Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(43)

“You’re wrong about this! No matter what the outcome is, you cannot get in the middle of the relationships that people choose.” She stepped toward him. “Jack, she’s lonely and hurt—let her be. Let her go. If she finds a little sliver of happiness, it’s not your job to take its temperature.”

“If he hurts her, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll kill him, that’s what I’ll do!”

“Then let’s tell her she has to leave. Let’s get her out of here before we have to watch her face hurt one more time. Forget giving her a chance to make herself happy, make herself well. Let’s tell her the truth—you can’t take it while she stumbles along and tries to figure out what’s right for her.” She took a breath; he looked down at his feet. “Like I did,” she said more softly. His head snapped up. “Just like me, Jack. I came into this town so blissfully stupid about the fact that you’d been with a hundred women and never committed to one of them. If I’d had a big brother handy to clue me in—I could have escaped all this happiness.” Tears ran down her cheeks.

“Mel,” he said, stepping toward her.

She waved him back, shaking her head. “I haven’t ever been raped,” she said, “but I’ve been emotionally bruised pretty bad.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and she was shaking her head miserably. “It should never have worked with you. You of all people! Jesus, you had to have been as bad as Mike, probably worse! You had your women—quick and dirty and back on the road. No commitments. You never loved any of them. It should’ve been like that with me. A couple of months and then you’re bored, you’re moving on….”

“Mel,” he said. This time he wouldn’t be held back. He reached for her, took her into his arms. “God, baby. Where is this coming from?”

“But I got pregnant! You couldn’t get out of it, could you?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Mel…”

She looked up at his face. “This is Mike,” she said in a whisper. “This is a man whose bed you sat by for ten long days, waiting for him to wake up, sit up, speak. He kept your squad safe from insurgents in Fallujah. He came to Virgin River to be near us to get well—do you really think he’s going to treat Brie with disrespect? Do anything bad to her? My God, he sees you as his brother! Where is your brain?”

He pulled her close, held her against him. “At this moment I have absolutely no idea.” He kissed the top of her head. “Tell me something. Do you think I’m going to get bored? Stray? Do you think we’re only together because of David? Tell me.”

She looked up at his face, tears wetting her cheeks, and shook her head. “But if I’d known about you what Mike knows about you—I’d have run for my life.”

“But I told you, Mel. I never lied to you. It all changed the second I saw you. Tell me you believe me. Tell me I showed you that.”

She reached up to lay a hand along his cheek. “I believe you. You’ve never given me any reason to doubt you.”

He let out sigh of relief and pulled her tighter. “God, don’t do that to me. Don’t throw my shitty past at me like that—you know I can’t talk my way out of it.”

“But I’m going to talk you off this ledge if it kills me. You can’t do this to your sister. This is up to her.”

“I understand. It’s hard, but I understand what you’re saying.”

She put her arms around his waist, laid her head against his chest and cried. He stroked her hair, kissed her head, held her and rocked with her as they stood inside the unfinished structure. He said things like, “It’s okay, baby. You know you’re everything to me. You and David.” But what he was thinking was that this was very unusual for his wife. She wouldn’t hesitate to go after him, but she didn’t become distraught. She cried from time to time, but over events that would bring the strongest woman to tears—the loss of a baby, the anniversary of a loved one’s death. And he thought, oh-oh. Something about this isn’t quite right.

At length she stopped. She looked up at him and he brushed the tears from her cheeks. “Sorry,” she said. “You made me so frickin’ mad I thought I was going to kill you.”

“Yeah, join the party. Brie threatened my life.” He smiled down at her. “Thank you for not killing me,” he said. “You’re right—I have to stop smothering her, questioning her. She’s a grown woman. She’s smarter than me. I’ll try harder.”

“No trying,” she said. “Let go. When she comes to you, open your wonderful arms to her, but when she’s trying to get on with her life, toast her. Celebrate her. Let her go. And for God’s sake, please remember that you can trust Mike.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I learned my lesson. I’ll listen to you now.”

“It isn’t easy being the wise one in the marriage,” she said.

“I imagine the pressure is terrible,” he said with a smile.

She reached her fingertips up to the hair at his temples. “You’re showing a little gray here. Not much, but a little. I suppose I did that to you.”

“Probably. But I’m very tough—I can take it.”

“Oh, Jack,” she said, leaning against him again. “Please, I don’t want to ever fight with you.”