Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(66)

He hung his head. “Don’t you think I feel pretty terrible about what happened? Haven’t I been around since it happened? Don’t you think it’s killing me? Hell, Brie—that’s probably what broke me and Christine apart.”

She started to laugh again, but tears smarted in her eyes at the same time. “It’s all about you, isn’t it, Brad?” There was a sweet voice in her head. There will be no taking, mija. Only giving.

“I want a chance to try to make it right,” he said.

“Well, you can’t. No one can make it right, especially you. You made your choice, Brad. You’re stuck with it.” Then she ran out of the room. She went to her bedroom and slammed the door.

Brad was about to follow her when he came face-to-face with Sam, who blocked the hallway. “I think you’d better go, son,” he said patiently, but firmly.

“You heard?”

“Every ludicrous word. Goodbye, Brad,” he said.

Brad turned to leave and Sam followed him, locking the front door behind him.

In her bedroom, Brie was already folding clothes into neat little piles on the bed. She was thinking of Brad’s lame suggestion that he take care of her through this. He didn’t know the meaning of taking care of his woman.

There was a light tapping at the door. “Dad?” she asked.

“Yes, Brie.”

“Come in, Daddy,” she said. When he opened the door, she filled his arms. “Oh, Daddy.”

“It’s okay, Brie. We’ll get through this.”

“Daddy, I’m going to Virgin River.” She looked up at him. “I’m going to Mike. I want to be there. I’m going right now.”

“Do you want me to take you?” he asked, smiling down at her. “I wouldn’t have to stay around, but I could take you, so you wouldn’t be alone on the drive.”

She shook her head, but smiled back. “No, I’m okay in the car. But if I don’t go right away, I might lose my nerve. Dad, tell me the truth—do you think I’m making a fool of myself? Going to him? Trusting him?”

Sam looked nonplussed. “Mike? Why would I worry about Mike?”

She shrugged. “Jack has warned me of his fickle, roving ways with women. A player, he says.”

Sam chuckled. “Ah, Jack, who was as pure as the driven snow. Hah. I guess they know each other pretty well, Mike and your brother. Brie,” he said, running his big hand along the hair at her temple, pushing her hair behind her ear, “I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before, but I can’t think of any reason not to believe Mike, not to trust him.” He smiled into her eyes. “Your brother trusted him for many years—for that he has to be a good man. And obviously he cares about you.”

“He makes me feel like a person,” she said softly. “Like a woman. I haven’t felt like a woman since Brad…And then…” She stopped. “I have to go before they bring that monster back here for trial. Before I face him and can’t imagine a loving touch.”

“Do you think that’s what’s waiting for you in Virgin River?” Sam asked.

She nodded. “I think so. I hope so. If I’m wrong…”

“You’re packing,” Sam said. “You don’t feel like you could be wrong.” She shook her head. “You’re my baby, and you’re thirty-one,” he said in a whisper. “I don’t want you to be alone and afraid. I want you to have love in your life. It’s the natural order of things. And I think Mike gives that to you. You go,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I think you’ve had enough of the tough side of life. Time for a little bit of the tender side.” He pulled her close. “Don’t be gone too long. I’ll miss you.”

When Brie pulled into Virgin River, there were still trucks and cars surrounding the bar, though it was nearly the time of night Jack and Preacher would close. She pulled her Jeep right up to the front of the RV, parking beside Mike’s SUV. She could talk to Jack in the morning; she needed Mike’s arms around her. Jack would not misunderstand her presence here, though he might not be happy about her decision. She even left her suitcases in the back of the Jeep when she went to the RV’s door.

Mike opened the door and saw her standing there, looking up at him. He gasped and jumped out of the RV. “Brie!” he said in a breath, grabbing her up in his arms, lifting her clear of the ground, burying his face in her neck.

Her whole world tilted and warmth spread through her from deep inside; just feeling his arms around her made so much right. Everything was suddenly as it should be. She held on to him, held him tight, feeling his lips, his breath on her neck. “Brie,” he whispered. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

She looked up into his black eyes. “It was sudden,” she said. “I came to be with you, if that’s all right.”

He ran a knuckle down her cheek to her chin, lifting it. “Anything you want is all right. You have only to tell me what it is.”

She’d been thinking about this through a five-hour drive, and had planned a hundred ways to approach it delicately. But in the end she said, “I need you to make love to me.”

Instead of looking shocked or excited by the prospect, he asked, “What’s wrong, honey? What happened?”