Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(75)

“A damn fine living,” Paul confirmed.

Walt hmmed again. “Give me a second.” He left the room and Vanni and Paul exchanged confused glances. Then Walt was back. He held a thick, folded document. “This was impetuous of me, and if it doesn’t appeal to you, there will be no hard feelings. But then again, if you like the idea, you can consider it an early wedding gift.” He handed the pages to Paul.

Paul unfolded the document. At the top was printed, in boldface, DEED.

“I have a lot of land here. I wanted a lot—in case the surrounding acreage sells off at some point. I need space to ride. I thought a couple of acres on the other side of the stable might work out for you. If you’re interested, that is. If you’d rather scout around for your own land…”

“Oh, Daddy,” Vanni said, so deeply moved that her hand rose to her throat and her eyes swelled with tears.

“It’s going to belong to you and Tom one day anyway. I have Shelby taken care of. If you’re inclined and want to keep your own horses, we can always enlarge the stable and corral.” He grinned. “I know a builder.”

Gently, Paul pushed Vanni off his lap and stood, facing Walt. “This is very generous, sir,” he said.

“It’s very selfish, Paul. I wouldn’t mind having my daughter and grandchildren nearby. Frankly, a year ago I didn’t think that was an option.” Then he looked at Vanni and asked, “Honey, can you be happy in a little town like this? Your husband building around the area, nothing much to occupy you but children and horses?”

She laughed a little emotionally. “You’re kidding me, right? Dad, not many people even have the opportunity for this kind of life. The only complication is whether there’s enough work here for Paul.” She reached for his hand. “He loves building houses. And he’s brilliant at it. We have to keep him at it.”

“Well, here’s the thing, Vanni,” Paul said. “Before approaching my dad and brothers with this idea, I called around. I said I had house plans and needed a company to build—the soonest I could get someone was a year. There’s plenty of work if they’re backed up a year, plenty to spare.” He looked at Walt. “I’d be willing to call Joe Benson in the morning, tell him we’re ready to discuss our own plans. If you’re sure…”

“You’re holding it in your hand, son. It’s your future wife’s property. I’m sure.”

Twelve

W hen May arrived in Virgin River there was love in the air. Paul and Vanni had been back and forth to Grants Pass for a couple of weeks, unable to be apart for even a few days. Paul was working out a deal with Joe Benson and his family business to build Preacher’s add-on, and Mike and Brie’s house. Then there was Tom and Brenda—young lovers, too hot to touch, getting ready to say goodbye for Tom to go to basic training and then to West Point. It was prom weekend and Vanni and Paul were back again to see the prom couple.

Mel Sheridan made it to May with that new baby girl still growing, and she was damn happy about that. One morning she woke up at 5:00 a.m., well before Jack. That almost never happened, especially when she was pregnant. But she was up and full of energy, so she started her day by making her husband a pot of coffee and began cleaning out the refrigerator. She would routinely bring home groceries and they would inevitably rot while they took their meals together at the bar, or packed up some of Preacher’s delicious meals to take home.

Just getting rid of the old food wasn’t quite good enough. Mel was on a roll, so she filled the sink with soapy water and began to scrub the inside of the fridge.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked as he wandered into the kitchen.

“I’m cleaning out the refrigerator,” she answered. “I’m going to stop bringing food into this house—we let too much go to waste.”

She heard David start to stir and lifted her head like a doe smelling a hunter.

“I’ll get him,” Jack said. “He’s heavy.”

“Okay. I’ll get his breakfast ready. Would you like me to make you an omelet or something?”

“How old are the eggs?” he asked.

“Hmm,” she said, looking. “I don’t think they’re deadly yet.”

“I think I’ll pass, thanks.”

“Coward.”

David had his Cheerios, then his playtime in the great room with all his toys while Mel started the laundry and Jack went outside to spend a few minutes on his favorite morning activity of splitting logs. By next fall there would be a nice huge stack of firewood ready for the winter. Some of the trees that had been felled to widen the driveway were stacked at the tree line on their property, and he was working on turning them into fuel for the fireplace.

Mel wiped down the kitchen cabinets with lemon oil. Paul and Jack had truly outdone themselves on the kitchen with its gorgeous oak cabinets, black granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances. The house was absolutely magnificent, and much more than Mel had dared allow herself to expect. Compared to that little cabin she’d lived in for almost two years, it was huge—over three thousand square feet—but she’d managed to fill it up very quickly with furniture and accessories.

Once done with the cabinets, Mel did another laundry shuffle, then got a clean diaper for Davie. She followed that by getting to work on the shutters with the lemon oil. Then she busied herself with a special cleaner for the leather furniture, followed by one more load of laundry. When Jack checked in on her before lunch, she was pulling the tags off new little pink things that she’d had for a long time—gifts for the baby from Jack’s sisters and her sister. Mel laundered and folded all these infant garments, something that probably should’ve been done weeks ago.