Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(86)

“You do?”

“I do. It must be torture for him, knowing what he’s lost.”

“You think he even realizes?” she asked him.

“Come on, Brie—he’s a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. He’s figured it out by now. He gave up an incredible woman. The kind of strong, passionate woman who can commit to the forever thing, once her choice has been made. Not many chances like that come along for a man. Believe me—I know.”

“He might not understand that,” she said. “In the short time we’ve been a couple, you’ve touched me in places he doesn’t even know exist.”

“Hmm,” he said, nuzzling her. “Not because there’s anything special about me. Because you hold nothing back. Do you wonder what was in the box?”

“Not even curious. And there’s a lot special about you. What do you want for Christmas, Mike?” she asked him.

“You.” He turned her around and looked into her eyes. “Are you all right?”

“He doesn’t have much effect on me anymore, Mike.”

“No more questions about what went wrong?” he asked, running a smooth knuckle down her cheek.

She shook her head. “Six months ago I couldn’t think of many reasons to go on living. I had no idea I’d find this kind of happiness with you.”

“I didn’t think I had a chance.”

“You were so kind to me. So patient and loving, waiting for me to be ready. And so passionate—I couldn’t resist you.”

“My past concerns your brother.”

She laughed. “His past concerned the whole family. He should worry about his own transgressions.” She gave him a little kiss. “I’ll worry about yours.”

“You aren’t afraid? Any fear that I don’t know my heart?”

She shook her head. “When I’m with you, I don’t worry about anything.”

“Would you take a chance on me? Let me make promises that I swear by the Virgin I can keep?”

She laughed at him. “Do you really want to get the Virgin involved in this?”

“Before the babies come, mija,” he said. “Because there will be babies.”

“There is that talk about the water in Virgin River….”

He covered her lips in a steaming kiss, pulling her hard against him. “It’s not about the water with us, mi amor,” he said. “If we disappeared for a while, would we be missed?”

“Yes,” she answered, laughing.

“When I woke up in the hospital, I thought to myself, why did I make it? When I was discharged and struggling for every step, unable to lift a glass from the cupboard, my constant thought was that I had misspent my life—carousing, living in the moment, acting carelessly. What every man wants, what my friends had found—that one woman they would give up everything for—had eluded me completely. And when you came along…angry over your divorce and determined never to give a man, especially a man like me, a chance, I knew I’d been cast into hell for sure, because I was feeling that for you.” He gave her a kiss. “How did this happen? I know I don’t deserve this.”

“It started with a promise to break your heart,” she said. “Somehow I got distracted.”

“Will you marry me, Brie? I want you to be my wife. I want to be your husband, your partner for life. Can you trust me with that?”

“Sí, Miguel. I trust you with everything.”

It was the first Christmas in many years that Paul Haggerty hadn’t spent in Grants Pass with his parents and brothers and their families—because Vanessa needed him. She asked him if he would stay; she said it would make her Christmas a little easier. She didn’t have to ask—he would move heaven and earth for her.

The person who needed Paul as much, perhaps even more, was Tommy. The boy was crushed by his loss. He loved his sister more than the average seventeen-year-old boy dared admit, but he’d begun to admire Matt in a heroic manner. He was enamored of his bravery and patriotism. He thought of him as a true brother.

It was typical of kids to take the opposite path of their parents, but even though Tom and his dad butted heads regularly, Walt had clearly raised a young soldier. Tom had been accepted into West Point already and was slated for at least a good long hitch in the Army, perhaps a career. This loss of Matt devastated him.

Paul tried to spend as much time as possible with Tom. He helped him take care of the horses and took him over to Jack’s house to help out for a few hours here and there prior to Christmas. On Christmas morning a beautiful snow fell, dusting the pines and the trails, and they took a couple of the horses out for a ride.

“You think he was scared?” Tom asked Paul out of the blue.

But of course there was no confusion about whom he was speaking. “Maybe not at that moment, since the explosion was a complete surprise. But in that situation, everyone is scared. You wish you could crawl into your helmet and wait for it to pass. But damn, it’s exhilarating, Tom. The training, the physical challenge, putting it all to the test when it really matters. When everything’s at stake. Not a pay raise, not an extra day of vacation—but your freedom. Your wife’s freedom, your son’s, your parents’. You think about that when you’re really up against it—that there’s purpose in what you’re risking. Great purpose. That’s what keeps pulling men like Matt back. Men like Jack. Jack did a twenty. If Matt had made it twenty, he’d have been as decorated as Jack.”