Return to Virgin River (Virgin River #19)(23)

5



KAYLEE’S FIRST DINNER with her landlord was so easy, she felt as though she’d known him for years. He helped her clean up the kitchen, accepted an after-dinner cup of coffee, didn’t stay too late and thanked her profusely. She and Kitty—erm, Tux—wrote eight pages, staying up till almost midnight.

The very next day when she was returning from her afternoon walk he waved to her from his porch and shouted, “What are your plans for dinner?” She gestured that she didn’t know, just shrugging her shoulders. He told Otis to stay on the porch and walked down the path to the road. “I thawed some ground sirloin for hamburgers. Care to join me?”

She glanced at Otis. “If you cook them on your grill and bring them over, I’ll slice tomatoes and make deviled eggs. And there are leftover beans.”

“That sounds perfect,” he said. “I’ll get a shower and do some grilling. How about six?”

“I look forward to it.”

She had her own shower and did a little primping, wondering if he’d notice. Then she wondered why she bothered.

She bothered because he was handsome, pleasant and quite good company. They talked about anything and everything. He gave her the background on a lot of her new friends.

“The story on Jillian and Colin is she was fired from a big executive job and came up here from San Jose to try to get her head together. Colin came to Virgin River because his brother Luke lives here, though why he did that is a mystery. They can’t get along at least half the time. I take that back—they’re either best friends or enemies. Jilly found the house and its neglected garden and started digging and planting. Colin is an ex-military Blackhawk pilot. He was recovering from a crash and painting was his therapy. He didn’t quite know he was any good.”

“Any good? He’s gifted!”

“I know. He met Jilly, fell in love with her and they’ve been together ever since.”

“And now they’re married?”

“No. But they are a permanent couple nonetheless. And, this being Virgin River—meaning it’s very small and very nosy—people ask them constantly when they’re going to get married. They’ve been together in that big house for years. I don’t know why they haven’t married and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter. Kelly, Jilly’s sister, is married.”

“To a film writer, I was told,” Kaylee said. “She’s very proud of him.”

“Then there’s the preacher,” he went on, giving her the scoop on how Noah came to town to fulfill the needs of a church he bought on eBay and how he fell in love with the church secretary, a former exotic dancer.

“This town doesn’t look nearly as interesting as it really is at first glance,” she said, laughing.





* * *



Three days later, after only seeing Landry on the porch or in the yard, she asked him if he was interested in joining her for dinner and he readily accepted. They had drinks on her porch at sunset before dinner and then coffee on the porch afterward. She always sat on the swing and he lounged in the porch chair, a rocker, next to the swing.

The next day Kaylee could see that he was busy and she watched as the owners of his three dog trainees came to pick up their pets. Landry spent at least an hour with each of them in the yard, going through the training commands, directing the dogs to heel, turn, sit, down, stay in place. She watched it all from her porch—from a safe distance, while trying to write. She noted that the owners didn’t leave without handshakes and hugs. There was such a sense of joy around their well-behaved dogs.

She was surprised when there was a knock at her door at about eight that evening. She opened the door to Landry, who held up a bottle of wine. “Care to see the stars come out?”

“Look at you, armed with incentive!”

“I was paying attention to what you like,” he said.

“Then let’s open it and watch for the stars. Have you eaten?”

“By the time I finished with the dogs I was starving so I stuffed down a sandwich. Have you eaten?”

“A couple of hours ago.”

They took their usual seats on the porch. The sun was just sinking below the horizon.

“I have an arts festival in Oregon this weekend,” Landry said. “I’m going to stay over but the following weekend I’ll be in Grace Valley for their Art Walk. That’s close enough that I’ll be coming home at night, but late. You should consider checking it out. You might like it.”

“I’ll plan on it.”

“I have four shows in a row. September and October are my busiest months; there’s a lot to get ready and pack up. But with the dogs gone, I hope we can still fit in the occasional dinner. And I think it’s time, Kaylee. Time for you to get a little closer to Otis.”

“Oh, I bet Otis doesn’t mind that I haven’t been in his bubble...”

“Tomorrow. I’ll make spaghetti. My father’s recipe, which is open the jar and heat it up. Can you come over at four? You and Otis will meet and I’ll reward your courage with dinner.”

Her first thought was that she probably wouldn’t have much of an appetite if she was sharing space with a dog.

“Be brave. You’ll be so glad you did.”