“Not today, Katie,” he said. “Soon,” he added.

He wasn’t real happy with the idea that Conner punched him before talking to him. Before they made their peace, Dylan had many things to come to terms with. That was only one of them.

When they were back at the cabin, he made his special pizzas, which were basically a simple bread dough covered with tomato sauce, lots of cheese, some pepperoni and on one, some mushrooms and black olives. He asked the boys to help cover them with stuff. The pizzas couldn’t lose because the boys were involved.

After dinner, he took the boys outside and kicked the soccer ball around with them, though he was wearing boots to their tennis shoes. Then he sat on the porch and watched as they climbed all over the jungle gym. When Katie came outside and sat in the chair next to his he said, “I’m wearing them down for you.” And he smiled.

“What are your plans, Dylan?”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like your couch for a while. I need some time to figure out how to handle our…situation. I want to do the right thing. For many reasons.”

“You do understand that it’s not entirely up to you, right? I have no husband and three children to think about so whatever you come up with, I’ll definitely listen. But you’re not going to decide our lives for us.”

“Can I have the couch?” he asked. “Or not?”

“You can have the couch and the kitchen. You’re a good cook, as it turns out.”

Right now Dylan didn’t want to be distracted—he wanted to figure out how he felt and what he should ultimately do with his life. The day after his forced handshake with Conner, he drove down the mountain and checked in with Lang. All was status quo in Payne, Lang assured him. So he texted his grandmother, the agent working on his movie contract, Jay Romney, Lang, Sue Ann and Stu—I’m staying in the mountains for a few days and cell reception isn’t great. I’ll check in when I can, but might be out of touch. No problems, just out of touch. I’ll be in touch when I’m back in service. Thanks.

And then he turned off the phone.

Over the next several days Dylan hung pretty tight to Katie and the boys, stayed close to the cabin except for errands. When he wanted to go off on his own he made Katie promise not to have a standoff with any wildlife, especially the bear. He went to the larger towns for groceries, more than happy to be responsible for dinner.

The one thing that kept him on the couch and from sneaking into Katie’s room at night or from begging her to make love while the boys were at school was the fact that he felt he had their entire lives to figure out before he could think about things like that. He also thought there was a good possibility she might clobber him.

But Dylan had plenty of confidence in other things—like his ability to think rationally about business. He knew he was levelheaded and fair. And while he might have siblings who were assholes and idiots, he was a nice person and good with people. He played to his strengths.

On a night he’d taken Katie and the boys to McDonald’s and afterward to a park to further wear them out, he thought he had it together. As they were pulling through Virgin River on the way to the cabin he asked, “After the boys have gone to bed, can we talk about things?”

“Well, butter my butt and call me biscuit! Only six short nights on my couch and you’re ready to talk about our situation?”

And he laughed.

“I’m not sure I can stay up until after they’re asleep. But I’ll make a compromise—I’ll meet you on the porch after they’re bathed and rooted in front of a movie in the loft. Will that do it for you?”

“That will do it.”

It was hard to stay on track with Miss Funny Bones teasing him, but he was determined. He had come up with what he thought was a fantastic idea. He was sure she’d be relieved.

She brought a couple of steaming cups of tea to the front porch and he noticed, not for the first time, she seemed to be looking better. He was only too aware of her brief fits of nausea, when a smell or something else would trigger a wave of it, but she no longer looked like she’d been ill or starving. It made him feel a rush of pride because although he’d never tell her, that had been his goal—to cook her at least one hearty meal a day and hopefully put back those pounds he’d robbed from her.

He took the cup she offered. He’d never been a tea drinker but this stuff Katie made didn’t gag him. In fact this was one of the ways he always knew Sue Ann was pregnant again—she’d offer them tea. He and Lang would make gagging sounds and go get a beer or a Crown Royal on ice.

Behind them in the house, he could hear the TV in the loft. He obediently sipped his tea. “Are they almost ready to go to bed?” he asked.

“Almost.”

“Katie,” he said. And then he just looked at her. There were times he’d catch a glance and think he’d never seen such a pretty girl in his life. It made him frown slightly as he wondered if she was really that beautiful or just to him. After all, he thought Sue Ann was pretty but Lang was completely hypnotized by her. Well, as it should be. But Dylan had never been in that place before.

“After six nights on my couch, cat’s got your tongue?”

And that mouth—she was relentless. Why did he love that so much?

“I’ve got a few ideas,” he said.

“Well, let’s have it. I can’t wait.”

“Let’s start with that movie I’m supposed to make,” he said. “That could come in handy under the circumstances.”

“Oh?” she asked. “You said the whole idea was to get your charter business and airport on its feet.”

“That was the whole idea, but now there seems to be more on the table. I could use a portion of that movie money for the baby.”

It was as if she came to attention. Her neck straightened a bit, her eyes brightened. “Oh?”

“How about a trust for the…ah…baby. For his education. That sort of thing.”

And as he watched, it seemed she showed first shock and then disappointment. The dusky night was darkening and he wondered if he hadn’t seen quite right. Shouldn’t she be thrilled?

“A trust?” she asked.

“Something put aside to be sure he’s always taken care of, in case something should happen to either of us. You know.”

“Wow.”

He waited for some huge, grateful reaction, but it didn’t come. After a few moments, he said, “It seemed like an even more important reason to make that movie than the company. I thought it would make you happy.”

“That’s really thoughtful.”

“So…why do I get the impression you aren’t too happy?”

“Oh, sorry. Thank you, that’s so generous.”

“Katie!”

“What?”

“What about this idea doesn’t make you happy?”

Her eyelids fluttered closed as she looked down. She put her cup of tea on the porch and reached for his hand. “Let me ask you something, Dylan. Growing up, did you have a lot of half brothers and sisters?”

“You know I did. I told you all that…”

“Was there ever jealousy? Resentment? That kind of thing?”

“All the time.”

“Was it ever directed at you? I mean, you were a child star. Did any of your siblings resent that they were not the stars?”

He took a moment to answer, but not because the answer wasn’t on his lips. Where was this coming from? “Yes.”

“And so how do you think Andy and Mitch will feel about their younger brother or sister and the big trust to ensure his or her future?”

He was momentarily struck silent. Then in an effort to recover he said, “I could do it for all of them.”

She shook her head. “I think you’re under the impression that I’m poor. Oh, I’m sure I’m not rich by your standards, but Conner and I were left a very successful store. It was destroyed by fire but there was insurance money, the sale of commercial land and both of our houses, more than enough to resettle and rebuild. There’s some security there, though of course I’ll work. Between Conner and I, we’ll make sure the kids get everything they’re entitled to—all of them, not just one of them. And I get it, that one is your one. I get that. But really, you don’t want to do things to make him different. To make him, or her, enviable in his or her own family. In families everyone takes care of each other as much as possible.”

“Fine!” he said almost angrily. “I’ll give it to you! You take care of it. Spread it around any way you want to!”

She stared at him for a long moment. “That’s very nice of you,” she said. Her eyes got glassy. “I don’t know how I can possibly thank you.”

And then she stood up and went into the house.

He sat there, stunned. He had absolutely no idea what he’d done wrong.

He noticed that quiet slowly replaced the noise of the TV inside the little cabin. He heard the shuffling of the boys down the stairs as she herded them into bed. And her bedroom door closed.

Dylan was devastated. He’d spent days trying to figure out how to make this right, how to reassure her he was in this with her all the way. He was a responsible man and he adored Katie. He was terrified to tell her that, of course—she might ask him to get married and then what would he do? He wanted to, but he wasn’t quite ready. He thought he might be in a little while, once he worked into the idea. Probably by the time he’d finished that movie and had the airline on track and the trust set up, he’d feel ready, but right now, the whole idea scared him. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel like it—it just meant he wanted to be ready. She was only about a month, maybe six weeks pregnant. There was time.

His dad had sent him a ten-thousand-dollar check on his tenth birthday because he’d promised to take him to Egypt and had gone alone, or more likely with a woman, leaving him behind. Ten thousand dollars to a ten-year-old. A kite and a day at the park would’ve meant so much more.

He remembered his grandmother had been furious about that.

Dylan asked himself, had he just done that? Could Katie think that money was to make her go away quietly? Because it wasn’t! He wanted to take care of her! Them! He wanted to never lose her, them.

I’ve been thinking about it, he remembered saying. If the girl I want comes with a couple of kids, I can deal with that.

He sat down on the sofa and pulled off his boots, his belt, his shirt. He went to her bedroom, tapped softly a couple of times and entered. She slid over as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He could barely see her face, so he ran a finger along her cheek to the curve of her chin. “If you’re crying, I’ll hate myself forever.”

“I’m not crying, Dylan.”

“Katie, you need to be married to a man who has some instincts about this whole situation. And I don’t have any. Just when I think I have the one idea that will solve most of our problems, it makes you sad.”

“It’s not instincts you’re lacking, Dyl. It’s experience. You grew up in a household of this one and that one. There was a different group for every holiday and if I’m guessing right, a lot of jockeying for position. It can’t have been real nurturing.” He just shook his head. “We don’t have to do that, Dylan.”

“Katie, you’re unlike any woman I’ve ever known. My feelings for you are…” He couldn’t quite finish. “Strong. You have no idea how strong. I want to never lose you. But…”

“I know,” she said. “We still don’t have to make a life of spare parts and separate people, like a group home or something. We can still be one family.”

“And if I don’t know how that’s done, exactly?”

She smiled at him and put a tender finger against his lips. “Here’s a thought. I could trust you to fly the planes and you could trust me to do the mothering. Those things that I don’t do very well, fortunately you do. And those things you struggle with?” She shrugged. “I happen to understand.”

When he just scowled, drawing his eyebrows tight, she asked, “What?”

“And if it doesn’t work out for us, for you and me? I want it to always be like it is right now, but if for some reason it isn’t? Like if you come to your senses?”

She laughed softly. “I will still raise my children as a group, as a family, no matter what you choose to do. Now why don’t you make sure the bedroom door is locked and come in here beside me, hold me for a while, do something you know you have a talent for.”

He stood up and chucked his jeans, slipping in beside her with a big grin on his face. “I think we’ve just stumbled on an area of mutual success.”

“Uh-huh,” she said. “Stop thinking so hard, Dylan. You’re wearing me out.”

Sixteen

Luke Riordan enjoyed a late-afternoon beer with Jack, something he treated himself to now and then. He occasionally took a break from tending his son and his cabins if his wife was at home. Shelby was a clinic nurse in Eureka and worked three ten-hour shifts every week, which left Luke to play househusband, including cooking. This was a good thing. Shelby liked to cook. She was miserable at it, but no one had the guts to tell her.

“You’re facing about three or four days of dinner by Shelby,” Jack teased.

“I might get her in here one of those days,” Luke said hopefully.

“I wish you luck. Are your cabins still booked?”

“Right up through fall. We have summer people—families and students and vacationers almost to hunting season, then we have hunters and fishermen through the holidays. Plus, a couple of my buddies are coming for a week this fall.”