“Passable. I admit, I hired tradesmen to get it done at my place, but only because I was still in D.C. and wanted the place ready when I retired. I don’t want to intrude in case you’re training your dog or running errands. Why don’t I call ahead?”
“That would work,” Muriel said. She went to the counter of her little makeshift kitchen and wrote down her number. “Or, you can always just come for your sugar.” She smiled at him. “Thanks for the wine. Very nice wine.”
“I have plenty of wine,” he said.
“And I have plenty of sugar.”
“So,” he said. “We’re in business.”
After a weekend in Virgin River, Vanni and Paul returned to Grants Pass. On Tuesday morning, Paul called Terri.
“Hi, Terri, it’s Paul. How are you feeling?”
“Fine, Paul. How are you?”
“Great, thanks. I’ve been out of town and—”
“Let me guess,” she said tiredly. “Virgin River again?”
“As a matter of fact. I have a couple of potential building contracts down there and I’ve been crunching some numbers to see if it’s doable.”
“Big surprise,” she said with an unhappy laugh. “Kind of a strange place to go when you have a child coming you claim to want to be involved with, don’t you think?”
“Both these jobs will be complete by the time you deliver. And it’s not far—I can get to Grants Pass when I need to. Listen, I wanted to do this in person, but there’s no point in blindsiding you—I’ll be getting married fairly soon.”
He heard a sound; he wasn’t sure if it was a snort or a laugh.
“That won’t be a problem,” Paul said. “She knows all about my situation with you. She also has a child and—”
“I know,” she said, cutting him off. “Your best friend’s baby.”
“She understands we’ll be sharing custody and—”
“I’m not sure I like that idea so much,” she said impatiently.
“Well, we have to deal with what we have,” he said. “And speaking of that, I’ve been looking at the calendar. It has to be time for that doctor’s appointment by now.”
“What appointment?” she asked.
“The one with the OB-GYN. The one I’m going to with you.”
“Oh, that. I had my appointment last Friday. Everything seems to be fine.”
He took a breath. “You know I wanted to go with you,” he said.
“Sorry—they called with an opening. And you didn’t seem to be in town,” she answered crisply.
“If I’d known there was an appointment, I would have been there.” Anger began to swell up inside him and he cautioned himself to stay cool. He didn’t want to set her off, though he wasn’t sure what more she could do to screw up his head.
“Look,” she said. “You seem to have more important things on your mind—I don’t even hear from you once a week…”
He took a breath. “Can you get away for lunch today?” he asked her.
She was quiet for a moment. “Paul—forget it, huh? You don’t have to meet me for lunch or for anything else. Clearly there’s nothing between us. You’re getting married—go have your life. I’ll be fine.”
“There’s one thing between us. According to you.”
She hung up the phone.
“Damn it!” he said, slamming down the phone.
“Uh-oh,” Vanni said, standing in the bedroom doorway with Mattie against her shoulder.
One hand braced on the desk, he hung his head. “She’s got me over a nice little barrel here,” he said, lifting his head and looking at her. “She just gave me my out.”
“I don’t think that made you real happy.”
“No. It didn’t.” He flipped through his calendar. He found the name of the doctor that he’d jotted down, then pulled out the phone book. He couldn’t find Dr. Charlene Weir listed anywhere. “I don’t know what she’s up to.”
Vanni walked toward him. “What was your out?” she asked.
“She told me to go have my life—she’d be fine.”
“Oh, my.”
“You know what kind of problem that is for me,” he said.
“You wouldn’t be happy having a child of yours floating around out there, without knowing you, without your support and protection.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t.” He dropped an arm around her shoulders, kissed Mattie’s head. “I’m sorry to put you through this.”