Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(61)

“Since when?”

“Since I took a run out to your little party at the rest stop and got into trouble with my old man. I gotta go—I got something going on.”

“What is your deal? You cut me off like that without saying anything? I know a girl I want you to meet.”

“I have a girl, Jordan. I have to go.”

“Wait a minute. What girl?”

“I’ve been seeing someone. A junior. Girl named Brenda. We’ve been out. And stuff.”

“Brenda? Carpenter?” he said, his eyes lighting up. “Yeah, I know Brenda.” He waved his hand in front of his face as if to cool a sudden fever. “I know Brenda real good. Real, real good.”

Tommy’s expression closed off. Dark. “No, you don’t.”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “Oh, yeah. She’s a hottie. A real hottie.”

Tom went instantly unconscious. Brain dead. Steam started to pour out of his ears. He moved on Jordan, getting in his face. “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, man. It was a long time ago. No big deal. We partied together a little bit.”

Tommy grabbed him by the shirtfront. “No. You didn’t.”

“Okay.” He laughed again. “Whatever you say.”

Tommy drew back and landed a blow to his face, knocking him down. But Jordan sprang right back up and delivered his own blow, surprisingly hard for the skinny runt he was. And it was game on. They were hitting, rolling around, crunching, swearing—and then they were pulled apart by two teachers.

In the principal’s office Tommy admitted immediately what had set him off and Jordan confessed as fast that he’d just been mouthing off and it wasn’t true. That was one thing about the country as opposed to the city—they kind of expected you to handle something like that with a punch or two. The principal said to Jordan, “Sounds like you were just asking for it, son. If you’d said that to me about my girl, I’d have given you a lot worse than what you got. Now I want you boys to stay away from each other, because if this happens again, you’re both suspended.”

The problem was, it took a long time to get to that point and Tommy wanted to get home. He didn’t want to miss a chance to talk to Matt.

There was a definite air of excitement at the Booth household as the hour for the contact through the Internet approached. The general had moved the computer into the living room with a camera installed above the screen. For this special night he had purchased a larger, flat-screen monitor, as an image of Matt’s face would be projected onto the screen, just as the faces of the people who talked to him would be videoed to him for the conference. Vanessa was running around nervously, worrying about her hair and makeup, while Jack and Mike went immediately to the kitchen to help the general serve up drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Jack’s bar had been closed for this event and Paige and Mel spent all their time trying to reassure Vanessa that she’d never been more beautiful. Preacher held Christopher on his lap, keeping him under control at this gathering while David slept peacefully in the playpen in a bedroom down the hall.

As the time for the contact approached and the general got the computer online, tension rose about tenfold in the house. Long, stressful minutes passed as the time for the video conference came and went. And then, suddenly, a voice rang out in the room. “Hey! Anybody home?”

Vanessa rushed forward. She was momentarily speechless, staring at the face of her husband on the screen. Her hand reached out toward him.

“Hey!” he said again. “Vanni? You there?”

“Matt,” she said, too softly. Then, turning on the camera and pulling herself up internally, louder, “Matt! Darling!”

“Aw, Vanni—look at you! Let me see it—your belly.”

She turned sideways in front of the small camera.

“Whoa, Vanni! You’re getting big! You’re growing me a great big baby!”

“Matt, I have so many surprises for you. First of all, I just found out this morning, it’s a boy. A son, Matt!”

There was deafening quiet. “Aw, Vanni!” he said in an emotional breath. “I love you, baby. I love you so much.”

“I love you, Matt! Are you okay? Is everything okay?”

“Fine, Vanni, it’s all good. We’re working hard, but that’s what we came here for. It won’t be too much longer. You’re beautiful, baby.”

“Have you lost weight?” she asked him.

He laughed. “Baby, everyone loses weight over here. I don’t think I’m going to have any trouble putting it back on. I just can’t wait to hold you.”

“Me, too, Matt. By the time you get home, you can hold both of us. You should be thinking of a name, okay?”

“I will. How are you doing there? You feeling okay?”

“I feel great, darling. And I have more surprises for you. Guess who’s here. Jack, Preacher, Mike—come over here!”

One at a time they put their faces in the line of the camera. “Hoo-rah,” Jack said, grinning. He was joined quickly by the other two men. Preacher scowled into the camera and said, “What’s up, Marine?” Mike smiled and said, “Buy you a beer when you get back, buddy.”

“Oh, man!” Matt said, laughing, slapping his forehead in surprise. “Damn me, you boys look good! You must not have to work for a living, you look so good! God, I’m glad Vanni’s there—I told her she’d love it there! How’s the general doing? You looking out for him?”