“Fell off a ledge out there. Might’ve broke it. It’ll be okay, but I need a little medicine.”
“Fine. You’ll have to see Doc,” she said.
His feet moved nervously. He pulled a hand out of his pocket and grabbed at her sleeve and she jerked out of his reach.
Jack, coming from her cabin arrived behind her and was just pulling into town as Calvin made that move and for a split second she almost felt sorry for him. Jack accelerated, screeched to a stop within inches of Doc’s porch and was out of the truck in one second. “Get away from her!” he shouted.
The guy backed away, but just a little bit. He looked at Mel. “I just need something for the pain in my back,” he said.
Jack reached into his truck and had his hand on his rifle. The look in his eyes was frightening. “I’m okay,” she said to Jack. Then to the twitchy young man, “I don’t prescribe the kind of drugs you’re looking for. We leave that to the doctor. And he’ll want an X-ray, undoubtedly.”
The guy stared at her, then grinned stupidly. “You ain’t got no X-ray.”
“There’s one at Valley Hospital,” she said.
Jack pulled the rifle off the rack and held it at his side for a moment. Then he kicked the truck door closed and came up onto the porch to stand beside Mel. He put an arm around Mel and pulled her against him. “Want to see the doctor?” he asked Calvin, rifle in hand.
“Hey, man,” he laughed nervously. “What’s your deal, man?” He backed away with his hands up, palms facing Jack. “Take it easy. I’ll go to the valley,” he said. He jumped off the porch, not bothering with the steps. Must be some back pain, she thought. He got in the old pickup, started it, put it in gear and drove away. But he didn’t go toward the valley—he went toward the woods.
“You know him?” Jack asked.
“He was at that camp Doc and I went to a few months ago. When you watched the baby for us. You remember…”
“Paulis’s?”
“Uh-huh. Did you have to do that?” Mel asked. “He really hadn’t done anything threatening.”
Jack glared after the departing truck. “Yeah,” he said. “I had to. He’s wrong. He’s just wrong.”
Fourteen
Every August before school started, the Andersons played host to a huge late-summer picnic at their ranch. Everyone they knew in Virgin River and even some folks from surrounding towns showed up. Buck had a huge canvas tent he erected in the pasture outside the corral, barbecues were set up, people provided tables and chairs. The Bristols brought their miniature horses and set up pony rides. Jack always donated a couple of kegs while Preacher whipped up some of his best potato salad in a tub so big it looked as if it would feed a third-world nation. There were barrels of lemonade and iced tea, ice chests full of sodas and, in the afternoon, homemade ice-cream makers were brought out of trucks and SUVs, and the hand cranking began.
The barn floor was swept clean and a small band was set up for country dancing. There were children everywhere, running from one end of the ranch to the other, from corral to hay loft.
Mel had looked forward to the picnic as a chance to hold Chloe for a while, and also to do something she hadn’t done before—meet the rest of the Anderson family. She had a passing acquaintance with two of the three sons who worked the ranch with Buck, and one of the daughters had come to Doc’s for a prenatal exam, but otherwise, they were strangers to her.
But not strangers for very long. Each one of them, the sons, the daughters, their spouses and children, greeted her as the person who had given them Chloe. The baby was passed around from Anderson to Anderson, cuddled, swept up in the air, kissed, tickled. Even the little ones—Lilly and Buck’s seven grandchildren—ran to Chloe to snuggle her as if she were their newest sweet puppy. Buck was pretty busy around the barn and barbecues, but from time to time he was near the picnic tables or food tables and she would catch a glimpse of him holding Chloe comfortably on his hip.
The Andersons were wonderful, homespun, authentic people with nothing but tons of love in their hearts. Just like Lilly; sweet, nurturing and tender. The sun was beginning to lower in the late afternoon sky when Jack found Mel sitting on the porch swing with the baby, giving her a bottle. He sat beside her and played idly with Chloe’s dark curls. “She seems to be doing well here,” he said.
“She should,” Mel said. “She’s home.” And it gave her deep satisfaction to know that this was true in all ways.
“I’d like to spin you around the barn a little bit,” he said, leaning over the baby’s head to give her a kiss.
“Another surprise. You dance?”
“I think that might be overly optimistic,” he said. “I do something. I’ll try not to hurt you.”
Lilly came out of the house, wiping her hands on her apron. “Here, Mel, let me take her off your hands. I’ll put her to bed.”
Mel stood with the baby in her arms and walked into the house, Lilly right behind her. She turned and placed the baby in Lilly’s arms. Then she leaned toward Lilly and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You have a wonderful family,” Mel said. “I think you’ll find just the right time to tell them.”
Mel made an appointment at the Grace Valley clinic. She was surprised to learn that both doctors were available, so she requested the OB. Prenatal consult, she said. “We’ll go ahead and put your patient with Dr. Stone,” the receptionist said, and Mel did not correct her. After all, she’d been there before with a couple of pregnant women for ultrasounds and they knew her as the midwife upriver. After seeing a few patients, Mel headed for Grace Valley in the afternoon.
It had only been a short time since the gathering at the Stones’ house and she could no longer deny the truth. She was pregnant. She already knew it. They had plenty of pregnancy tests on hand at Doc’s and she’d used one. Then another one. And another. Half of her hoped it was wrong, the other half was afraid it was.
When she got to the clinic, June was hanging around the reception desk. “Hey, there.” She leaned as if looking around Mel. “I thought you were bringing in a prenatal consult?”
“Yeah,” Mel said. “Me.”
June’s eyes grew momentarily round, surprised.
“It must be the water,” Mel said with a shrug.
“Come on back. You’re with John, and as you know, our nurse is on maternity leave. Want me to stand in or keep out of your business?”
Mel felt a shudder of nervous emotion. “Please, come with me. I think I need to explain a few things,” she said.
“Oh, boy,” June said, draping an arm around her shoulders. “Sounds like it might be a little complicated.”
“Not a little,” Mel answered.
John came out of the back and said, “Hey, Melinda. You bring me a prenatal consult?” Before she could answer, June inclined her head toward Mel. “Oh,” John said. “Well, first things first—June, set her up in there. Let’s get the facts.”
“Okay,” Mel said, suddenly meek and nervous. “But I already know.”
“Don’t try and make my job so easy,” he said with a laugh. “There’s no challenge in that.”