Redwood Bend (Virgin River #18)(38)

“Losing him must have been horrendous.”

She gave a rueful laugh. “Eight months pregnant with twins? Alone and afraid with a widow’s benefit that would barely allow us to live in our car? Horrendous would describe it.”

“Did you ever regret any of it?”

She smiled with such patience and understanding it almost broke his heart. “It made me grateful for every second.”

He looked into her eyes for a long time. He ran a hand over her hair. Then he said, “Let’s warm up the omelet.”

Over breakfast he told her about Jay and the possibility of a movie deal.

“That would mean living and working in Hollywood again, wouldn’t it?” she asked.

“For probably six months, more or less,” he said.

“And that’s what you want to do, I guess?” she asked.

“I think I’m pretty lucky to have the opportunity. I’ve visited about a dozen small airports and charter companies around here and I haven’t run into any owners or managers that can get their companies out of trouble by signing on for a movie deal.”

“Wow. That’s a life I can only imagine. It must be crazy.”

“A lot of work, really,” he said. “I’d rather not need to, but it is what it is.”

“I think all those little girls who are now young mothers will be so happy to see your face again,” she said.

When they were finished with breakfast and standing on her porch, she said, “It’s been wonderful, Dylan. Thank you for everything. And be safe.”

He smirked slightly. “I’m going to hang around a couple of days,” he said. “But you’re going to have to put out.”

And she burst out laughing.

Nine

“We have a slight issue,” Luke Riordan told Dylan a few days later. “I have reservations on all these cabins—summer people. But I have a solution, if it’s not too rough for you. I parked my fifth-wheel trailer on the RV slab behind the cabins and hooked her up—water, sewer and electric. It’s yours as long as you want it.”

“I’m just thinking about a couple more days,” Dylan said.

“Right,” Luke said with a crafty grin. He wasn’t saying it, that Dylan’s “couple of days” had stretched out, edging over three weeks. “Like I said, as long as you want it. It’s for special cases like this—when we have one more than we planned on. And I’ll give it to you cheaper than the cabin, but don’t worry, it’s comfortable. Your legs’ll hang off the bed, but you get used to that. You’ll have everything you need, except the washer and dryer, but you’re welcome to borrow ours anytime. And the shower is smaller. If you drop the soap, you’re in trouble. You’ll have to step out to pick it up.”

Dylan laughed, but what really tickled his good humor was the fact that he’d been getting most of his showers at a little cabin in the woods the past week.

Any other woman would have extracted some kind of statement from him, some sort of lame commitment or expression of affection. But not Katie. He’d been in Virgin River for almost a month, the first four days of it having been with his boys on a ride. And it wasn’t easy dating a woman with kids. She called the shots. She saw him during the day while the boys were at their summer program, and if she saw him evenings or on weekends, they were busy doing things with the family. He’d been to an animated kids’ movie, the kind where you get a red Slurpee spilled right in your lap, popcorn down your shirt and gum in your hair, not to mention the headache that follows. They had dinner at her cabin, dinner at McDonald’s, and burgers on the grill at her brother’s house. He’d played catch, did a little fishing without catching and had learned video games. All this so he could get laid when the kids weren’t home. He had never, not even as a teenager, traded so much of his soul for the affection of a woman.

Katie’s brother had stopped scowling so much and was working on getting to know him.

“What will you do if the charter business goes under?” Conner asked.

“There’s more to a fixed base operation than charters, but that was the big moneymaker, and that’s the part of the business that’s suffering the most. We still have aircraft storage, maintenance, instruction, et cetera. My partner is managing all that while I hang out here trying to—”

“Trying to decide how much you like my sister?” he asked.

“Aw, it’s not really like that, Conner. There’s no question about how much I like your sister. It’s just that…we’re good friends. And don’t worry about Katie or the boys—we’re very responsible. Nothing inappropriate going on there—when we’re all under the same roof, it’s all good and proper.”

“So she says…”

“I have a potential job in Los Angeles. I’m waiting to hear more about that, then I’ll have to go down there. I’d rather live and work in Montana, but through no fault of anyone’s, that might be out of reach at the moment.” He laughed lightly. “Lang, my partner, is expecting a slow exodus of our employees from the company—pilots, instructors, maintenance—until we’re down to just a few. So I should think about getting a paycheck. But I hate the city.”

“I can relate,” he said.