Luke found himself smiling in spite of the fact that he was trying to remain insulted by the whole invasion.
The one thing that would make any man—at least a normal man—happy, was tougher than a two-dollar steak for Luke to swallow. Maureen won them over. Not just Shelby, not just Shelby’s family, the entire town. To be fair, Maureen hadn’t met every resident of Virgin River, but she’d met the crowd Luke considered to be his new friends. And she not only impressed them, she made Luke look good.
They started out with dinner at Jack’s the first night she was in town and of course Shelby was there when they came in, so the introductions began early. Of course, why wouldn’t Shelby be there? She had nothing better to do; she hadn’t been invited to Luke’s. Her face lit up in a way that made Luke feel guilty; Sean grabbed her and hugged her like they were old friends, then made the introductions himself because he was like that—out in front, the gregarious one. The general wandered in with the famous Muriel and they all stayed for the usual gang dinner with Mel and Jack, Brie and Mike. Maureen couldn’t be kept out of the kitchen, asking Preacher and Paige a lot of questions about the operation of the bar and while doing so, holding their new baby. Luke peeked into the kitchen to see what she was up to and got the hell out of there before she started harping on the fact that she had five healthy, handsome, successful sons and no grandchildren.
Maureen had a gift for getting to know people, for putting them at ease and showing her finest qualities. For example, she kept Art near her and was often seen holding his hand, something that showed her kindness, her tenderness. She made the general laugh, endeared herself to Mel and Brie, nurtured and courted Shelby, and she was best friends with Muriel in minutes. A covert glance at the general told Luke he was close to thrilled with Luke’s gene pool.
Dinner the next night was an intimate family meal with Art and Shelby included—the steaks that had been kept waiting. It was then that Luke learned more about Shelby’s life than he had made time to ask. Shelby’s cousin Vanni’s first husband, Matt, was a fighting marine who lost his life in Baghdad; Paul was his best friend and the best man at their wedding. After Matt was gone, it was Paul who was with her for the birth of their child and, after a lot of stumbling, finally confessed to Vanni that he’d loved her since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her—but Matt had gotten to her first. No self-respecting man invades his buddy’s territory. And now they were together, Paul parenting his best friend’s son. The romance of the story made Maureen sigh and fan at tears that gathered in her eyes.
Shelby shared other stories of the town—how Mel came to Virgin River after the violent death of her first husband, the saga of Brie and Mike, how Preacher found Paige and built a life and family he never expected to have. Maureen was enchanted by the history of Luke’s friends, history Luke hadn’t even known. Luke knew few of the details about the people who’d become his friends. Men don’t share stories in the same way women do.
Thanksgiving Day was a stellar success at the general’s house. Maureen met the rest of the family, there was a lot of laughter and the family stories that were shared were the safe kind, unlikely to ruffle any feathers. He was proud of his mother. She was a force of life, with her strong good looks, humor, compassion, energy. And there was not so much as a glimpse of her rigid side. It was obvious after getting to know her even a little bit that she was on the proper, straitlaced side, but she only judged her sons, no one else.
With a jolt, he realized—she gave him credibility. He’d been accepted well enough, but he remained a mystery to the Booth household, to the town. Known as a career soldier, single but interested in women, solitary, he presented himself as the kind of guy it wasn’t easy to get close to. Enter Maureen, and he becomes a beloved son, the kind of generous man who would take on Art, a safe man for Shelby, a normal guy from whom good things should be expected. The way he was regarded by the general and Paul took a slow but noticeable turn; they treated him like one of the family, like someone they could trust rather than someone to be suspicious of.
Any normal guy would be grateful. Relieved. But for Luke it presented complications. It was bad enough worrying about Shelby’s expectations, but he could keep that under control. He didn’t know what the hell he’d do with the expectations of her family, of an entire town who’d recently begun to see him as a trustworthy man with honorable intentions.
It left him quiet. Morose. And at the same time, very ready for Maureen and Sean to go, give him back his private life with Shelby, who he was aching to hold, to make love to.