“Oh,” Marianne let go in a surprised breath. “Oh, how long has this been going on?”
“For me, quite a while,” Paul said. “Vanni just gave up the fight a little while ago. But I think she can convince you she’s happy.”
Smiling, Vanni said, “I’m happy. Very happy.”
Stan stuck out a hand to his son. “Congratulations, son. This is good news.” Then he stooped to put a kiss on Vanni’s cheek. “Welcome, daughter,” he said. “It’s an honor. An honor.”
All Marianne said was, “Excellent. I don’t have to let go of this baby for a second!” Then her face sobered and she said, “Oh, forgive me, Vanessa! I’m so happy to have you in the family.” She grinned happily and said, “You and the baby!”
It wasn’t long before the rest of the Haggerty family arrived—Mitch and Jenny and their three kids, North and Susan and their two—the women bearing food to contribute to a big family dinner. Vanni was welcomed warmly with hugs, everyone offering their condolences for Matt’s death since the boys had grown up together. The baby was fussed over and passed from woman to woman. In no time Paul had charge of the baby while Vanni joined the women in the kitchen getting the meal on the table.
Dinner with eight adults, five kids and a baby is a loud affair, but Vanni felt so much more comfortable in the chaos than she ever had at the Rutledges’。 Paul’s mother, she thought, has such an ideal existence, surrounded by loving family, her life filled with happy noise and small children’s arms around her.
This, Vanni thought. This is what I want to do next.
Before dinner was consumed, Stan stood and raised a glass to toast Vanessa and Paul’s engagement. Excited whoops and hugs followed with questions about the when and where, to which Vanni and Paul could only answer, “The sooner the better. After all—we’ve known each other for years.”
When dinner was over, the cleanup and female chatter continued, and Vanni pitched in happily. It was during this time that she stole a look at Paul, out on the deck with his father and brothers, jiggling Mattie against his chest, trying to keep him from getting too fussy as he waited for his mother’s attention. Mattie was squirming anxiously, ready for a feeding, but Paul was completely comfortable and confident.
When the last dish was put up, Vanni asked Marianne if she could borrow a bedroom to nurse the baby. “Of course, sweetheart,” the older woman answered. “But no one in this family is uncomfortable with a nursing mom, not even the children. Do whatever you’d rather—take a bedroom or sit with us, it’s entirely up to you. We’re kind of homespun around here.”
“What about the men?” Vanni asked.
“They’re even less uncomfortable.” North’s wife laughed. “The first time I put Angie to the breast, demurely covered by a blanket, Stan walked right over to me, lifted the blanket and said, ‘Marianne, honey, come and see how good this little critter sucks!’”
“Oh, my,” Vanni said. “Think they’ll stay outside a while?”
“I think Stan will give you time to get used to us before he pulls his tricks,” Marianne said with a smile. “Not much time, though—take that as fair warning.”
So Vanni went to collect her son from Paul and chose the great room, settling with the women, who had a hundred questions about Vanni and Paul and how the whole romance came to be.
On the deck, Paul was talking to his business partners, his family. “I think there’s money to be made in Virgin River and the surrounding towns. When Jack was looking for a contractor to help him finish his house, he couldn’t find one, which was what brought me down there.” He grinned. “That and all the overtime he paid.”
“How would you prefer to do it?” Mitch asked.
“I could extend the company into another branch and we could participate in any profits, or I could use my house equity to start my own company, since the house is paid for. I leave that to you.”
“You have plenty of stock in Haggerty Construction,” Stan said. “If you want to cash out…”
“I don’t want to pull money out of your company, Dad.”
“It’s not mine, son. We’ve all put a lot of sweat equity into this operation—it’s ours. We back each other up.”
“Vanni would move up here if I asked her to. But I have interests there. There are building contracts, there’s Vanni’s dad, who’s alone now. And… Well, there’s Matt. I want Mattie to have a connection to his dad, to know everything about what a great man he was.” He shrugged. “We’re close to Grants Pass—it’s not a bad drive. If I hang on to the house, we could come back up here to work if there aren’t contracts down there. You know I wouldn’t be a stranger. But God, Dad, it’s a beautiful place. I’d love to raise a family there. I’d love to live there with my wife and children.”