Virgin River (Virgin River #1)(76)

“Well,” she said, gathering herself up again. “Then, I’ve made arrangements to testdrive a vehicle and I’d like your opinion. A vehicle that doesn’t get stuck in the mud.”

“Really?” he said, surprised. “What kind of vehicle?”

She stole a glance at him, so neatly folded up in the front of her BMW, his knees sticking up so high it almost made her laugh. “A Hummer,” she said. He was speechless. Finally he said, “I guess you know what they cost.”

“I know,” she said.

“Hope’s paying you better than I would’ve guessed.”

“Hope’s paying me practically nothing—but it also costs me practically nothing to live. Especially with that end-of-the-day cold beer on the house every night. No, this is my own investment.”

He whistled.

“I have a little money,” she said. “There were…there was…”

He reached across the console and put a hand on her thigh. “It’s all right, Mel. I didn’t mean to pry.”

“You didn’t pry!” she exclaimed. “You don’t even ask, which is amazing to me. Here it is—there were investments. Retirement. Insurance. I sold the house at a ridiculous profit. And then there was a wrongful death suit—pending. It’ll settle. The little scumbag came from money. Jack, I have plenty of money. More than I really need.”

She glanced over at him. “I’d appreciate it if that went no further.”

“No one even knows you’re widowed,” he told her.

She took a deep breath. “So—I had a long talk with June Hudson, the doctor in Grace Valley. I asked her what she’d do to turn an all-wheel-drive vehicle into a makeshift ambulance, and I have quite a shopping list. If it works out I’ll have a vehicle that can not only get me and Doc all over valley and into the hills, but get our patients to the hospital when we need to, without me sitting in the back of a pickup, holding an IV

bag up in the air.”

“That’s a lot to do for a little town like Virgin River,” he said, and he said it very quietly.

He’d done a lot for the little town, too, she thought. He renovated a cabin into a bar and grill, served meals at low prices all day long. Drinks were cheap and it served more as a gathering place than a profit-making establishment. He probably didn’t need Ricky in there, but clearly he was a surrogate father. And Preacher—there was no question he was looking out for him, as well. But then, it probably didn’t take much for Jack to get by, either—he’d done most of the renovation work himself, collected a retirement from the military, and surely eked out a modest but completely adequate income from the place. And at the same time, enjoyed his life. Mainly what Jack did for the town was sit at the center of it, helping anyone who needed anything. Anyone who served the needs of the town, like Doc or Mel, and lately the occasional sheriff’s deputy or highway patrol officer ate free. He’d do repairs, babysit, deliver meals and absolutely never went for supplies without phoning up little old ladies like Frannie and Maud, to ask if they needed anything. He’d done that with her, too. Behaved as though it was his mission to serve her needs.

“That little town has accidentally done a few things for me, too,” she said. “I’m starting to feel like I might live after all. A lot of that is because of you, Jack.”

Jack couldn’t help himself. He said, “You’re staying.”

“For the time being,” she said. “Another baby is coming at the end of summer. I live for those babies.”

One of these days, he said to himself, I’m going to tell her. Tell her I love her more than I thought I could love a woman. Tell her that my life started when she walked into town. But not yet. He didn’t want to back her into a corner and make her feel she had to either say she loved him, too, or run.

“Well, Mel, as it happens, I’ve driven a ton of Hummers.”

She glanced at him with surprise, for she hadn’t even thought of that. “Of course you have!” she said. “I had forgotten that!”

“I’m also a passably good mechanic. Born of necessity.”

“Good then,” she said. “You’ll be a bigger help than I realized.”

The first items on the agenda were her hair and his blood tests. Mel was very appreciative of the fact that her seventy-five-dollar cut and highlights seemed to be more than adequate. Either she’d been countrified or ripped off in L.A. After that they went to a used car lot where there was one ridiculously high-priced used Hummer. It was a repo, had only twenty thousand miles on it, and seemed to be in good condition. Jack looked at the engine and had them put it up on the lift so he could examine the axle, frame, shocks, brakes and whatever else he could see. They took it out and it drove well, but the price was out-of-sight. Sixty thousand and it wasn’t loaded.

Except—Mel had a sweet little BMW convertible trade-in and cash. It took only a couple of hours to bring that price into range and Jack was able to pridefully explore another aspect of Mel’s character—she was a hardheaded, master negotiator. Next they went to the hospital supply where they had the back of the Hummer outfitted with some emergency equipment, from a defibrillator to an oxygen tank. Some medical supplies had to be ordered and would be delivered to Virgin River within a couple of weeks. Then they drove it back down the highway and up the mountain pass to Virgin River. “You don’t want anyone to know where this came from,” Jack said to Mel. “How are you going to explain it?”