Second Chance Pass (26 page)

Jack fell into the chair, his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. His shoulders shook briefly as relief poured out of him, and when he looked back up at John, tears ran down his stubbled cheek and he said, “Man, the uterus doesn’t mean
anything.
I can’t live without her.”

John put a strong hand on his shoulder. “You have many years with her left to you, my friend.”

“God, thank you. Thank you, John.”

“You and Susan made a good team, then putting that baby to the breast to nurse,” John said, shaking his head in wonder.

“It wasn’t the baby,” Jack said weakly, wondering if his
legs would ever hold him upright again. Remembering his fear that his last memory of his beloved wife would be taking her milk as he tried
anything
to keep her alive. “Emma wouldn’t nurse. I did it.”

“Hmm,” John said. “You might’ve given us the couple of minutes we needed to save her life.”

Jack called Brie to tell her Mel was out of surgery, then he stood at the recovery-room doors without moving for another two hours until he was allowed in. A unit of blood dangled above her, but her skin was still pasty white, her eyes dark and sunken, her lips so dry they appeared cracked. She looked so tiny, it was scary. He bent over her, slipping an arm under her shoulders, lifting her a bit. He pressed his lips against her forehead and her eyes opened weakly. “Jack,” she whispered.

“Aw, Mel, you scared me just terrible,” he said.

“There won’t be any more babies, Jack,” she said.

“We have all we need. Two perfect, healthy kids.”

“I know you were going to try to sneak one more by me…”

“I wasn’t going to,” he said. “I promised you time to enjoy your kids. I have more with you and them than I ever thought I’d have.”

“Well,” she said, a weak laugh escaping her. “As long as you’re within reach, I’m destined to never have a period.”

This was so like her, to joke around with him when she’d nearly died. “Close your eyes and rest, Mel. I’ll stay with you. I won’t leave you.”

“I want to be with my children,” she whispered, her eyes closing.

“Pretty soon, Mel. Shh. Pretty soon I’ll take you home.”

He held her like that, stooped over her bed rail, for another hour. The nurse tried to urge him away to check
her bleeding, but he wasn’t inclined to go. John came up to the three of them and said to the nurse, “I got it.” He pulled the curtains around the bed. “They don’t understand about you,” John said to Jack. “I guess if you can deliver your own children, you’re all checked out on peri-pads.”

“All checked out,” Jack said, dropping another kiss on her brow. “You going to stay all day?” he asked John.

“I haven’t figured out how I’m getting back to Grace Valley yet. Plus, I want to run in another unit of blood. I’ll stick around for that at least.”

“You aren’t hanging around because she’s in any danger, are you?”

“Nope. I’m hanging around to keep you from being thrown out.” He lifted the sheet and as he gently pulled apart her legs, she roused briefly. “Good,” John said. “Looking much better.”

“Better,” Jack told Mel.

“You should think about getting back to your kids,” John suggested. “Once I figure out the transportation, I can take you.”

“Not until she’s fully conscious and knows why I’m not here. Preacher would come for me. We’ll work that out,” Jack said.

“I’m going to turn her over to Larson, and he’s going to keep her a few days,” John said.

“You have to get her a breast pump. You know how she is about nursing. And Emma’s the last one—you know how she is.”

“She’ll get a pump, don’t worry.”

Another hour passed, Mel rousing from time to time, Jack holding her all the while. John came in again and said, “We’re going to take her to her room now, and there’s someone out in the hall to see you. Meet us upstairs—306.”

“Okay,” Jack said, gently lowering Mel’s shoulders to
the bed. “I’ll be with you in a minute, baby. You’re going to your room now.”

When Jack walked through the swinging doors there stood Doc, leaning heavily on his cane, looking both frazzled and exhausted, as if he’d aged years in a few hours. Doc had driven all the way over that mountain pass to get here. It would’ve taken hours. Jack stepped up to him and put out a hand. “It was close,” he said.

Doc shook his head. “Thank God. We can’t do without her now.”

“No,” Jack said. “We can’t.”

“When can I see her?”

“Come with me, Doc. We’ll go up to her room.”

“John says she’s going to be all right now,” Doc said.

“Yup. We have her back. No more babies, though.”

“How do you think she’s going to feel about that?”

Jack was remembering how pissy she’d been when she found out she was pregnant with Emma. Then how, later, she’d said,
I sure love carrying around a little piece of you.
“She’s going to be fine. We have each other. We have David and Emma, two more than we thought we’d get. Did Brie call you?”

“Uh-huh. The whole town is standing by.” When they got to her room, Mel was slightly elevated in the bed, taking a sip of water through a straw. Doc seemed to be limping a little more than usual as he entered the room. He went straight to her and did something he’d never done before. He leaned over the bed and kissed her on the forehead. “You’re a lot of trouble, Melinda. I knew from the start you would be.”

“I keep you young,” she said tiredly.

“You do, at that. But I think you’re wearing Jack down.”

Taking care of the Sheridans was a family and community affair. Brie and Mel’s sister Joey took care of the
babies so Jack could go to the hospital; Paige and Preacher made sure there was food ready for every evening meal. At the end of the day, Mike came to the house to be with his wife and wait for Jack to come home with his daily report. Jack got up very early to make that long drive over the mountains to Redding, stayed all day and came back to Virgin River late, after dark.

On the fourth such day, Brie sat in the big leather chair holding Emma close with her bottle while Mike was in the rocker with David and his bottle. The door opened and Jack came in, looking exhausted, carrying his little cooler that would contain the breast milk Mel had pumped. Brie lifted her chin in greeting and he lifted a hand in response, then went to the kitchen. It was easily six hours of driving each day, but he wouldn’t even consider not being with Mel every day. Brie had been very worried about him being sleep deprived as he drove over the pass.

Once Brie and Mike had their charges settled, they joined the gathering in Jack’s kitchen and found that Preacher had dinner almost complete and was setting up a couple of drinks for himself, Mike and Jack. “How’s our girl?” Brie asked.

“Feisty,” he said. “They’re going to kick her to the curb tomorrow. She’s giving them fits. Nurses make lousy patients.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so, you look whipped,” Brie said.

“Thank you, precious,” he said, lifting his glass. “Whoa, that helps. My thanks.” He put the glass down and said, “I’m going to go kiss my kids and I’ll be right back.”

The kitchen was quiet for a moment. Preacher broke the silence with, “I can’t believe how close we came to losing her.”

“It’s very unusual for something like that to happen,” Brie said, trying to reassure him, given Paige’s pregnancy.

“It reminds you, though, what a serious business this is.” He pulled Paige close. “We have to take this real serious.”

“I’m not going to let you do this, John,” Paige said. “We had a close call, everything is okay now, and we’re not going to panic. We’re going to enjoy this pregnancy. God knows we worked hard enough for it.” She turned to her son. “You about done there, buddy? Ready for your movie?”

“Yeah, Mom,” he said sweetly.

“Let me,” Preacher said. “Come on, cowboy,” he said, taking his little hand. “I’ll help you get comfortable.” As he walked out of the kitchen Preacher was heard to ask, “What are we watching tonight?”

“Incredibles,”
Chris said.

“Don’t we watch that almost every night?”

“Almost.”

Joey looked at Paige. “He’s a wonderful father, isn’t he?”

“Just amazing. I still can’t believe how lucky I’ve been.”

When Jack came back to the kitchen, Joey said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you something, Jack. How’s Mel with the hysterectomy?”

He dropped his gaze and lifted his drink. “Disappointed,” he said. “For all her bitching about being pregnant all the time, she actually wanted to be pregnant some more. It defies understanding. She carried on about Emma coming too soon, threatened me with certain death if I did it to her again, kept reminding me how old I am, and yet—”

There was a moment of silence.

“Being able to reproduce is a funny thing,” Brie said. “We just want to control it.”

“And in my experience, it’s one of those forces of nature with a mind of its own,” Jack said. “When you
want it, it doesn’t come. When you’d like to take a break, it’s all over you.”

“How are you with it?” Joey asked him.

“You’re kidding me, right?” He lifted his drink. “I’m so grateful to have Mel come through this, it doesn’t even cross my mind. Besides, I have two healthy kids. I’m a rich man. A very rich man.”

“To rich men,” Mike said, joining the toast.

Only a week after Melinda’s hysterectomy, she was getting around very well. She had some surgical soreness and tired easily; she didn’t wander around the house much. She dressed in a comfy sweat suit and stayed mainly on the big king-size bed, the cradle close at hand so she could nurse Emma as often as possible, trying to get her caught up. All she had to do was give Davie a little boost under the bum and he could climb up to the bed with her.

With Brie and Joey in charge of the house during the day, making sure Mel had everything she needed and was getting plenty of rest, Jack was able to spend a few hours at the bar in the afternoon. Then he could take dinner home to his wife.

He didn’t get a lot done at the bar. He didn’t dare go on supply runs, it would take him too far from Virgin River. But he added up receipts and inventoried, finding, unsurprisingly, the bar ran just fine under the watchful care of Paige and Preacher.

In that little space of time after lunch was finished, and before the dinner crowd began to drift in, when the bar was typically very quiet, often deserted, an old familiar ghost in his Shady Brady wandered in. Jack had had some traffic with this guy in the past; some good, some not so good. He was a known illegal grower from somewhere around the mountains and Jack had refused to take his
money once because it stank of freshly cut marijuana. But he’d materialized out of nowhere one night when Paige was in danger and saved her life.

He came up to the bar and for once made actual eye contact with Jack. A first. “Hey,” he said somberly. “How’s the family?”

“Getting by,” Jack said.

“Heineken and Beam,” he said. “If it’s not too much trouble.”

Over the man’s shoulder, Jack saw Mike come into the bar. He stopped short, obviously recognizing their friend from the broad expanse of his back and the familiar hat. Jack looked back at his customer. “We’ve been over this,” Jack said. “You know what kind of money doesn’t work in this bar and I’m not comping you. I’m in no mood.”

Mike sat up at the bar, just one stool separating him from the stranger. “I got that, Jack. I’ll have a beer. Take care of my friend here.” Mike pulled out a few bills. “It’s my pleasure.”

“You sure about that?” Jack asked Mike.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

Jack set them up with drinks, then went back down the bar to where his trusty clipboard with inventory sheets waited. There was no conversation between Mike and the Shady Brady. Just silent, serious drinking.

Paige came into the bar carrying a fresh stack of towels. She recognized the man, was paralyzed for a moment, then gave him a very slight nod before escaping back into the kitchen. Mike half expected to see Preacher right away, but nothing more happened. Then there was a low, rumbled comment from the man next to him. “Things worked out then,” he said, having noticed the obvious pregnancy.

Mike chuckled in spite of himself. “Oh, yeah. Just
fine.” He looked at the man and lifted a brow. “Once more on that boilermaker?”

“Nah. I don’t want to put you out.”

“Jack,” Mike called. “Fix up my friend here.”

Though Jack scowled disapprovingly, he served the whiskey and refreshed the beer. It was a strange situation—Jack appreciated the help the man had given them in an emergency, but he wanted nothing to do with growers. They were trouble. And he wouldn’t have their money in his till. He went back to his clipboard and counting, leaving the men to finish their drinks.

It wasn’t long before the stranger scraped back his stool to stand up. He looked at Mike and tipped the brim of his hat.

Mike pulled a hand out of his jacket pocket, put something on the bar and slid it toward him, turning his black eyes up at the standing man. He took away his hand and there, on the bar, was a padlock.

Shady Brady glanced over his shoulder toward Jack, finding him occupied with counting bottles beneath the bar. He slid the padlock off the bar and into his pocket. “Thanks for the drinks,” he said to Mike.

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. Even a private sort of guy like you should catch a break sometimes, huh?” He jutted his chin toward Jack. “He’s not real flexible.” Then Mike looked back into his beer.

For the first time ever, Shady Brady gave a quick, short grin. He touched the brim of his hat again, though no one was watching him. Then he quit the bar.

Mike smiled into his beer. There, he was thinking. Mike knew and Shady Brady knew he knew. Something about him was iffy—but not all bad. Their business was done. At least for now.

O
nce the Haggerty family had been told a wedding was imminent, Paul called Joe. “How are those plans coming for Preacher and Mike?”

“Close to ready for you, buddy,” Joe said.

“Maybe you could sketch up another house and we could talk about design…”

“Yeah? What you got?” Joe asked.

Paul took a breath. “You’ll never believe it,” he said. “It didn’t go the way we thought it would. Vanni—she didn’t let me down easy. Turns out I was a little slow, which shouldn’t surprise you. We’re getting married.”

“Whoa! You serious?”

“Why wait?” Paul said. “It’s not like we need time to get to know each other.”

“But what about that little problem we talked about?”

“It turns out, it’s not my problem after all. And Vanni—God, man. She’s been just wonderful about everything—me taking so long to come clean, having a serious complication to work out, everything. We’re gonna get it done before Tom leaves for boot camp in two weeks. I thought maybe, if you had some plans lying around, it
might be a good time to visit Virgin River. And if the plans work for your clients—I could stay right here and build.”

“Who’s the third set for?”

“Me and Vanni,” Paul said. “The general gave us a nice big parcel on the other side of the stable and, brother, having our own house down here sounds better all the time. Might as well build it before I get real busy.”

Joe laughed. “Good for you, man,” he said. “Any idea what you’re looking for?”

“Oh, yeah—Vanni loves my house in Grants Pass. But that’s set up for a bachelor or a couple without kids—sunken great room, that kind of thing. Raise the floor and level it, add a bedroom, more kitchen…You know what to do.”

“I know what to do.” Joe laughed.

“And come down for the wedding. It’s gonna be small and quick, but Jack tells me he’s calling the boys and there could be poker.”

“Deal me in.”

There was enough going on in Virgin River in June to create a great deal of excitement. First there was high-school graduation and the following weekend Vanni and Paul would be married. Somewhere between the two, Rick would be home on leave before shipping out to Iraq and for both his leave and the wedding, the rest of the marines would hit town.

Vanni had been busy in her father’s kitchen whenever she wasn’t tending to the baby, trying to prepare hors d’oeuvres for a Saturday-evening open house for Tom’s graduation. The youngsters would be roving from party to party and would barely make an appearance, but Walt still insisted Tom deserved a celebration of his own, not just one coupled with the wedding the following weekend.
And he was right in this—Tom had graduated with honors and an appointment to West Point was a huge achievement. Even though Tom had a three-star for a father, it still required a near-perfect GPA and a congressional recommendation.

Vanni took a short break and, wiping her hands on a dish towel, walked out on the deck for some cool air. What she saw took her by surprise. Paul was standing in front of Matt’s grave. Memories of standing there herself came flooding back, and she walked down the deck stairs and across the lawn, up onto that small rise. “Paul?” she asked.

He turned, saw her there and gave her a small, sad smile, lifting his arm. “Aw, Vanni, Vanni…”

“Are you all right, Paul?”

“Sure,” he said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

“You know, if we both start brooding at this grave, it’s going to drive Dad nuts.”

“I’ll try not to make a habit of it. Listen, can I say something? Just once, then I won’t again?”

“Paul, you can say anything to me. Are you missing him?”

“I’ll always miss him, honey. Sometimes I think about when we were just boys together and I can see it so clearly, it’s like being back there. When we were kids in high school, we never even talked about the Marine Corps. We talked about girls, sports, girls, tattoos, girls, trucks… He had all the girls, though. I never had any nerve. I wouldn’t have even had a prom date if Matt hadn’t made it happen. Who knew the crazy fool was going to make himself into a lifer.” Paul turned and held her upper arms in his big hands, looking down into her eyes. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“I do,” she said, smiling.

“Well, I’d give my life for you, that’s how much. I’ve
never been happier than these past few weeks. But I was just telling Matt—I’d give it all up and live alone and miserable and jealous till the end of time if I could get him back. He was the most amazing man, the most incredible friend. It would probably kill me, but I’d give this up if it meant he could live.”

Vanni put a hand along his cheek. “He knows that already, Paul. He always knew that.”

“You have to be real sad sometimes, honey. Even now. You don’t ever have to hide that from me. I’ll hold you through the tears now, just like I did before—and I won’t feel cheated. Not by a long shot.”

“Paul, I wouldn’t hide anything from you,” she said sweetly. “Not long after Matt and I met, I lost my mom—and she was the best friend I ever had. And then I lost my husband to a war. Do you have any idea what a gift I have in you? It was like being rescued. I didn’t know I could feel like this. I thought every day would hurt forever. It’s probably not really stronger than what I felt for Matt, but coming after all that loss and pain, it sure feels like a miracle to me. Oh—I’ll always miss him, too. I can’t help that. But I’m so grateful to have you in my life. I’m not giving you up.”

“I just wish there was a way I could know—I wish I knew he was okay with this—you and me.”

“Remember, I told you,” she said, smiling. “I ran it by him already. A few times. Before you ever let me know how you felt.”

“I wish I could know he forgives me for—for wanting you all those years you belonged to him…”

She laughed softly, sweetly. “I think you’re being silly now. You showed him such incredible respect, never letting anyone know. Paul, there’s nothing to forgive.”

“The night Mattie came, I was out here talking to him.
Jack came and got me—he said Matt had moved on. He said we each have our destiny and Matt’s took him somewhere else.”

“Yeah—wherever he is, he’s tearing the place up, making people laugh, feel good. Paul, this would make Matt happy. You know how much you love him? He loved you that much or more. I can’t think of anyone he’d rather have raise his son.”

“I’ll do the best I can with that, honey. I’d sure like to make Matt proud. I’ll try to be as good a husband as Matt was….”

She shook her head and smiled at him. “You’re not going to have to try. As far as I can tell, you’re a natural.”

Jack stood on his front porch with his morning coffee. He saw something in the distance that caused his pulse to pick up. He looked out over the valley to the northeast and saw a thin column of gray smoke that wound its way to a plateau in the sky and he hoped, beyond hope, it was nothing to worry about. It had been an unusually dry spring.

Mel came outside and he dropped an arm around her shoulders as she snuggled close. “What is it?” she asked.

“Fire. Could be a controlled burn, could be wildfire. It’s been awful dry.”

“Has Virgin River ever been threatened by fire?”

“Not the town, no. There was a big one just north of here a few years ago. Right after Preacher showed up. Everyone pitched in. We dug a lot of ditches, hauled drinking water, drove trucks. Then we got certified in training so we could be ready.”

“What would happen?” she asked. “If a fire got too close?”

“Well,” he said, his arm tightening around her. “We’re sitting in the middle of a forest, Mel. This place could end
up looking like the face of the moon.” He lifted his eyes to the horizon. “We need a good, solid rain. And there isn’t any forecasted. This forest is pure kindling.”

Tom graduated with honors and the general and Vanessa hosted a party at their home, open to all their friends and all of Tom’s friends. The young people were on the move—they’d spend the entire weekend going from one open house to another. Tom and Brenda and some of their friends spent about an hour at the Booth home before taking off for other graduation parties, but the adults didn’t mind a bit that they were left to themselves.

Everyone dropped by to pass along their congratulations, including Muriel St. Claire.

“Can we count on you to come to the wedding next Saturday?” Vanessa asked her.

“Oh, sweetheart, thank you for including me. Actually, I’m driving to Sebastapol to pick up a dog. A little guy named Buff. Another Lab—this one is yellow. I’ve got a good hunter already—Luce, my little girl and best friend, a year and a half and brilliant. But no dog should grow up alone.” And then she grinned. “But I hope to see you soon after the wedding. It would be lovely to have dinner with you and Paul. I’ll speak to Walt about that, since I can’t cook.”

“At all?” Vanessa asked.

Muriel shrugged. “At all. I’d like you to know, though, I have other talents. I can paint, hang paper, sand and varnish, grow vegetables, hunt duck and tell jokes. Besides, I heard there’s great takeout at Jack’s.”

“There is.” Vanni smiled. “And you ride, too.”

“I do. I have two horses with me. We should go out for a ride sometime. We can meet midway between our houses along the river.”

“I would like that so much,” Vanni said. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“Yes, we do,” Muriel agreed, then gave Vanessa a conspiratorial wink.

As he was leaving the party Tom took Paul aside for a minute. Just outside the closed front door, Tom asked, “So. You ready to take on Vanessa?”

“More than ready, pal.”

“Great, man. I couldn’t have planned this better myself.”

“Good. I hoped you’d say that.”

Tom took a matchbook out of his pocket and flipped it around in his hand. “There’s an all-night graduation party tonight that Brenda and I are going to,” he said. He put the matchbook in Paul’s hand. “Except we’re not going to it. Someone should know where we are, in case there’s any kind of emergency. Someone who can keep his big mouth shut.”

Paul looked at the matchbook. The Brookstone Inn. He met eyes with Tom.

“Someone who isn’t going to ask me one more time if I have a condom in my pocket.”

“Why would I ask that?” Paul said. “You’re way outta my league, brother.”

“Just in case someone has a heart attack or something.”

“Thanks,” Paul said, slipping the matchbook in his pocket. “I appreciate that you think smart. Have a good time.”

“See you tomorrow.” And he was gone.

When Paul went back in the house, Vanni was waiting for him. “What was that about?”

Paul leaned close to her ear. “Just asking your brother’s permission to be his brother-in-law,” Paul said. “It’s official. I’m welcomed to the family.”

Tom checked into the Brookstone in Ferndale while Brenda waited in the car. The way it had gone lately, they’d make wild love, and then there would be some tears about him leaving, and then they’d make wild love again, then they’d have a few more tears. There hadn’t been any long nights together since that first time at his house, but there had been some remarkable sessions, here and there, especially evenings at the Booth house when Vanni was in Grants Pass and Walt was down at Bodega Bay with Shelby.

“Before you start crying again, I have something for you,” he said.

“You do?”

“I do.” He leaned over the bed and dug around on the floor for his pants, pulling a box out of the pocket. He passed it to her. “It’s how I feel about you.”

She opened the box and there, curled around a velvet circle, was a sparkling diamond bracelet. She was speechless. “My God,” she finally said. “My God.”

“Here’s how I feel. If we somehow manage to keep it together, through separations and school and all that stuff, I want to be with you forever. I didn’t want to get you a ring—that would be too crazy. I mean, a senior in high school wearing an engagement ring? A senior like you who practically aced the SATs and is going all the way—you can’t be wearing an engagement ring. I want you to be thinking about yourself now—you’re just a girl.” He took the bracelet out of the box and put it on her wrist. “But you can wear this. To remind you that I love you. And I’m not leaving you to be away from you, but to start building what we’re going to have.”

“Oh God,” she said again. “Is it real?”

He laughed. “It actually is.”

“How could you afford this?”

“I have a couple of bucks and college is paid for by the Army. It’s not the best diamond bracelet ever made and the rocks are real little, but for your first one, it’s okay. Later, I’ll get you better diamonds, I promise. Brenda, I love you, honey. And I need you to stop crying. Leaving is hard enough. I’ll be back in August for a little while, before I start West Point. You can make it till then, can’t you?”

“I can make it as long as you need me to,” she said.

“It’s not going to be easy, you know. Even if you go to school in New York. We’re going to be mostly separated for four years, maybe five while you finish—”

“No,” she said. “Four. I’m going to finish college in three.” She stared at her bracelet, then when she lifted her eyes to his, she raised one light brown brow and smiled. “Do you have any doubt I can do that?”

He grinned at her. “None whatsoever.”

“Then I’m going wherever you go, Tom.”

“The Army is going to keep me from getting married while I’m at West Point. This next four years, this is when we’re going to find out what we’re made of, because Army life isn’t easy. It’s good, and it’s strong, but it’s not easy. My dad always said that sometimes the Army spouses have to be tougher than the soldiers—my mom was left to raise us alone so many times. I know she was lonely, sometimes scared, and she was probably pissed some of the time, but she was so proud of my dad’s work. You’d never know it was hard for her. You have to know that going in, it’s just not easy. If you change your mind, if someone else comes along that can offer you—”

She put a hand against his cheek. “What if someone comes along for you?” she asked.

“Brenda—I think all I’m going to get in the Army are sore muscles and a completely worn-out brain.”