Redwood Bend (Virgin River #18)(64)

“I saw your truck, Tom,” she said. “I’m so glad I ran into you!”

“Katie,” he said, smiling so handsomely.

“I wondered, have you called the game warden about that bear?”

“I’m sorry, Katie. I’ll do it today, I promise.”

“She was back this morning, and she’s very pissy. I mean, come on, I have kids, too, and I can hold it together better than she can.” She looked at Jack. “I wonder if maybe we need to get rid of the blackberries.”

“They’ve been there for years and there’s never been a problem before. Besides, they’re still pretty green… I wonder if it’s the play set.”

“Where is this place?” Tom asked.

“It’s my place,” Jack said. “Mel lived in it when she first got here and we bought it. It’s ended up a rental cabin, not far out of town but kind of hard to see, off the grid.”

“Show me?” Tom asked Katie. “Maybe I can figure out what’s drawing her, even though I’m not sure what’s attracting her to my place. Probably green apples and a broken fence. Between the green apples and berries, it might be a bellyache that’s making her so cranky.”

“Sure, I’ll show you,” she said. “But finish your coffee by all means.”

“I’m done. I’ll follow you.” He stuck out his hand to Jack, then Preacher. “Later,” he said.

When they arrived at the cabin, Tom parked behind Katie. He got out, pushed his hat back on his head and whistled. “I can see why you’d hate to give this up. What an awesome little cabin.”

“It is,” she agreed. “But I just can’t let the boys play with bear cubs.”

He laughed. “No doubt. Where do you see her most often?”

“Around those bushes,” Katie said, pointing. “And she was crossing the clearing, headed that way.” She indicated. “And when I ran her off this morning, she and the cubs headed up that way.”

“You ran her off?” he asked.

“I have a horn now. And some mace that I hope to never use—I don’t want the breeze blowing it into my eyes. I can’t wrestle a bear if I’m half-blind.”

“You’re something,” he said, laughing. “It might just be her path, the route she likes to take to where she’s going. She might take off in another direction when the cubs mature. Or when she falls in love next time. In fact, if you walked straight down that hill for about a mile and a half, you’d hit the orchard and on the other side of the orchard, the river. Or, here’s a thought—she might have changed her route to the river to avoid predators because it’s hard to keep track of three cubs.”

“I can’t even imagine…”

“You could always get a dog.”

“The dog would scare her away?”

“No,” he said. “But she might eat the dog before she eats you.”

“Funny,” she said, but she did laugh. “Would you like some coffee on the porch? I happen to have some in the pot.”

“That would be perfect,” he said. “After we met the other day, I thought of a couple of things I wanted to tell you. And ask you.”

“Oh? Well let me get that coffee. Come inside if you like.”

He was right on her heels and while she was fixing the coffee and warming some water in the microwave for tea, he was looking around. “This is awesome,” he said.

“It’s perfect for me. With the boys’ toys, TV and video games up in the loft, I can keep the living space picked up without them undoing my housekeeping one step behind me. A couple of kids can really wreak havoc on a house.” The microwave dinged and she pulled out her hot water. “What did you want to ask me?”

He held the door to the porch open for her. “I wanted to tell you—I’m just back from Afghanistan myself. My deployment was my last assignment in the Marines and time to get out. And I wanted to ask you—” He waited for her to sit. “When did you lose your husband?”

“Right before the twins were born, so I doubt there’s any chance you knew him.”

“I was in Iraq three years ago,” he said. “So, you’ve been widowed for a while.”

“Five years plus,” she said. “Charlie was in the army.”

“Again, I’m sorry, Katie. On my way home to Virgin River, I stopped off to visit a buddy’s widow. We’ve lost some real good men.”

“How’s your friend’s widow doing?”

He shook his head. “She’s having some real hard times right now, but she has family around. I think I might head back there to check on her after we harvest the apples.”

That touched her; what a nice man, she thought. But then, some of Charlie’s buddies had visited her.

“I guess it’s not too soon for you to think about dating,” he said.

She knew it was coming. She had sensed it from their first meeting. “Well, it’s not. But it’s an awkward moment—I’m kind of…” She stopped to think of how she should put this, exactly. “I guess the only way to describe it is, interested in someone.”

He grinned at her. “I guess the best thing for me to do is hang around till you lose interest.”