Redwood Bend (Virgin River #18)(39)

“But you always lived in the city, worked in the city,” Dylan said.

“And was mad as hell at the circumstances that moved me to this little town…till I got to know this little town. Over the course of a couple of months I realized I didn’t just want a different location, I wanted a different kind of life. A slower, simpler, more balanced kind of life. So how do you know you won’t enjoy flying out of Los Angeles? Maybe it’ll work out.”

Of course, Conner assumed it was a flying job. The only thing Dylan had told him about himself was that he was a pilot and instructor. To his amazement, Leslie must not have said anything. Girls usually liked to brag about a Dylan sighting… “I’m sure it’ll work out one way or another and as much as I like kicking back here, I’m going to have to go check it out. But there is something I’d kind of like to do before I go—I’ve been thinking about that jungle gym we put up for the school…why don’t we drive over to Eureka and get a smaller version of that for Katie’s yard. The front yard, where there’s room and she can see them from the porch. Interested?”

Conner tilted his head and lifted a brow. “Are you thinking with a jungle gym in the yard you might be able to sneak Katie into the house for a little nookie?”

“Now, why would I think something like that?” Dylan asked, affronted.

Conner shrugged. “Probably what I would be thinking if Les had a couple of kids. But don’t do that. Really, don’t. And I’ll ask Jack if he minds.”

“I’ll split the cost,” Dylan said. “Might keep her around longer.”

“You’re a peculiar guy, Dylan,” he said. “You’re looking at two possibilities for yourself—L.A. or Montana. Yet you want to help me keep her here? Is that to take the heat off? So you can leave her here without feeling guilty?”

“Not that, Conner. I’m on your team. Katie should have someone in her camp she can depend on and the boys need their uncle. I wish I was a better bet,” he said. “With the kind of work I do, you never know where I’ll end up.”

And yet, Dylan was still here. Unable to leave. He could just as easily go back to Payne to await that phone call from Jay Romney, but he hadn’t.

Dylan and Conner went to Eureka together on a Tuesday afternoon to pick up that play set for the cabin. Katie was surprised and so delighted she could hardly contain herself. The boys were immediately crawling all over the pieces until their mother yelled at them not to get the parts all mixed up.

“I think I can get this together,” Dylan said to Conner. “Why don’t you swing by tomorrow after work and see if I put it together to your satisfaction.”

“If you have Katie to help, it’ll be done right.”

“You sound like you trained her yourself.”

“Nope,” Conner said. “But the same guy who trained me, trained her.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

“Don’t get the idea we’re bonded here,” Conner said. “I’m still pretty concerned about what’s going on with you and my sister.”

Dylan shook his head in a silent chuckle. “Probably a good thing you ended up here, Conner. I think you’re perfect for this place.”

Conner narrowed his eyes. “Why do I get the impression that’s not a compliment?”

“That kind of thinking is why I haven’t dated a female in Payne, Montana, since the senior prom. Not everyone who likes each other ends up married for fifty years. And Katie can think for herself, believe me.”

“That’s what she keeps telling me, but I still look out for her.”

Dylan slapped a hand on Conner’s shoulder. “You’re a good man, Conner.”

“We’re not bonded…”

“Right,” Dylan said. “Got it.”

Dylan passed Katie on the road—she was taking the boys to summer program while he was en route to her cabin to work on erecting the play set. He was still studying the plans when she returned. He suspected she was speeding to get there.

“Let me see,” she said, taking the instructions out of his hands. She glanced at them for less than one full minute. “Okay. Good,” she said. And then she went to the back of her SUV, lifted the hatch and the floor and pulled out tools and—his eyes almost popped out—a pink tool belt.

“Whoa,” he said as she buckled it around her hips. “Katie, baby, I’m not going to be able to concentrate on the joints and trusses if you wear that thing around your hips.”

She laughed as she secured her belt, then reached back into the SUV for her toolbox. “We’ll have this thing together in no time. I’ll do some measuring and you can dig the holes to secure it.” She pulled on gloves, grinning at him. “Wanna get going here?”

“You don’t know what I want to do,” he said.

“Get the post digger. The one Conner left. And get ready to work.”

They started at nine-thirty in the morning. At two in the afternoon they stood looking at the finished product, the posts still settling in fast-drying cement. Given there would only be two rambunctious little boys at a time on the jungle gym, there was no concern about it not being quite dry when they were home from their summer school.

“Perfect,” she said. “Want a quick shower?”