Temptation Ridge (Virgin River #6)(48)

“You’re not going to try to keep me from leaving, are you?”

“Of course not, but I’d like to call for breakfast. If you won’t stay, I at least want to see you again. Take you out, talk to you…”

“Write down your number. Or give me a business card,” she said.

“Tell me your last name. Give me a number if not an address. You know you don’t have to be afraid of me.”

She sighed and put a soft hand against his cheek. “It’s really important that I feel in control right now. Please understand?”

He thought briefly, then smiled at her. He gave her a little kiss and got out of bed. He found her bra and panties on the floor and picked them up to hand to her. His trousers were flung across a chair and he slipped into them, sans underwear, while she put on her dainties. Then he held her soft, gold dress for her and helped her into it, turning her around to zip up the back. Next he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, flipped it open and produced a business card. “I want you to feel safe and in control, just like you were last night. All night. Go ahead, have me checked out.” He pressed it into her hand.

“Maybe you’ll want to have me checked out,” she said with a soft smile.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to let you tell me everything you want me to know. That’s a better place to start.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Don’t make me wait too long, Brandy,” he said. “Even if I can’t see you until you get your affairs in order, I’d like to talk to you. Just touch base, that’s all. Let me know you’re okay. I promise, I’ll be patient for the rest.”

She smiled and said, “Sure. How could I not?”

Nine

October flew into the mountains and in the first couple of weeks provided a rainbow of color around Virgin River. Mel, Jack and their friends had been back from Joe’s wedding in Grants Pass for two weeks and fall was crisp in the air, the nights cold and the hillsides in full autumn bloom, fiery-colored leaves scattered amid towering green pines.

Doc was at the computer behind the reception desk when Mel came in from the kitchen. “Kids are settled into naps,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“Playing around,” he said. “I’ve been meaning to ask you—any word on Cheryl Chreighton?”

Mel shook her head. “It’s confidential treatment. If Cheryl didn’t put us on the list to call her, we can’t get through, can’t get information. I called to ask how she was doing and was told I wasn’t on her list—which tells me she’s probably still there. I could go speak to her mother, but I don’t know about that. Her mother is—”

“She’s not well, and she’s not the least neighborly,” Doc said. “Mean as a snake, if you ask me. If I were Cheryl, the mother wouldn’t be on my list.”

“I was going to say exactly that, but much more nicely,” Mel said, smiling. Doc seldom minced words. “Are you going to be around for an hour or two?”

He looked at her over the top of his specs. “Looking to get out of here for a while?”

“I don’t want to put you out, but they’re asleep in the kitchen…”

Doc looked back at the computer. “I’ve never been put off by the children. That’s some of your best work.”

She laughed at him. “If I didn’t agree, I’d get a little pissy that you don’t give me half that much credit for my actual practitioner work.”

“Your head is big enough,” he barked. “Go. Take a break. I’ll holler when they wake up.”

“Are you sure? Because if your arthritis or acid reflux is bothering you at all…”

“Not much bothers me besides you,” he said. “Tell Jack it’s getting time to get on that river.”

“He’s on the porch at the bar, tying off flies. I think he’s way ahead of you.”

When it wasn’t appointment day at the clinic, Mel took the kids with her to work. Because David was getting around much faster and fussier, he spent a lot more time with his father than her. Jack would take his son with him on errands to buy supplies for the bar or even keep him in the backpack while he served, but he would have his early-afternoon bottle with his mom at the clinic, then a nap in the playpen kept in Doc’s kitchen. Emma, after nursing, would have her nap at the same time as her brother in the little Port-a-Crib, also in the kitchen.

Of course, Doc was more than happy to comfort, change and jiggle Mel’s kids. He adored them. He grumbled a little about babysitting, but he never once refused. In fact, if she tried to get someone else to stand in, he seemed disappointed. Maybe offended, as if he’d been considered too old.

This was just such a typical day, a beautiful mid-October afternoon. Mel left the sleeping kids in Doc’s charge at about one-thirty and found Jack on the porch of his bar, tying off beautiful, feathery flies. Fishing season was starting to get good—the fall was excellent for salmon, sturgeon and trout. Jack was an amazing angler.

“Things have been really interesting in your little bar,” Mel said.

“A little tense and steamy.” He laughed. “Think someone should take Luke aside and warn him about this place?”

“I thought you’d finally learned your lesson,” she teased him. “You’ve been in the business of almost every romantic relationship in this town….”