Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(104)

Joe was glad when he reached the redwoods, untouched and pristine. And then past the Virgin, wide and wild, flowing over rocks and down natural waterfalls. Another few months would bring deer hunting; deer hunters. Fishing in the Virgin would start to get real good. The boys would come down in a few months to catch the end of hunting season; Mel would throw a fit, but it wouldn’t do her any good. And then she’d cry if they shot any deer. The memory of it made him smile—she was so sentimental, and Jack was so tender with her. But he’d hunt anyway.

He walked into the bar with his plans rolled up under his arm. Preacher was waiting for him, but the bar was empty, as it often was in the middle of the afternoon. Joe got his usual bear hug from the big man. “Ready to be a daddy, my man?” Joe asked him.

“Whew, you can’t know. Paige, she’s big as a—” He stopped himself. “Mel says that baby’s ready to walk out of her.”

“Get the girl,” Joe said. “You’re going to love the house.”

“Yeah, I’ll get her. And I’ll give Brie a call—they’re excited to see their plans. How about Paul?”

“I told him I’d get here by early afternoon. I’m sure he’ll show up.”

When Paige came out of the back, Joe’s eyes warmed over at the sight of her. She was ripe as an overdue melon. Plump and rosy and big. “Aw, honey,” he said. “You’re so beautiful.”

“Thanks, Joe,” she said, reaching for him.

He pulled her into his arms and while he hugged her, the baby kicked. “Whoa,” he said. “What do you have in there? A football team?”

“A feminine little girl,” she said. “Dana Marie.”

“She’s got big feet, I guarantee it,” he told her. “You want to see your new house?” he asked.

“I can’t wait.”

He barely had the plans laid out on a table when Brie and Mike came in. More hugs and warm greetings. “And I understand you’ve put a little rush on the building?” he asked. “To make room for a newcomer?”

“Right around Christmas,” she said.

“I can already see it in your eyes.”

“What you see is me getting past the first trimester. It’s relief, Joe. We’re not getting any younger.”

“I feel younger, that’s for sure,” Mike said, and if Joe wasn’t mistaken, his chest puffed a little bit.

“Okay, we got your house pretty close to ready, and Paul and I will walk the property this weekend. Come over here.”

Joe had Paige and Preacher seated at one table, going over plans, Mike and Brie at another, and he walked between the two with a pointer and a pencil, answering questions, penciling in adjustments.

For Preacher, he had added to the existing apartment. Downstairs the current quarters were enlarged into a great room with fireplace, no need for a kitchen but a serving area with sink, counter, dishwasher and cupboards for their own dishes and glassware that fronted a large dining room. They would use the bar’s kitchen for their cooking, but should have a private place for meals. He designed a big master bedroom and enlarged the existing bath. The larger downstairs could support two more bedrooms upstairs, a Jack and Jill bath and a loft, connected to Christopher’s room by a short hall. There was a wide-open staircase from the great room to the loft. It turned those little quarters into a real four-bedroom, three-bath house that could be filled with family and friends.

For Mike and Brie, twenty-five hundred square feet of living space, another five hundred attached to the house as office space for Brie with entrances from the outside and inside. Four bedrooms, a great room, a spacious kitchen, three baths including the master, and some beautiful features from vaulted ceilings, a large marble shower without doors, granite counters, stone hearths in the great room and master, slate and hardwood floors, a long, deep deck.

By the time they’d gotten familiar with the designs, Paul arrived. Joe felt awkward until he saw his old friend, and then it was natural to grab him, give him a hearty greeting with slaps on the back. “I’ve really missed you, man,” Paul said.

“Yeah, me, too. Hey, I brought some drawings for you and Vanni to look at. Maybe something will work. I did it based on what you said she liked about your Grants Pass house.”

“Bring them to dinner.”

“I don’t want to impose.…”

“You’re kidding, right? Joe—we gotta get past this. Seriously. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Maybe it was mine,” he said, dropping his head briefly. “Whatever, it’s in the past. It’s over. We should try to move on.”

Paul glanced at Brie and Mike, Paige and Preacher. Seeing they were absorbed in their house plans, he quietly asked, “Have you moved on, brother?”

“Yeah,” Joe answered with a laugh that even he knew was insincere. “Sure.”

“Come to dinner,” Paul said. “Please.”

“Okay,” he said. “But you have to take the plans home first, give Vanni a chance to have a look before I get there. So she can work up her questions and complaints.”

“We’ve got the homesite all picked out,” Paul said. “We can build right on the other side of the pasture, along the river. We’ll share the stable.”