Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(49)

“Of course. I’m going to the next doctor’s appointment and then…I just want to be sensitive. The woman is understandably upset and I don’t want to suggest she’s lying, but we have to be sure. Too many people are going to be hurt by my actions as it is. Once the facts are indisputable, I just hope Vanni can forgive me. Accept me with my baggage…”

Walt looked over his shoulder at a sound and both men watched as Vanni opened the corral gate, mounted Chico and rode away from the ranch, down along the riverbank. “Well, she’s getting away from you. If you have a case to plead and don’t want to do it in front of her father and brother, I guess you’ll have to go after her.”

Paul put his still-full cup of coffee on the patio table. “Can I borrow a horse, sir?”

“Knock yourself out,” the general said.

“Thank you, sir,” he said, clambering down the deck stairs and taking off for the stable.

Walt watched him run. Then he shook his head and said, “Holy Jesus.”

Paul saddled up Liberty, the general’s stallion, the feistiest horse in the stable, but also the fastest. It took a while to get him ready, though he hurried. He’d been on this horse once before and remembered him to be difficult, hard to handle. Tom, the more experienced rider, didn’t mind taking Liberty and leaving Chico for Paul. But today Paul wanted to catch up with Vanni and he really hoped Liberty didn’t throw him and break his stupid neck before he found her.

He took the stallion at a fast trot along the riverbank for a good twenty minutes before he saw her up ahead. He urged the horse a little faster and when he was within her hearing, he whistled. The piercing sound cut through the air and Vanni turned her mount toward him. She took one look at him, turned and kicked Chico’s flank, taking off.

“Goddammit!” he swore. So, this was how it would be—not easy. He was going to have to take off the gloves. He risked being thrown by giving Liberty a snap with the end of his rein. The stallion reared. Paul hung on, then leaned low in the saddle while Liberty closed the space between them. By God, he was going to catch her, make her listen, get through to her. There was no one within shouting distance to distract them. For once in his life, he was going to finish! Even if he had to cover Vanessa’s mouth with his hand!

It only took him a few minutes to catch up to her, thanks to Liberty, the champion of the stable. Pulling alongside Vanni he reached out over her hands and grabbed her reins, pulling Chico to a stop. The expression she turned on him was fierce.

“What?” she demanded.

“Listen to me!” he retorted.

“Make it quick!”

“Fine. Here’s quick. I love you. I’ve always loved you. I loved you before Matt saw you, but I didn’t have his guts and I hung back. I’ve regretted that forever. Now I have—”

“A baby coming,” she interrupted, lifting her chin.

“Listen! I don’t know much about being a father! Just what I watched when I was growing up! And you know what I saw? I saw my parents with their arms around each other all the time! I saw them look at each other with all kinds of emotions—love and trust and commitment and—Vanni, here’s the ugly truth—if I made a baby, I’m not angry about that. It wasn’t on purpose, but I’m not angry. I’ll do my damn best, and I’m real sorry that I’m not in love with the baby’s mother. I’ll still take care of them—and not just by writing a check. I’ll be involved—take care of the child like a real father, support the mother the best I can. What that child is not going to see is his parents looking at each other like they’ve made a terrible mistake. I want him to see his dad with his arms around his wife and—”

“Did you try?” she asked. “Did you give the woman who’s got your baby in her a chance?”

“Is that what you want for her? She’s a decent person, Vanessa—she didn’t get pregnant on purpose. You want her stuck with a man who’s got another woman on his mind? I didn’t want this to happen to her—I’m not sticking her with half a husband! She deserves a chance to find someone who can give her the real thing.”

“But she loves you. She does, doesn’t she? She wanted to get married.”

“Vanessa, she’s scared and alone. It’s what comes to mind. She’ll be all right when she realizes I’m not going to let her down. And I’m not going to—”

“All this because you couldn’t open your mouth and say how you felt, what you wanted,” she said hotly. “I wanted so little from you—just a word or gesture—some hint that you had feelings for me. Instead, you took your wounded little heart to another woman and—”

She stopped her tirade as she saw his eyes narrow and his frown deepen. He glared at her for a long moment, then he jumped off the stallion, her mount’s reins still in his hands. He led the horses the short distance to the river’s edge, to a bank of trees.

“What are you doing?” she asked, hanging on to the pommel.

He secured the horses at a fallen tree, then reached up to her, grabbed her around the waist and pulled her none too gently out of the saddle. He whirled her around and pressed her up against a tree, holding her wrists over her head and pinioning her there with the whole length of his body. His face was close to hers. “You never opened your mouth, either,” he said.