“Oh, boy,” Cam said. “Speaking as one who hasn’t slept through the night since Julia and Justin were born in June, I can imagine her hesitancy.”
“Yeah, she pretty much wants me dead right now.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “But what was I gonna do? Do you say no thank-you to a living, breathing, beautiful human being who needs a home? Do you say, shove her in a foster home while I think it over?” He shook his head. “This might not be the most convenient thing, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Thank God it was you and not me,” Cameron said. “If I brought another child home to Abby and newborn twins, I would be dead.” He jiggled the baby. “Come on, little girl. Let’s look you over.” He reached for the envelope that held her medical records. “I won’t be long.” He took Hannah to an exam room.
When Cam was not in the room, Mel took a chance. “It’s none of my business, but have you been in touch with the mother all this time?”
“Not a word,” Paul said, shaking his head. “Last time I saw her, she was four months pregnant and crying. She’d tried to trip me up and Cameron set us up with a doctor in Grants Pass to do an ultrasound that showed she was about a month more pregnant than I was around for. She was miserable, so sorry she’d done that to me. You know, I thought about checking on her to make sure she was okay. I thought that would be the kind thing to do, but I didn’t want to set up any kind of expectations.”
“I guess you didn’t need to,” Mel said.
“I told her to get in touch if she ever needed anything. I didn’t exactly mean something like this.”
“Are you planning to keep her, Paul?”
“What am I going to do? Give her away? Vanni’s thinking about it. I guess if it just won’t work for us, I’ll get the lawyer’s help to find a loving family for her. But Mel, when someone has enough faith in you to entrust you with their child, do you do that?”
“Maybe the larger question is, does anyone have the right to leave you a child to raise without talking to you about it first?”
“She didn’t think it would happen,” he said. “It was a car accident. She was just being cautious. Getting her legal ducks in a row. You gotta give her some credit for that.”
“But still…Don’t be too hard on Vanessa. I’m assuming she never even met the woman.” Paul shook his head. “Lord, what a huge undertaking.”
“And then again, just one more. One that actually needs us right now.”
“Can I give you some advice?” Mel asked.
“Shoot. I’m wide-open.”
“This is your marriage, your family. Be absolutely sure you’re both of like mind. Kids put a strain on the happiest of marriages, and if it’s one that came to you in a real unconventional way, you don’t want any bitterness about the whole affair. I mean, you could be unhappy if Vanessa just can’t take her on, she could be bitter if she takes her on because you want it so much. Think about some counseling before you make a final decision.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” he agreed. “I’ll bring that up with Vanni.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to show her a lot of appreciation for even considering taking in an old girlfriend’s child.”
“Sure. Of course. And, Mel? This is awkward, but there being no drugstore in Virgin River…Would you happen to have condoms on hand?”
She frowned and tilted her head. “Condoms?”
His face took on a red stain. “You pulled Vanni’s IUD, right? She told me if I get her pregnant on top of all this, she can’t be responsible for her actions.”
“Oh!” Mel laughed. “Sure, I’ll fix you up. But for future reference, Connie keeps some under the counter at the Corner Store.” Mel went to the cabinet where she kept supplies like prenatal vitamins and brought out a box of a dozen. She handed them to Paul. “May the force be with you.”
“The odds are pretty good, I’m not going to be invited to use these for a while.”
Paul delivered his bids and Noah was impressed with the detail. Noah thought about it for a while and then conceded that Paul was right about having his crews do the bulk of the heavy work in the church. Noah’s job was to pick out the flooring and type of ceiling he wanted for the basement, plus paint for all the remaining walls. There was still plenty that needed his hand—painting the two offices, buying appliances for the church kitchen, arranging for the delivery and installation of pews, not to mention receiving and moving in his personal shipment, which included books and an old piano.
Before Paul left the bids with him, he said, “Noah, you’re actually a counselor, aren’t you? Like a real one?”
“A real one?” Noah asked.
“I mean, you’re not just a minister, but a—Ah, hell, what I mean is, we’re not religious people. You know? I pray all the time, but I’m looking for something practical. Like marriage counseling. You know what I mean?”
Noah smiled. “I can manage that, Paul. Need a little help?”
“I do,” he said, and then he explained, from the beginning, the situation with himself, Terri Bradford, his wife—and the will.
“Whoa,” Noah said. “Things a little upside down at your house?” he asked.
Paul shook his head dismally. “We should have some help. There’s some Ph.D. over in Grace Valley who does counseling, there’s always Mel, who isn’t a real counselor but she sure is smart and helpful. And maybe there’s you. But, Noah, meaning no disrespect—I don’t want to pray my way through this. I want to get Vanni and me what we need.”
“No offense taken,” Noah said. “I’m all-purpose. Let’s set up a time.”
In order to be prepared for when Paul had his work done, Noah had to go about the business of choosing additional items for the church. He admitted his obvious limitations and asked Ellie to help him with the selections. They spent days driving from Fortuna to Eureka and even to Redding, shopping and buying.
There was a lot of time for talk while driving and over lunch. He was relieved to learn that Arnie hadn’t given her any more trouble over the Saturday visits, but was disappointed that she had so little concrete information about Arnie. “He said he grew up in Southern California, went to high school and college there, that his parents are dead and that he came here from a big private school in Arizona. I saw his framed diplomas, but I can’t remember the names of the schools.”
“I’m suspicious of him, Ellie. Of his past. I looked him up on the computer, but I can’t find anything on him. I’ll have to think about where to look next.”
Ellie did have news that brought him great peace of mind. She had called Brie Valenzuela. “She’s going to look into this custody thing and see if anything can be done. I love that woman! When I told her what had happened, she was really pissed off! I told her I’d pay her somehow, but she said I could take my good old time about it—she believed I was good for it. And she promised to discount her time for me because I’m struggling right now. She said going against judges’ decisions is dicey. I guess it makes them pissy.”
Noah laughed. “Does it now?”
“She’s going to call Child Welfare Services and have them visit Arnie. She knows a couple of people there she’s worked with before. They’ll take a closer look at the way Arnie’s taking care of the kids. But on paper it might not look like he’s a bad parent. You know—taking away privileges when they misbehave, giving them chores, that kind of thing. The thing they won’t understand is that the kids don’t really misbehave. I know I sound real biased, but they’re awful good kids.”
Noah knew all about this sort of thing. His father looked good on paper. How can a report show the contempt in a parent’s features? The narrowness of the eyes when he calls you stupid? The sheer glee on his face when he can cancel something like summer camp because you didn’t curl the garden hose up right? And his father was one of the greatest men of God known in the Midwest. Kindness, humility and devotion should have been starched into his bones, but he was arrogant and cruel. How does that happen?
And how did he know Ellie was such a great mother? He didn’t know how he knew, but he was sure. It was something about the way she touched the children and talked to them. They craved safety and comfort in her arms and she enfolded them so bravely, so selflessly. Their need for her, their love, it was unmistakable in their voices, on their faces. Anyone who stayed awake all night to watch them sleep, to hold them because it would be so long before she could do so again…Oh, God help him, he didn’t care if she did lap dances to keep them as well as she could. At least it mattered to her that they be safe and well fed.
And then something occurred to him. “Ellie, can I ask you a very personal question?” he asked.
“Knock yourself out,” she said. “It’s not like I have anything private left. I’ve told you pretty much everything.”
Still, it took him a moment. “Your job. Your dancing job. Did you like it?”
She looked across the front seat at him while he kept his eyes focused on the road. “Yeah,” she said. “It was an okay job.” Then she took a breath and decided to cut him some slack. “Okay, it wasn’t the taking-off-your clothes part I was crazy about. That’s something you do in private for a husband or lover. I was doing it for money, and getting leered at by strange men doesn’t turn me on. In fact, if you don’t fight it real hard, it can be humiliating.
“But there was stuff to like,” she went on. “First of all, there were some real nice girls there. They weren’t all great—some were a pain in the butt. But I got kind of close to a couple of girls, and I liked the bouncer and his wife, and the owner. The owner is a good guy, always watching out for everyone. He kept a clean club, he didn’t want a big hassle from the cops, so it was drug-free. If he caught anyone using or turning tricks on the side, they were gone. And the customers were careful because Clint, the bouncer, was a bulldog. All I had to do was wiggle around a lot and get down to a thong. And for that, I had money, protection and friends. To a girl like me—that’s living large.”
A girl like me? “How long did you work there?”
“Not quite three months. And before you ask, it’s the only job like that I ever had. I did secretary work, waitressed, cleaned houses and offices, worked nights at the convenience store, worked on a shipping dock at a big retailer’s for a while. But that club job paid the best and the hours were good for a mother. And get this—it came with benefits. I hated letting go of the benefits.”
“But didn’t you ever have to do things you didn’t like?”
“I didn’t like taking my clothes off,” she stressed. “But, that was the job and I needed that job.”
“What about things like, you know, lap dances?” he asked.
“Oh, my goodness, Your Reverence! You know about lap dances?”
“Don’t screw with me,” he said. “It wasn’t easy to ask…”
“Isn’t screw a swearword?” she taunted.
“It’s on the cusp. So?”
It was her turn to be quiet for a second. “You really want to know?”
He turned and met her eyes briefly. “If you don’t mind telling me, I’d like to know how it affected you. That’s all.”
“Well, Noah, it was like this,” she said. He’d already learned that when she called him by his name, she was about to be both serious and candid. “That was also part of the job. I didn’t take off the thong and they weren’t allowed to put hands on me, but it was awful. I hated it. That’s another thing you do for a husband or lover, a man you’ve given your heart and commitment to, not for a paying customer. So what I had to do was turn off my brain. Send my mind to another place. I learned to think about jets and ocean liners and hot-air balloons rather than what I was doing. And when it was over, I totally forgot about it. I scrubbed the details from my mind—the face, the smile, the smell of him, everything. And I never remember again. I do not ever once think about a lap dance.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Anything else about my life there that you want to know?”
“Why jets and ocean liners and hot-air balloons?”
“Because I’ve never been anywhere. I’ve never been on a trip. I’ve never been high up, except in a building or on a bridge. I’ve never traveled or had adventures. Whenever I’m in a bad place, I take a little trip in my head. My gramma used to say, ‘You don’t need a lot of money to live a full life—all you need is a fertile mind, some books and a good attitude. Books are free at the library, but a fertile mind takes practice.’”
He chuckled. “Ellie, your grandmother must have been incredible. I wish I could’ve met her.”
She sighed. “She totally rocked. I miss her so much sometimes.” She swallowed. “Seems unfair sometimes. Jason…My gramma…Two people I loved so much are already gone.”
Noah did an uncharacteristic thing. He reached across the front seat and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Because he understood that.
Noah had several appointments the following week. One was sheer fun—meeting with Shelby MacIntyre and Luke Riordan to discuss their wedding. The second meeting was a bigger challenge for him. Paul and Vanessa needed some counseling while they tried to make a decision about Hannah. And the third meeting was a coffee date with a nurse named Gloria. He’d been putting off that last one as long as he could.
When Noah met with Shelby and Luke, he felt as if the smile was permanently frozen on his face, they were so delightful. One look told him they weren’t a perfect match; Luke was considerably older than Shelby and their personalities were very different. Two minutes with them proved his first impression wrong.
“The most important thing about this wedding is Luke’s family,” Shelby said. “My family is already here. They’re not going anywhere. But Luke’s mother is a widow who’s been waiting forever for her boys to settle down, and two of Luke’s four brothers have been serving in the Middle East. There’s a weekend in early October when we can get everyone together. If the church is going to be ready, we’d like to do it here, where we’re going to make our home. And then we’ll have a fancy catered dinner in a big tent in Uncle Walt’s pasture beside the river, at the foot of the mountains. It sounds casual, but dinner will be served on china, there will be flowers everywhere and a wooden floor for dancing. I was for something small, but Vanni wants the wedding to be spectacular.”
“I think your cousin’s husband, Paul, and I can provide the church,” Noah said.
“There will have to be a priest, as well. I’m not going to become a Catholic, but Luke’s whole family is Catholic, and it’s important to his mother.”
“That’s very doable,” Noah said. “I’ve done it before. An ecumenical marriage ceremony. The priest and I will share the honor of uniting you.”
“Perfect,” Shelby said.
“It sounds wonderful,” Noah said. “Want to talk about your vows?”
“We talked about making up our own, but we’re kind of stuck. Turns out we’re not so good at that.”
Noah laughed. “But I am. So, I take this to mean you don’t want the customary vows, but something unique. And you’re having trouble getting there?”
“That’s it exactly!” Shelby said.
“I’m okay with any vows,” Luke said. “Just get it done. I’m ready for Shelby to get off the pill.”
“Luke!” she admonished.
Noah laughed again. “I guess you’ll want a cheap baptism next?”
“I’m thinking nine months from the wedding,” Luke said. “Shelby’s just starting nursing college. She has summers off. We should have our first in summer, if possible. Could be a push. We’ll have to get rolling on that.”
Shelby peered at Luke. “Our first?” she asked. “A few months ago you were never getting married and now you’re having more than one child?”
“You can have input on the number,” he said. “But now that you’ve talked me into this, I’m in no mood to wait. And it will make my mother happy if we get going on it.”
Shelby looked at Noah. “I guess we’d better make it a quick ceremony, Noah,” she said. “My services are being requested.”
“Absolutely,” he said with a happy laugh. “Quick, unique and legal. Does that sum it up?”
“Sure,” she said. “When you come up with something, can we talk about it? I don’t want to commit to anything that you think is totally hot and I think is really sappy.”
“You got it. I’ll get right to work on it. I have two church offices to paint. I come up with great ideas while I paint.”
Noah’s meeting with Vanessa and Paul at their home presented more of a challenge. He had requested that the children be included even though they wouldn’t understand any of the dialogue. Even if they were napping, that was all right. He wanted to meet with the couple while the little ones were close at hand and on their minds, rather than removed from the home.
When he arrived, he shook Paul’s hand and hugged Vanni. He met Hannah and Mattie, who were together in a playpen in the great room. He remarked on what beautiful children they were. It immediately struck Noah that they seemed to have such great rapport for babies who had only just met, rolling around and giggling, cooing and laughing at each other, Mattie pushing toys on Hannah, and Hannah knocking him down with hugs.
“Look at them,” Noah said. “You’d think they were brother and sister. They even look alike.”
“Mattie has his father’s dark hair and eyes,” Vanni said.
Paul glanced at Noah. “And Hannah has her mother’s.”