Shelter Mountain (Virgin River #2)(102)

A couple of hours later, he felt her fingers threading through his hair and he opened his eyes. She was sitting on the couch beside him, holding the baby. “Has he eaten?” Jack asked.

“And eaten and eaten and eaten.”

“Give him to me,” he said, reaching for his baby. He kissed his head. “God,” he said. “I still can’t believe it. You know how I feel? Like I’ve never been happy before in my life, because this is so…This is just so much bigger than the happiest I’ve ever been.” He touched her cheek. “No one’s ever done anything this great for me, Melinda.”

“That’s good to know, Jack,” she said with a laugh.

“Kiss me,” he said, leaning toward her. She obliged him, covering his lips in a deep and loving kiss.

“Did you make your phone calls?”

“Uh-huh. Joey’s coming, but I hope you don’t mind—I asked her to give us a few days. I want to be here with you, alone, for a little while.”

“That’s fine. Till you come down to earth. How about things at the bar? Aren’t you needed there for Paige?”

“Ron and Bruce are taking turns, hanging around. Am I going to come down to earth? It doesn’t feel like it’s going to happen.”

“It’s going to happen,” she said. “But I hope not right away. I really like you like this. All sweet and overwhelmed.”

“I like me like this, too.”

After school, Rick went to Mel’s cabin instead of to work. He tapped softly at the door and it was opened by Mel. She smiled sweetly. “You okay?” he asked.

“I’m wonderful,” she said in a whisper. She put a finger to her lips and reached for his hand, drawing him inside. “Be very quiet,” she whispered. “Come here.”

She led him into the living room. Jack was asleep on the couch, his feet up on the trunk. She gestured to the chair. “Give me your jacket and sit,” she said. He shrugged out of it, handing it to her, and did as he was told while Mel left the room. She was back in seconds, carrying the little bundle. She took the baby to Rick and put him in his arms. Then she went down on one knee, very nimbly for a woman in her condition, and put her arm around Rick’s shoulders, her face near his face.

Rick held the new life, Jack’s son, and admired the handsome round head, the little, pink, heart-shaped mouth. The baby squirmed a little in his arms, making precious little noises.

Jack opened his eyes but didn’t move. He looked the short distance across the small room and saw Rick holding the baby and Mel holding Rick. There was a slight glistening on Rick’s cheek.

“This is how it’s supposed to be,” Rick whispered.

“This is how it will be,” Mel whispered back. She pressed a soft kiss to Rick’s cheek. “All in good time.”

Then she went to the couch and curled up next to Jack. His arm lifted automatically to bring her close against him, and they remained like that, the four of them, for almost an hour.

Eighteen

Mike Valenzuela had a friend in Parole and Probation, a man he’d used as a source of information when he was in the gangs unit. It was an excellent way of keeping tabs on gang members who’d been released from prison and were back on the street, with parole obligations. Even though he was no longer on the job, it was still a simple matter to ask questions about someone meeting probation requirements. Mike had been a highly respected officer. He was trusted.

“He’s making his weekly appointments, bringing in his chits for attending daily meetings at AA,” Mike told Paige and Preacher. “He’s working two nights a week in a soup kitchen and trying to get his old job back.”

“Soup kitchen?” Paige asked. She shook her head. “Hard to imagine.”

“This will be easier for you to imagine. He’s already trying to get his community service commitment bumped down and his probation appointments dropped from weekly to monthly. And…he’s living with a woman he met in treatment.”

“Oh, God,” Paige said. “Brie said something like that might happen….”

“It’s predictable, in fact,” Mike said. “They discourage any kind of involvement during the first year of sobriety—involvement with anybody, but especially another addict. Yet it happens all the time. Paige, it’s impossible to believe he’s forgotten about you, but his focus seems to be on lightening his sentencing burden right now. And maybe, a new woman.”

“He hasn’t called or anything,” she said. “You thought he might.”

“I did,” Mike said. “If his mission was still custody or having you reconsider the relationship, I would have expected a call before anything else, the reason being a phone call could really annoy the judge, but if he sets foot in Virgin River to harass or threaten you in any way, he’ll serve time. It’s a pretty good deterrent—especially to a man who’s been in jail. It ain’t pretty in there.”

“You think we can relax?” she asked.

“Just a little, maybe. Try to be alert. I think he’ll turn up again someday. Guys like him, they nurse grudges, rarely abandon obsessions, and I don’t believe they change. But he’s pretty busy right now. It could be ten years before you have to deal with him again.”

Preacher put his arm around her, pulling her close against him. “Just the same, will you check sometimes?”