Redwood Bend (Virgin River #18)(62)

“What about the boys?” he asked.

“Well, brace yourself,” she said. “They like you. They were so excited to see you sleeping on the couch, it was almost impossible to keep them from waking you up. It’s probably not so good for you to come in and out of their lives.”

“Kind of sounds like I really screwed this up.”

“This?” she asked. She shook her head. “We were attracted to each other, but there’s nothing we can do about the fact that we’re not headed in the same direction, except maybe make a clean break so we can move on. You have to go!” She touched his hand. “It’s okay, Dylan. Let’s just part friends. No hard feelings.”

“I don’t necessarily want to—”

There was a bit of rustling and a small bear cub rolled out of the bushes, followed by a second. Katie jumped to her feet. “Dylan, in the house, hurry up.” She was ahead of him, heading for the kitchen. She went to the small cupboard above the microwave and grabbed the air horn and the bear repellant, a fancy hair-spray-size can of mace. “She is seriously getting on my nerves....” And then she was out on the porch again. “Hey!” she yelled. “Get outta here!” And she blasted the horn a few times, some short annoying pops.

Dylan stepped out on the porch, wide-eyed. “Holy shit, Katie! Get inside!”

Mama stepped into the clearing and puffed up, making her groaning, almost growling noises. That could’ve meant You’ll be my breakfast soon or Come with me, kids.

Katie aimed the mace and the horn just in case, but she blew the horn again. The bear stood on her hind legs and her cubs ran behind her. She dropped back to all fours and disappeared into the shrubs, and a moment later Katie saw the four of them hightailing it up the path and into the forest. And Katie yelled, “I’ve got cubs, too! Bitch!”

He grabbed her arm. “Katie, good Christ, you shouldn’t antagonize her like that. Just get out of the way.”

“She’s really got some attitude, that one. A guy I met at Jack’s, some guy with an orchard, said she’s been bothering them and he was going to call someone—like the game warden or something.” Then she turned her big blue eyes up to his. “But I think maybe I’ll find something a little more urban. Know what I mean?”

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. The boys peeked out the door to see if there were bears. “Go inside, please,” Dylan said. “Get ready for school.” When they were gone he turned to Katie. “All right, listen to me. I’m not leaving right away. I’m going to take the boys to school and drop them off. Then I’m going to run a few errands, make a couple of phone calls and come back here. You—stay in the house and do not confront that bear again!”

“I don’t want you hanging around here,” she said. “I’m not going to sleep with you!”

“Oh, absolutely not,” he said. “But we are going to examine the potential for a relationship, you and me. It might not be easy, but—”

“But Hollywood waits,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I probably won’t be able to work and hang out here all the time, but I also probably won’t be out of town any more often than a soldier. Right now I think you need me. So I’ll take the boys to town and I’ll be back.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you understand ‘no’?”

“No,” he said.

Fourteen

Right after leaving Katie’s house and dropping off the boys, Dylan parked on the side of a hill that offered a spectator’s view of a lush valley, but his interest was not the view. He had cell reception here. He called Lang. “How’s everything going?”

“Going,” Lang said. “I flew a couple of charters. They didn’t pay enough, but they paid and it was work. We could use more. I was out of town most of last week, but it’s money and I’m encouraged by the business.”

“How’s Mrs. Lang getting along?”

“She’s doing all right, but then Sue Ann always gets along better without me than I do without her.”

“Listen to you,” Dylan said. “She’s stuck at home with five kids, trying to help run an airport, manage the house and everything and you’re whining about doing something you love to do—fly.”

“I know,” he admitted. “She could’ve done better. Boy, am I lucky she didn’t.”

“I remember when you met her,” Dylan said. “It was like you saw her and glazed over…”

“Nah, I didn’t really go into a trance until I talked to her. But I was in big trouble once I slept with her. Shew.” Lang took a breath. “Thank God I’m home for a few days!”

“Eleven years later, still the horn dog for your wife.”

“Hard to get bored with perfection,” he said with a sigh.

Dylan just chuckled to himself. Sue Ann was pretty, but she wasn’t a knockout. She was kind of soft and wholesome-looking, but she had a sharp tongue on her, like someone else Dylan knew. She didn’t suffer fools gladly. She certainly didn’t put up with any of Lang’s shit. “I’m still trying to figure out how that works,” Dylan said. “One look and not only did you know how you felt then, you knew how you were going to feel in twenty years.”