“It’s okay, Dad,” Donna yelled. “I don’t need birth control anymore!”
When it was time to clean up and the sun had set, the men went off somewhere and three of the sisters insisted that the birthday girl and the guest relax while they did the work. Mel was left with Brie. They sat at the patio table by candlelight.
“My brother has never brought a woman home before,” Brie said.
“After watching him with his family—all these females—it’s so hard to imagine. He’s completely comfortable with women. He should have been married years ago. He should have a big family of his own,” Mel said.
“It just never happened,” Brie put in. “I blame it on the marines.”
“When I first met him, I asked him if he’d ever been married and he said, ‘I was married to the marines, and she was a real bitch.’” Brie laughed. “Have you visited him in Virgin River?” Mel asked.
“Not en masse,” she said. “But we’ve all gotten up there at one time or another. The guys like to fish with Jack and Preacher. Dad will go up there for as long as a couple of weeks at a time—he loves that little bar of Jack’s.”
“Jack seems to have found his niche, his happy place,” Mel said. “I’ve only been there a little over four months, and my adjustment hasn’t been that easy. I’m used to big-city medicine where you can get anything you want, and fast. This is a whole new game. And I had to drive for two hours to get a decent haircut and frost job.”
“What made you choose Virgin River?” Brie asked her.
“Hmm. The flip side of big-city medicine—I’d had it with the chaos and crime. As I told Jack, I left the E.R. not just because I felt drawn to midwifery, but I thought I could get away from having half my patients brought in by the police. And guess what? The first woman I ever delivered had multiple felony warrants and was being arrested when she went into labor. She was handcuffed to the bed when I examined her prior to delivery.” She chuckled. “I was looking for something smaller and simpler.” She laughed. “I got smaller, but simpler? Little towns like Virgin River have their own challenges.”
“Like?”
“Like how about loading a critical patient in the back of a pickup truck and speeding down the mountain, hanging on for dear life, trying to get her to the hospital before she goes into cardiac arrest. Man, did I ever lust after that big, chaotic emergency room that day. And there’s always the adventure of having your services requested by a big, gun-toting drug farmer in the middle of the night… Um, if you tell Jack that version of the story, there’s going to be a scene.”
Brie laughed. “He doesn’t know?”
“Not some of the details. He was very pissed that I went alone to an unknown location with a man who was basically a stranger.”
“Holy smoke.”
“Yeah, well, it’s a good thing I did. There were complications with the delivery. But I don’t think that will cheer up Jack too much.” She shrugged. “Jack’s protective. Of everyone.”
“Have you found your niche?” Brie asked.
“I kind of crave a trip to Nordstrom’s,” Mel said. “I wouldn’t mind a facial and leg wax, either. On the other hand, I didn’t realize I could get by on so little. So simply. There’s something about that… It’s freeing, in a way. And there’s no question, it’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s so quiet, your ears ring. But when I first got there, I thought I’d really screwed up big—it was so much more rugged and isolated than I expected. The mountain roads terrified me, and Doc and I manage in that clinic with the most rudimentary equipment. The cabin I was promised, rent free for a year, was horrible. In fact, my first morning there the porch collapsed and dumped me into a deep, freezing mud puddle. The cabin was so filthy, I was on my way out of town—running for my life—when a medical emergency stopped me and I reluctantly stayed a few days that turned into a couple of weeks.”
“That turned into a few months…” Brie observed.
“Jack renovated the cabin without being asked, while I stayed at Doc’s house,” Mel said. “About the time I was going to make a break for it, he showed it to me. I said I’d give it a few more days. Then my first delivery occurred and I realized I should give the place a chance. There’s something about a successful delivery in a place like Virgin River where there’s no backup, no anesthesia… Just me and Mom… It’s indescribable.”
“Then there’s Jack,” Brie said.
“Jack,” Mel repeated. “I don’t know when I’ve met a kinder, stronger, more generous man. Your brother is wonderful, Brie. He’s amazing. Everyone in Virgin River loves him.”
“My brother is in love with you,” Brie said.
Mel shouldn’t have been shocked. Although he hadn’t said the words, she already knew it. Felt it. At first she thought he was just a remarkable lover, but soon she realized that he couldn’t touch her that way without an emotional investment, as well as a physical one. He gave her everything he had—and not just in the bedroom. It was in her mind to tell Brie—I’m a recent widow! I need time to digest this! I don’t feel free yet—free to accept another man’s love! Her cheeks grew warm and she said nothing.
“I realize I’m biased, but when a man like Jack loves a woman, it’s a great honor.”
“I agree,” Mel said quietly.
Late, in the dark of night, as he held her in his arms in the bed in his father’s house, she said, “You have the most wonderful family.”
“They love you, too.”
“It was such fun watching you all together. They’re ruthless—you don’t have a secret left!” And she laughed.
“I told you. No slack here.”
“But what fun, to have all that history, all those hysterical stories.”
“Oh—I listened to you and Joey for a few days. You didn’t grow up deprived.” He kissed her neck. “I’m just glad you had fun. I knew you would.” He kissed her neck again, nuzzling closer.
“Your sisters are all so put together,” she said. “Very classy, very sharp. I used to dress like that, before I moved to a place where you’re overdressed in good jeans. You should have seen my closet in L.A.—it was huge, and bulging.”
He pulled the T-shirt she wore up and over her head. “I like what you’re wearing right now. In fact, I find you overdressed in this thong.”
“Jack, I thought we decided, we’re not going to do it in your father’s house…”
“No, you said you weren’t going to.” He slipped the thong down. “I’m thinking of going after that G-spot again…”
“Oh, God,” she said, weakening. “We shouldn’t. You know how we get…”
He rose above her and grinned into her eyes. “Want me to get a sock for your mouth?”
Susan Stone delivered her son in August—a robust eight-pounder. She went to Valley Hospital, had a stunning delivery and was home in Grace Valley in forty-eight hours. It was in Mel’s mind to give her some time alone with her baby, but both John and June called and urged her to come the next Sunday afternoon, the baby not yet a week old.