Redwood Bend (Virgin River #18)(23)

Dylan tried to imagine what Conner was so worried about. That Dylan would hurt Katie? Oh, he hoped not. If he just spent a couple more days here, that shouldn’t happen. Not unless Katie was one of those weepy, wimpy, clingy girls who got all in after a trip to McDonald’s. The Katie he’d experienced was not that girl. If he got a few more kisses out of her before he left, that shouldn’t do any harm and he wouldn’t complain.

The men nearly finished the work on the jungle gym and swing set by seven-thirty. It was time for Paul and Conner to head for work. Jack had to get back to the bar to serve breakfast. Dylan volunteered to hang all the equipment—swings, rings, et cetera—and rope off the play set so that it wouldn’t be used this first day. They had anchored it in quick drying cement around the posts and while it would probably hold just fine if a bunch of little ankle biters started wiggling it, it was guaranteed to hold if they gave it another twenty-four hours.

His good deed paid off. Right around 9:00 a.m. Katie showed up with the twins. She seemed completely surprised to see him there and while the boys rushed into the building, she went to Dylan.

“What are you doing here?”

He indicated the play set. “I offered to help with that and they took me up on it.”

“That’s pretty nice of you,” she said. “For a guy who is just passing through.”

“I’m pretty nice,” he confirmed. “What’s on your agenda today?”

“Not sure,” she said. “I thought about going into Fortuna and looking around while the boys are held hostage. I could go as far as Eureka,” she added with a grin.

“Ever been on a motorcycle?” he asked.

“Of course I’ve been on a motorcycle. I secretly dated a boy with a bike in high school.”

“Secretly?”

“I was not allowed on the back of a motorcycle or in the bed of a pickup truck. I beat the odds.” Then she grinned again.

That grin of hers was completely irresistible. It made him want to grab her right here in front of the new elementary school. “If I were going to be around when the boys were sixteen, I’d tell.”

“I’m not worried,” she said confidently. He’d be gone before they were five and a half. “You won’t be.”

He didn’t like the way she said that, but he shook it off. Ignored it. After all, he had already said he was hanging out for a few days and then would have to get going, so it was hardly a psychic prediction. “I have an idea. I have a rider’s helmet at the cabin where I’m staying. Follow me out there. You can leave the car and I’ll take you to breakfast, then for a ride.”

“I don’t know.... Think that’s a good idea?”

“Nervous?” he asked with a lift of his eyebrow and a sly smile.

“The roads around here are kind of freaky,” she said. “But worried about you?” She shook her head. “You don’t scare me. I think I scare you!”

“You shouldn’t do that, Katie. Set up a challenge like that.” He stepped back. “Follow me.”

“Okay,” she said. “I don’t have anything better to do.”

Six

This is okay, Katie told herself. This isn’t going anywhere—it was just for fun. She might be a little vulnerable in the man department, but she was smart. No way was she getting involved with a guy like Dylan Childress. She remembered him all too well from her youth—she had watched his show every week when she was a girl, adored him, and lapped up every story printed about him in the gossip rags and teen magazines. He had a bad, bad reputation, which had thrilled her when she was about twelve. He had seemed very exciting and dangerous back then. But she was a grown woman now, a mother, a widow for God’s sake. Fantasies like Dylan Childress were fun brain candy, but not her weakness.

Still, she could take one lick of this ice cream cone without selling her soul.

They took off away from the Riordan cabins on his bike and headed down the mountain to Fortuna, where he parked in front of a little café between a tattoo parlor and a liquor store. While they ate omelets, he asked her a lot of questions about herself, her brother, her life before Virgin River. Clever, she thought. Directing the conversation away from himself the way he did.

She told him everything, but not the long version. Her life the past year had become very interesting. She explained about Conner’s ordeal as a witness, how they’d gone into protective custody—separately. That accounted for him coming to Virgin River and Katie going to the other side of the U.S. to Vermont. And now they were ready to start over. As a family.

“In Virgin River?” he asked.

“Well, that’s an accident. Conner came here to lay low and he met Leslie. They fell in love. We’ve agreed, Conner and I, that we don’t want to live in Sacramento again after what went on. Sacramento is a very good place, but our recent experience is a bit too jarring. It’s time for a change. And now that I’ve experienced a couple of smaller communities—Burlington and Virgin River—I think it might be a good idea to raise the boys in a different kind of place. And they should be close to Uncle Conner—Conner has been like a father to them since they were born. They need that kind of consistency. It’s the least I can do for them.”

“That sounds like you aren’t completely sold on Virgin River,” he suggested.