know, either.”

“This must be a very difficult time for you,” Mel said.

“It is. And challenging, but I have it worked out, sort of. My dad has gone to live with his brother in Yuba City, on the other side of the mountains. I have to deal with the house. It’s mine now. I can’t support my dad, so he’s better off with his brother and Medicare. That’s the best we can do. He has a ton of health problems, too. He has serious emphysema, among other things.”

“Will you move home?”

She shook her head. “I’m never living in that house again. I’m done with that part of my life. I have a decent job in Eureka and someday I might even have my own place.”

“Are you still living in your group home?” Mel asked.

“Well, I have roommates. We’re all in the same program, so it’s like a group home, but not official. I’d sell the house, but it’s just not salable. It’s falling down. I’m going to clean it out of trash. I brought some friends to help,” she said, jerking her chin over her shoulder toward the street in front of the clinic. “I’m going to stop by Jack’s and ask him if he has a problem with us filling up that Dumpster. Most of the junk left behind by my dad will be tossed and we’ll take the bigger stuff to the dump in the back of the pickup.”

“I’m sure Jack will be happy to let you use the Dumpster if it’ll help.”

“As long as we can close the lid when we’re done. Have to close the lid around here or wildlife will get in there and make a mess, disturb the town.”

“And then?” Mel asked.

She shrugged. “I might just let it go, the house. If I can’t keep up the taxes, I’ll lose it eventually, anyway. In the meantime, if anyone you know needs shelter, I can let them use it. As long as they’re not alcoholics or drug addicts. I can’t go along with that.”

Mel smiled. “Still heavy into your program, are you?”

“Amazing and hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“Not really. You were ready.”

She laughed, and her face was so pretty. Her hair so shiny. “More than ready. I just wanted to stop by, say hello and thank-you.”

Mel tilted her head, and her smile was a little sad. “I’ll be sorry not to see you again.”

“I’ll probably be back a couple more times before I’m all done here. Let me give you a phone number, just in case someone desperately needs a roof. That’s about all it is. And if you do run into someone like that, please tell them I didn’t clean the place, just emptied it of trash. It wasn’t really my house. I’m embarrassed by the condition it’s in, but not embarrassed enough to spend days scrubbing it. Being there…it just takes me back to a bad place.”

“I understand,” Mel said, lifting a small notepad off the counter.

Cheryl scratched out her number in Eureka. “Jesus, I wish I could do something for you. I owe you my life. I really do.”

Mel put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me now. I made some phone calls. That’s all. You did all the heavy lifting.”

“There’s the thing,” she said. “No one ever made phone calls for me before. I was the town drunk and no one ever thought I had a chance of being anything else. Till you came here. And that’s the God’s truth.”

“Well,” Mel said, sniffing back emotion. “Weren’t they short-sighted? You’re clearly headed for wonderful things.”

Later the same day, Mel hauled both her kids to the bar at five o’clock. Since he’d moved into the cabin with Abby, Cameron was anxious to get home at the end of the day, even though his dinner at Jack’s was on the house. This was not at all mysterious to Mel.

Jack came around the bar and took David off her hands. “Hey, my man,” he said to his son. “Wanna ride on Da’s back for a while?”