Lang laughed heartily at that. “We’ll talk after you have five kids.”
“Like that’ll ever happen…”
“It’s a pretty simple formula, Dylan. Once I found a woman I loved, I stopped worrying about whether I’d ever find a woman I loved. I ask Sue Ann what I want and she’s only too happy to tell me. And then, my friend, she rewards me. It’s a beautiful thing.”
The reward he was talking about flashed in Dylan’s mind, but the players certainly were not Lang and Mrs. Lang. It was Dylan and Katie, of course. The first image happened to be on the floor. His mouth watered. Then the bed, then the shower, then the bed… He cleared his throat. “Sounds like you know what you’re doing. Even I think you have the perfect life. And everyone knows I’m impossible to please.”
“I don’t think that,” Lang said. “I’ve told you what I think a hundred times, but you don’t listen.”
“Tell me one more time.”
Lang drew an impatient breath. “When I found my woman, I focused on her. You’ll never find your woman, because you’re focused on your silly demons. Demons you barely remember from your childhood anyway. Demons that have nearly died of old age, by the way. Speaking of those demons, how’s the movie business these days? And the family?”
Dylan was speechless. Had Lang said that before? Was he always living inside his own head, worrying about how certain things would make him feel, not thinking about how other people might feel? But no, that wasn’t right, because he felt very bad about the way he made Katie feel and came back to apologize…came back to apologize because he hadn’t been sleeping and he wanted a clear conscience. And while he’d been gone, Katie had grown thin.
Oh, God, he thought. I was trying not to, but I found her. I can’t stand it, it’s so scary. But I found her. My woman.
“Dylan?” Lang said. “How’s the sick and twisted family?”
“They’re everywhere you look in Hollywood, all angling for a break, an endorsement, a part in a movie. I exchanged a few unpleasant words with my mother and a couple of sibs, but otherwise I haven’t talked to the rest of them. I’m sure that makes me the bad guy.”
“Nah,” Lang said. “You’re the all done guy. Very reasonable behavior. It is perfectly all right to stay away from vampires.”
“Silly demons?” Dylan heard himself ask.
“I’ve known you for over fifteen years,” Lang said. “Those characteristics you’ve complained about your family having—that narcissism, envy, cruelty, lack of accountability. If you showed those traits, we wouldn’t be friends.” Then he laughed and added, “Sue Ann wouldn’t let me.”
Dylan laughed with him. “One question,” he said. “What makes you think I’m obsessed with my demons? Why don’t you assume I avoid attachments to save women the bad luck of getting hooked up with me and my demons?”
“You ever ask anyone if they’re willing to take a chance on you? Because I asked Sue Ann. I told her I wasn’t good enough for her, that I probably wouldn’t amount to much, but I had a good temperament and was trainable. She thought about it and decided I was worth the risk.”
“Would you have gone away quietly if she’d said she thought it in her best interests to keep looking?” Dylan asked.
“Nah, I probably would’ve asked at least three times. I let her domesticate me. Now she’s stuck with me.”
Again Dylan laughed. And air hung in the line—dead air.
“Dylan,” Lang finally said, suspicion dripping from the name. “Where are you?”
He didn’t answer at once. “Virgin River.”
“Ah.”
“I wanted to apologize for being such an ass, for leaving suddenly, for making her feel dumped, for hurting her feelings like that.”
“Ah. How’s that working out for you?”
“About like you’d expect,” he said. “Katie’s real pissed and her brother beat me up. But I rented a truck. Think you can manage Childress Aviation without me for a while longer?”
Katie was never one to follow orders. She didn’t stay at home, locked in the cabin, as Dylan commanded. She thought she’d drive into town, visit with Mel Sheridan and ask if they could delay that ultrasound appointment for a few more days. Surely Dylan would be gone again soon. When she drove into town she noticed a truck parked at Jack’s with a logo on the side—Cavanaugh Apples. Perfect, she thought. So she parked there and went to the bar. There he was, Tom Cavanaugh, having a cup of coffee with Jack and Preacher.
“I saw your truck, Tom,” she said. “I’m so glad I ran into you!”
“Katie,” he said, smiling so handsomely.
“I wondered, have you called the game warden about that bear?”
“I’m sorry, Katie. I’ll do it today, I promise.”
“She was back this morning, and she’s very pissy. I mean, come on, I have kids, too, and I can hold it together better than she can.” She looked at Jack. “I wonder if maybe we need to get rid of the blackberries.”
“They’ve been there for years and there’s never been a problem before. Besides, they’re still pretty green… I wonder if it’s the play set.”
“Where is this place?” Tom asked.
“It’s my place,” Jack said. “Mel lived in it when she first got here and we bought it. It’s ended up a rental cabin, not far out of town but kind of hard to see, off the grid.”
“Show me?” Tom asked Katie. “Maybe I can figure out what’s drawing her, even though I’m not sure what’s attracting her to my place. Probably green apples and a broken fence. Between the green apples and berries, it might be a bellyache that’s making her so cranky.”
“Sure, I’ll show you,” she said. “But finish your coffee by all means.”
“I’m done. I’ll follow you.” He stuck out his hand to Jack, then Preacher. “Later,” he said.
When they arrived at the cabin, Tom parked behind Katie. He got out, pushed his hat back on his head and whistled. “I can see why you’d hate to give this up. What an awesome little cabin.”
“It is,” she agreed. “But I just can’t let the boys play with bear cubs.”
He laughed. “No doubt. Where do you see her most often?”
“Around those bushes,” Katie said, pointing. “And she was crossing the clearing, headed that way.” She indicated. “And when I ran her off this morning, she and the cubs headed up that way.”
“You ran her off?” he asked.
“I have a horn now. And some mace that I hope to never use—I don’t want the breeze blowing it into my eyes. I can’t wrestle a bear if I’m half-blind.”
“You’re something,” he said, laughing. “It might just be her path, the route she likes to take to where she’s going. She might take off in another direction when the cubs mature. Or when she falls in love next time. In fact, if you walked straight down that hill for about a mile and a half, you’d hit the orchard and on the other side of the orchard, the river. Or, here’s a thought—she might have changed her route to the river to avoid predators because it’s hard to keep track of three cubs.”
“I can’t even imagine…”
“You could always get a dog.”
“The dog would scare her away?”
“No,” he said. “But she might eat the dog before she eats you.”
“Funny,” she said, but she did laugh. “Would you like some coffee on the porch? I happen to have some in the pot.”
“That would be perfect,” he said. “After we met the other day, I thought of a couple of things I wanted to tell you. And ask you.”
“Oh? Well let me get that coffee. Come inside if you like.”
He was right on her heels and while she was fixing the coffee and warming some water in the microwave for tea, he was looking around. “This is awesome,” he said.
“It’s perfect for me. With the boys’ toys, TV and video games up in the loft, I can keep the living space picked up without them undoing my housekeeping one step behind me. A couple of kids can really wreak h
avoc on a house.” The microwave dinged and she pulled out her hot water. “What did you want to ask me?”
He held the door to the porch open for her. “I wanted to tell you—I’m just back from Afghanistan myself. My deployment was my last assignment in the Marines and time to get out. And I wanted to ask you—” He waited for her to sit. “When did you lose your husband?”
“Right before the twins were born, so I doubt there’s any chance you knew him.”
“I was in Iraq three years ago,” he said. “So, you’ve been widowed for a while.”
“Five years plus,” she said. “Charlie was in the army.”
“Again, I’m sorry, Katie. On my way home to Virgin River, I stopped off to visit a buddy’s widow. We’ve lost some real good men.”
“How’s your friend’s widow doing?”
He shook his head. “She’s having some real hard times right now, but she has family around. I think I might head back there to check on her after we harvest the apples.”
That touched her; what a nice man, she thought. But then, some of Charlie’s buddies had visited her.
“I guess it’s not too soon for you to think about dating,” he said.
She knew it was coming. She had sensed it from their first meeting. “Well, it’s not. But it’s an awkward moment—I’m kind of…” She stopped to think of how she should put this, exactly. “I guess the only way to describe it is, interested in someone.”
He grinned at her. “I guess the best thing for me to do is hang around till you lose interest.”
And then, with the most miserable timing, Dylan pulled into the clearing, parking beside Katie’s SUV. He had his motorcycle propped up and strapped into the bed of the truck. The place was starting to look like a parking lot.
Dylan didn’t seem to be intimidated by the presence of another man. He jumped out of the truck and sauntered toward the porch, his boots hitting the ground pretty hard, his thumbs in his pockets. He was smiling, but it looked pretty contorted given his bruised face. “Howdy,” he said, sticking out his hand toward Tom. “I’m Dylan.”
Tom stood uneasily. “Tom,” he said. “Tom Cavanaugh. What happened, man?”
“This?” he asked, pointing to his face. “Katie roughed me up.”
“I did not!”
“Accident,” Dylan said with a laugh. “Always wear a helmet, man. Katie, I brought you a six-pack and some other stuff.” And he turned and went back to his truck. He proceeded to take grocery bags into the house.
“That him?” Tom asked. “The one you’re interested in?”
Katie scowled. “No,” she said. “Dylan is just a friend. Passing through town. He’ll be leaving soon.”
Dylan stuck his head out of the door and said, “Actually, I thought I might stay a couple of days, if that’s not a problem. Really great to meet you, Tom.” And then he disappeared into the cabin again.
Katie looked at Tom. “Ever have one of those annoying visitors? The kind who just doesn’t get it when they’re not actually invited?”
Tom laughed. “Maxie, my grandmother, has a million friends. She never had a visitor she wanted to leave.”
“Hmm. Maybe she’d like to have Dylan,” she offered.
Tom laughed and stood up. “I’ll call the game warden, Katie. Listen, don’t become the bear’s adversary. Stay out of her way. New mothers can be unpredictable.”
Dylan heard the talk on the porch. Is he the one you’re interested in? No, just a friend, passing through town… He chuckled soundlessly. He was still putting food in the refrigerator when he heard Tom’s truck start up and back out of the clearing. And then Katie was there. “Oh, you’re funny,” she said. “I guess if I’d wanted you to stick around before I should’ve just told you to leave.”
“Are you throwing out the dating net, Katie?” he asked.
“That’s none of your business…”
“You should tell me so I can manage to be…ah…unobtrusive when young Tom comes calling.”
“How about absent? Absent would be so much more convenient than unobtrusive.”
His expression became serious. “Look, I don’t blame you for not wanting to move in with your brother—I personally think he has a short fuse and a very crabby disposition. But I don’t think you should be all alone out here. I’m cooking tonight—my special pizza. The boys will love it. I’ll take the couch.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t think so.”
“Then I’ll sleep in the truck. Or on the porch—I have a sleeping bag.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Being responsible? Helping out?”
“I’m not your responsibility,” Katie said. “And you’re confusing me. You’re in, you’re out, you’re back, you’re leaving…”
“I missed you,” he said. “And I shouldn’t have left the way I did. But I had to leave. And we’re not done talking…”
“Don’t you have to get back to work? Don’t you have an airline and airport to run? A movie to make? The paper says you’re living on a big estate in Montana—you won’t be happy on a couch. Or a porch.”
He scrunched up his eyebrows. “Estate?”
“Your grandmother’s estate…”
“Estate?” he said again.
She sighed deeply. “Airline? You own the airport it operates out of? Your rich and famous grandmother’s estate? Am I speaking a foreign language here?” she asked.
He was careful with his answer; he was not smiling. “I checked in with the company. They’re maintaining in my absence. And the ‘estate’ is being watched over. Would you like me to take you on a nice long, exciting bike ride? That used to blow your whistle.”
Her hand slid over her belly. “Maybe not while I still have the remnants of this little bug…”
“Shouldn’t you be better by now?”
“Something’s going around, so don’t breathe my air. You don’t want to catch it.”
“I’m not too worried about that. I’d be willing to take my chances for a whiff of your air.”
“As flirting goes, you might be losing your touch.”
“Okay, tell me this. How do we make peace with your big mean brother so I don’t get hauled off the couch and beat senseless in the dark of night?”
She couldn’t help but smile at him. “Already on the couch, are you? I thought you were taking the truck or the porch.”
“I’m trying to make up, Katie. Work with me here.”
“Leslie and I will take care of you and Conner,” she said. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
Dylan smiled broadly. He was feeling a sense of safety and familiarity. This was one of the reasons he hadn’t fallen in love before, he realized. He was used to women who thought he was important, either as an actor or the owner of an airline. Hah—two six-seaters and a Lear! Or the owner of an airport—a relatively short runway paved onto his grandmother’s back forty and a couple of Quonset hangers and a prefab building for an office. Oh, yeah, there was that wind sock. Suddenly he wondered how many people thought he lived on an “estate.”
Katie wasn’t that impressed. She wouldn’t trade a thing for his importance. The two women Dylan admired most were his grandmother and his best friend’s wife, and Adele and Sue Ann didn’t need a man to define them, bring their value into focus. He was ready to add Katie to that group, but…
“When I explain that he has to be nice to you, what should I say you’re doing here? Exactly.”
“I told you. I’m trying to make amends for acting like an ass after having a very romantic fling with you. A fling that shouldn’t be finished anytime soon.”
“I don’t know how that’ll go over,” she said.
“You don’t have to tell him about the fling unless you want to. Know what I really wish, Katie?” he said. “I wish we could start over. I wish I could unsay a bunch of stuff and say some new things.”
Her hand slid over her stomach again and she said, “Too late, I’m afraid. I didn??
?t trust you too much before and I trust you a little less now.”
He had work to do here, he realized. Serious work, regaining her trust. “Can I see those articles again? The ones you saved?”
“Knock yourself out,” she said. “I’ll call Leslie at work. We can decide what to do with you two imbeciles.”
So while she headed for the phone, he headed for the trunk. And he listened to what she was saying.
“Well, he was on his way out here to apologize for being a jerk when Conner went after him, so now I’ve got this banged-up guy on my couch, trying to make amends…”