Virgin River (Virgin River #1)(104)

He carried her to his bed, lay her sweetly on the sheets and went to work on her. He touched her, kissed and caressed her in the ways he knew filled her up, pleased her, gave her joy, released her. She rose to him, hot and ready, wrapping herself around him, giving. Taking. Crying out.

God, he didn’t know he could want this much. Love this much. Okay, he thought—here’s the reality. He would always have this. He would make her body sing just as she sent him reeling into the most incredible madness a man can feel. He would hold her every night and wake up with her every morning and there would be many times, like this, when they would come together in this incomparable passion and no matter what else was going on, this mutual joy belonged only to them. Just the two of them. There were no ghosts present in these moments. Sufficient compensation. Sweet consolation.

“Jack,” she said, snuggled up against him. “I hate that I hurt you.”

He buried his face in her hair and inhaled the sweet scent. “Let’s not talk about that anymore. It’s behind us. We have a lot in front of us.”

“Would it be a good idea for me to go to Joey for a little while? Give you some space?

Try to get my head together?”

He rose over her and looked into her eyes. “Don’t, Mel. Don’t run just because we hit a rough patch. We’ll work through this.”

“You sure?”

“Mel,” he said hoarsely, his voice a mere whisper, “you have my baby inside you. I have to be a part of that. Come on…”

She fought the tears that threatened. “I know it must be hard to deal with an emotional basket case like me.”

He smiled at her and said, “I’ve heard that pregnant women get like that.”

“I think I’m just like that, period.”

“Marry me,” he said.

She touched his beautiful face. “You don’t have to.”

“Melinda, six months ago we were two people without attachments. Two people who had accepted we would never have any—and that we’d never have families. Now we have it all. We have each other and a baby. A baby we both want. Let’s not screw this up.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything. I want this. If you can’t stay here, I’ll go anywhere you want to go.”

“But Jack, you love it here!”

“Don’t you realize I love you more? I need you in my life. You and our baby. God, Mel—I don’t care where that happens. As long as it happens.”

“Jack,” she said in a whisper. “What if you change your mind? What if something happens? You have to remember, I never thought anything terrible would happen to—

”

He put a finger on her lips, stopping her. He didn’t want to hear his name. Not now.

“Shhh,” he said. “I want you to trust me. You know you’re safe with me.”

Mel awoke humming. The song this morning was “Mamma Mia” by ABBA, of all things. It made her smile. She got out of bed and showered. When she came out of the shower and put on one of Jack’s shirts, she found a steaming cup of coffee on the bathroom counter. There was a note under it. Half-caf. Daddy. Jack was already up and in the bar, taking care of breakfast. Taking care of her. Robbing her of caffeine. She dressed for the day; she had been so out of focus lately, she had no idea what kind of schedule lay ahead. She couldn’t remember making any appointments for the morning. Still, she wasn’t rushing to Doc’s. It was early and she had a very important phone call to make.

“I wish I could see the look on your face when I tell you this, Joey,” Mel said. “I hope you’re sitting down. I’m pregnant.”

There was a gasp, then silence.

“Pregnant,” she said again. “Totally knocked up.”

“Are you sure?”

“Three months,” she said.

“Oh, my God! Mel!”

“I know. Kind of blew my mind, too.”

“Three months? Let’s see…”

“Don’t bother trying to do the math. I haven’t had a period since he touched me for the first time. I guess he’s potent enough for both of us. At first, I thought it so impossible, an absurd fantasy. I figured I was late because of stress, change, how weird my life is. But it’s real. I had an ultrasound.”

“Mel! How is this possible?”

“Don’t ask me—stranger things have happened. But not around here, apparently. I’m surrounded by women who were pretty sure they couldn’t get pregnant and voila!

There’s a rumor about the water…I’m thinking of calling my L.A. infertility specialist to tell him about this place.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to marry Jack.”

“Mel—do you love him?” Joey asked, her voice subdued. Cautious. Mel drew in a breath, trying to calm her voice, which she knew would be tremulous and emotional. “I do,” she said. “Joey, I love him so much, I almost ache with it. I never thought I could love this much. I was in denial about that for a while, too.”

“Mel,” Joey said, then began to cry. “Oh, my sweet baby.”

“It made me feel guilty, like I was doing something wrong—I was so committed to the idea that I’d lost my one true love and would never feel anything even close to that again in my life. I never considered the possibility that I might find something even more powerful. It seemed, briefly, like a betrayal. Jack even caught me crying to Mark’s picture that I was sorry, that I didn’t expect it to happen, and promising never to forget him. God. It was an awful moment.”