Promise Canyon (Virgin River #13)(85)

She tilted her head and lifted an eyebrow. "Good boy," she said. "I guess behind the bar isn't a good place to be during an earthquake."

"I'm going to have to think about that when we get around to repairs. Some kind of guardrail for the bottles and glasses."

There was very little damage in the kitchen; Preacher was fastidious about having dishes put away unless he happened to be creating. There were only a couple of bowls and platters on the work island. He had a big pot of soup on the stove top and as soon as the shaking started, he slid it into the sink where it was safe from falling and burning him. All they lost was one large mixing bowl.

By the time Jack got back from the clinic, Denny already had a large trash can at the end of the bar and was scooping up broken bottles with a flat-edged snow shovel. Preacher had donned his thigh-high fishing waders and was standing in a cleared space behind the bar, moving bottles and glasses off the shelves, putting what he could in closed cupboards, ready for aftershocks that could be as bad as the first earthquake.

"Good idea, Preach," Jack said. "We'd better tape those cupboard doors shut for the time being."

Jack went to the back of the kitchen for an industrial-size broom and began to sweep glass and liquid toward Denny, where the younger man scooped it up with the shovel. A half hour of this work saw them with a lot of cleanup left, but things were at least under control. When the door to the bar opened, Jack reflexively yelled, "Sorry--bar's closed."

"Jack," Buck Anderson yelled. "Lou's stupid old dually went off the road during the earthquake, right at that soft shoulder--same place the school bus went down a couple of years ago."

"He okay?"

"Split his lip on the steering wheel, but he got out and climbed back up to the road. Thing is, that dually is about all the guy has. That oughta teach him to put all his money in a fancy truck."

"How badly wrecked is it?"

"Looks to be in one piece," Buck said. "If it doesn't slide any farther down the slope. How long you reckon it'll take to get a tow out here?"

"Why wait for a tow? Let me see what Paul has available. We'll go out there--maybe we can pull him up."

"Wouldn't blame you if you let it just slide down the hill," Buck said. "Lou hasn't exactly been a pal to you lately."

Jack rinsed the grit and liquor off his hands, dried them on a handy towel and just shrugged. "I think we better try to get out there before someone drives past that soft shoulder, slips down and lands on top of that truck. Denny? Want to lend a hand?"

"You bet!"

They locked the bar door on their way out so no one would get inside and hurt themselves on the broken glass. It only took a half hour to find a bunch of guys to help and one of Paul Haggerty's biggest trucks. Paul used heavy cable to attach the frame of the pickup to the back of his flatbed. It took a lot of doing; a lot of cable, big hooks, and Jack and Paul both had to rappel down the hill wearing safety harnesses to get it all attached. Once that was done, Paul drove the truck slowly as far across the road as possible, inching that big pickup up the hill. When it was about twenty feet from the road, Jack worked his way down the slope to it, got in and revved up the engine. The dual rear tires were powerful, caught traction and began to slowly climb up the hill. When it cleared the surface of the road, all the men standing around cheered.

Jack got out of the truck. "There's a time those dual tires make a difference," he said. Then he touched his lower lip as he looked at Lou. "If you're fine to drive, I suggest you show that split lip to Cameron, see if it could use a couple of stitches."

"Aw, I don't need no stitches," Lou said.

Jack grinned at him. "Yeah, I guess you can't get much uglier."

"You coulda just left me down there, Jack. I mean, the truck. Left me to wait for a tow."

Jack shrugged. "You wouldn't have left me down there. Even if you don't much like the way I manage the town money. Now, before we leave, we gotta put up some blinkers or something around this soft shoulder. Paul, you bring anything?"

"Do I look like just another pretty face?" he asked with a grin. Then he proceeded to set up road construction blinkers around the soft shoulder, closing off one lane.

Jack was shaking his head thoughtfully. "We gotta get this taken care of."

Seventeen

Lilly took Blue Rhapsody up a narrow trail into the foothills. They reached a plateau from which she could see the entire valley below. She was so happy to be on this horse again, so relieved to feel that even if she didn't have a future with Clay, she'd manage to have a future with Blue. It was one of the best days of her life when she stumbled on that horse. And if she wasn't mistaken, Blue was thrilled to be with her again, too.

They'd been out for over an hour and the sun was lowering over the western mountains. It was breathtaking. The air was cool, the leaves in glorious fall splendor and the sky clear except for those few puffy white clouds along the coast, turning the setting sun pink.

Once she'd wrapped her head around the idea of talking to Clay and listening to him, things had begun to look better. From a new perspective it seemed pretty simple--they would either come to an understanding and move forward or they would learn they weren't meant to be. If it was the latter, would she cry? Feel hurt? Absolutely! Would it kill her? Keep her from her horse? Not a chance! Lilly was nervous about the confrontation, but she was determined. She was no longer a pitiful little girl.