Whispering Rock (Virgin River #3)(95)

“A woman shouldn’t go without knowing you’ve made them proud, too.”

Four days later Lilly Andersen closed her eyes on the world for the last time and was lovingly laid to rest in the family plot between the orchard and the meadow with most of the town present to say goodbye. Mel wasn’t able to have Jack at her side and was sorry about that, but there was a great deal of peace and relief in knowing her friend was no longer in any pain.

Jack went back to Virgin River the moment he felt he could leave Brie, though Brie and Mike stayed on in Sacramento. Brie wanted to hear how the trial ended and to hear the verdict. But Jack was aching to get back to his family, and although he’d talked to Mel several times a day, he hated that she’d had to bury a good friend without him. And he was very secure that he left Brie in good hands. Mike was more than just attentive—he was devoted.

As Jack drove into town he spotted Mel, all bundled up with David tucked inside her coat, just walking across the street to the bar. He pulled up to the bar and met her in front, folding them both into his arms. “God, I missed you. I’m going soft—I can’t stand to sleep alone.”

“I didn’t,” she said. “Someone was in my bed all night.” She jostled the baby and David turned his wet, goopy mouth toward his dad for a kiss, which he got.

“Bllkk,” Jack said. “When do you think he’s going to stop leaking?”

“How was everyone when you left them?”

“Resting. Brie’s doing pretty well. It’ll take a while for her to get back on her feet—that trial was more traumatic for her than she expected.”

“Everyone is waiting for news.”

“Is Doc in the bar yet?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Maybe I can tell it just once. Here’s something for you—guess who was there? At the trial?”

“Who?”

“Brad. Sitting in the back. When Brie got off the stand and fainted and Mike rushed to her, Brad just kind of hung his head and left the courtroom. He screwed himself pretty good. And he knows it.” He slipped a hand down under his son’s bum to place over Mel’s belly. “How’s this one doing?”

“Good. I seem to have passed the dark pukey days of the first trimester and am sailing through the comfort zone of the middle trimester, flying like a bullet toward my hugeness. We have to go get an ultrasound, see what you made me this time.”

“I’m hoping for a girl,” he said.

“Are you?”

“I have an idea you might cut me off at two.”

“I’m not wild about throwing up or waddling, but I sure love carrying around a little piece of you. You’re right—you make excellent babies.”

“We all have our special talents,” he said.

Brie and Mike were another two weeks in Sacramento, awaiting the end of the trial. As she waited, Brie was once again haunted by the violence done to her. Sometimes the musty smell of that June night could come back to her; sometimes it was the smell of his sweat. His eyes would bore into her in her sleep. The pressure of his hand around her throat invaded her dreams and she would awake gasping, wondering if this was the end. It caused her to be weak and sick.

Mike never left her side. When she couldn’t keep food down, his arms were around her as she lost it in the bathroom. At night he held her protectively, securely, gently. When a fright woke her with a gasp or near scream, he was right there to softly bring her back to reality in the safety of his arms. If he felt her shiver in a cold night sweat, he tenderly woke her and talked to her until she felt all right again. In just a few days Brie grew stronger, calmer and closer to closing the book on that horrific experience.

For Mike, Brie’s crisis gave him a stronger sense of purpose; he had a problem in Virgin River that had to be resolved. He hated the thought of any woman going through this kind of trauma, and if there was a guy back in his small town who was preying on innocent young girls, he was going to find him and bring him to justice, if it took every breath he drew. Ironically, after all these years of police work, he was revisiting the emotions that had motivated him to get into law enforcement in the first place—a force that drove him to keep the good people safe from the bad. To serve and protect.

When Brie and Mike returned to Virgin River they brought with them a guilty verdict and matching wedding bands. They were now ready to move ahead with their lives.

Jack was helping Paul put the finishing touches on the house while Brie was helping Mel order furniture and accessories. In addition, Mel was going to the Andersen ranch often, making sure the family there was doing all right. Most days she left David with Brie when she had calls to make. She was also checking Vanessa every week as her time grew near.

With his sister ready to deliver any minute and Jack’s house nearly finished, Tom had to hang close to home, so he was able to find the time to take his girl on after-school rides around the property, along the river, into the woods. The weather was cold but clear, the ground crispy underneath the horses’ hooves. He loved riding with her, talking with her, kissing afterward.

“That whole business with Brie being raped—did you know about that? I mean before the trial and everything?” Brenda asked Tommy as they were taking the horses in.

“Yeah, Paul told me all about it. Not long after Matt died. It happened last year.”