Noah stepped between Arnie and Ellie, grabbed Arnie’s arm and twisted it behind his back. “Ellie, get out of here,” he growled. Then, with Arnie’s arm as leverage, he marched him back down the church aisle toward the front entrance. As Noah pushed him toward the exit, he informed him, “You ever go near her again and I can’t be responsible for my own actions. You have no claim on Ellie, as if you ever did, and I intend to keep her safe from the likes of you. The sheriff has been called and until he gets here—”
The front entrance to the sanctuary opened and Jack and Preacher stood there. “Right here, Noah. We got him,” Preacher said, as they stepped forward, taking one arm each, dragging him toward the door. Noah was Arnie’s equal in height, though trimmer, but these two at six-two and six-four with shoulders like door frames, dwarfed him. Arnie moaned with each step, no doubt still hurting from that shot to the testicles. “Sheriff’s deputy, Henry Depardeau, should be here in ten minutes,” Jack said.
Noah turned back into the church and saw Ellie on her knees in front of Lucy. Lucy was alert, but down on her belly. When Noah came toward her, she looked up at him and gave a wag of her tail, but she didn’t get up.
“I think she’s just stunned, Noah,” Ellie said. “After her accident, maybe you shouldn’t chance it. Maybe you should take her to the vet, just to be sure.”
Noah knelt in front of Lucy, gently petting her head. “Remind me never to get into a fight with either of you girls,” he said. “Want to come with me?” he asked Ellie.
“I have to see my kids,” she said, shaking her head. “I stopped by Jo’s and they weren’t there. I came here looking for you, to tell you all about Arnie. Brie has a ton of information on him. He must have seen me come in here. Noah, did you hear the way he was talking? He just wanted to do it all over again. He said we could start over and this would all go away. He said I was his.”
“Yeah, well, he’s delusional,” Noah said. He stood up and pulled gently on Lucy’s collar. “You gonna stand, girl?” Slowly, Lucy got up, then started wagging and panting. “I think she’s all right. But I’ll take her over to Nathaniel anyway.” He looked at Ellie, who seemed to be staring at Lucy, but not seeing her. “Ellie? Forget him, he’s crazy.” She didn’t respond. “Are you in shock?” Noah asked her.
She lifted her gaze to his face. “Hmm? No. No, just thinking. Take Lucy, Noah. I’m going to check on my kids. I have to tell Jo about court.”
“Sure,” he said. He leaned toward her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, then.” He looked at her closely, frowning. She was completely pensive, which was unlike Ellie. “Ellie, what is it?”
“Hmm. Sorry. Thinking.”
So Ellie went to the Fitch house and found everyone there—Nick was in his den, reading the newspaper while the kids had their one hour of after-school TV in the same room. Jo was in the kitchen, working on dinner. Ellie stepped right in without needing to be asked, getting out the salad makings and going to work on it. While Jo seared meat and cleaned and cut vegetables, Ellie worked on their salad and told Jo all the news of the day. At the end of a softly told tale, she said, “I don’t think the kids need to know about court on Friday morning—it will just stress them out. They’ve already had a short meeting with their attorney, which didn’t seem to upset them, and they don’t have to be in court. Better to tell them when it’s over, I think. I mean, if I thought there was some reason to prepare them for the worst, I’d do that,” Ellie said. “It will be so nice to tell them when it’s over. That we’re a family again.”
“I’ll come to court right after I drop Danielle at school. Nick is going to take the morning off to keep an eye on Trevor. I haven’t exactly taken a poll, but I understand a number of friends will be there—Jack and Mel, Preacher and Paige, Vanni, her father the general. Maybe Shelby and Luke…”
“Oh, get out!” Ellie said. “They don’t have time for that. There’s a wedding happening on Saturday. They have family from out of town coming, and lots to do. And don’t they have Friday-night rehearsal and a dinner? And I’m helping to decorate Saturday morning…”
Jo covered Ellie’s hand and smiled. “Sweetheart, getting your custody resolved is just as important. And your friends are committed to that. We’ll get everything done.”
“I can’t believe it. I was afraid people around here would think the worst of me after what Arnie said.”
“I don’t think so,” Jo said, shaking her head.
“They really plan to go to Eureka for this?”
“Don’t argue,” Jo said. “It’s not a good idea to take chances at this point.”
“I guess you’re right,” Ellie said. Ellie took a deep breath and smiled. “There’s a lot to do between now and Saturday night. This is the opening of the church, a wedding the whole town has been looking forward to, and before we can see that all done, I have to go to court. I might be a little tense.”
“Well, take it easy, honey. We’re going to be fine. I’m sure of it.”
By the time Noah got out to Nate Jensen’s stable and veterinary office, the sun was lowering in the sky, and Lucy seemed to be moving around just fine. But since he’d come this far, Noah decided to proceed with the visit. The vet office attached to the stable was locked, so he went to the house and knocked on the back door. He saw Nate and a woman in the kitchen, apparently having a drink and snack at the breakfast bar; Nate answered the door.
“Hey, Noah,” he said, popping the last bit of a cracker into his mouth.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Nate. Something came up with Lucy and I thought I’d better have you check her out.” Suddenly a chorus of barking came from inside the house and three fluffy, black-and-white dogs with pointy ears came racing into the kitchen. “Whoa,” Noah said.
“Winkin, Blinkin and Nod,” Nate said with a laugh. “Mostly border collie, we think.”
“Donner, Dasher and Blitzen,” the woman said, joining them at the back door. “We call them Don, Dash and Blitz. Hi, I’m Annie, Nate’s fiancée.” She put out her hand. “I’ve heard about you. Nice to finally meet you.”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Noah said. “We had an incident. I got into a little altercation in the church. It wasn’t serious, but a man and I locked horns, grabbed each other, and Lucy bit him.”
“Lucy?” Nate said, looking down at the dog. “Even-tempered Lucy?”
The three almost full-grown pups were busy sniffing her and she was standing stock-still, letting them. The pups were dancing around a bit, whining, stumbling over each other, crowding Lucy.
“The situation must have made her nervous,” Noah said. “Anyway, she latched on to the guy’s leg and the guy kicked her off, throwing her into a pew. She couldn’t get right up and—”
But Nate wasn’t really listening. He crouched near Lucy, in the midst of a throng of prancing pups. And then Lucy got down on her belly and the pups laid down, as well. They continued to sniff while Lucy started to smell and lick them. One of the pups rolled over on his back and Lucy went to work on his closed eyes.
“Isn’t that something, the way she does that?” Noah asked. “Do all female dogs just take over the cleanup on instinct? I thought only cats did that. I’ve seen her do that to another dog in town.”
Nate looked up from his crouched position. “Comet? Christopher’s pup?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
Nate stood up and grabbed Annie’s hand. “Silas was training Lucy and she was coming along just great. But Silas also had ranch dogs that roamed pretty free—he kept cows and other livestock. A couple of ’em were border collies. I think if Lucy got friendly with another border collie, these might be her pups.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Noah said. “But she was in an accident. When would she have had pups?”
Nate was shaking his head. “Jack Sheridan found a box of abandoned puppies under the Christmas tree last December. They were too little to be weaned; it was a surprise they survived the cold. I put them at about three weeks old. They had to be eyedropper fed and kept warm.” He chuckled unhappily. “I wouldn’t put it past old Silas. He wasn’t the type to have a litter of eight in his house or likely to go to any trouble to place them. I’m kind of surprised he didn’t drown ’em.”
“Come on,” Noah said. “You think it’s possible?”
The three adults stood around, looking down at Lucy and a big pile of playful pups. Even though they were almost as big as she was, they certainly acted like puppies. Lucy seemed to be on the bottom of the pile, and very content, snarling an occasional warning, nudging them, licking them, pushing them around with her snout.
“The town named them after the reindeer. There were four females in the litter—Dancer, Prancer, Vixen and Cupid. I got these guys because they were left over.” Nate connected with Noah’s eyes. “Lucy wasn’t trying to find her way home,” he said. “She was trying to get back to her kids.”
At the Fitch house, after the children had been settled in bed and Ellie had gone to her apartment, Nick wandered into the kitchen where Jo was brewing a cup of tea. “Think I could have one of those?” he asked.
“You hate tea,” she said.
“Just the same, could I? And sit with you a minute?”
“Sure,” she said, totally confused. “But tea?”
“Want me to get it myself?” he asked. “I’d be glad to. You wait on me too much anyway.”
She went for a cup and saucer, put a tea bag in it and poured boiling water from the kettle. “I just do what I’m expected to do.”
He let that go a beat, until he was busily dunking the tea bag. “You do way more than what’s expected. What you’re doing for Danielle and Trevor, for example. If those kids didn’t have you, life just wouldn’t be fun for them right now. For that matter, if Ellie didn’t have you in her corner, I hate to think…”
“You should give yourself a lot of credit, too, Nick,” Jo said.
He took a courage-building breath. “We’re not a bad team, despite all. Jo Ellen, I’d like to say I’m sorry. I’d like to apologize to you for my mistakes, but as it turns out, there are too many to count. I could start right now and still not be done by next Tuesday. But in my gut, I’m aware of every mistake I ever made, and I’m sorry. I love you and I’m sorry.”
“Nick?” she questioned, dumbfounded.
“Seems like the turning point for us had to do with the adoption issue, but I don’t kid myself that that was all that was wrong between us. I bungled a lot of things, and somewhere along the line, I lost you.” He reached across the table to take her hand. At first she jumped, almost pulling her hand away. But then she thought better of it and let him hold it. “Can you ever accept my apology? I’m just not a very smart guy. I knew I was making mistake after mistake, but it was like I was helpless. Once you went to your own room, I wanted to pull you back to me. But instead, out of hurt pride, I pushed you further away. God, what I’d give to undo that, to be able to change course.”
“I know why you didn’t want to adopt children,” Jo said. “I never could accept it, but at least I knew your reasons. But what possible reason could you have for making passes at women? For making me a laughingstock?”
He shrugged and looked down. “Lord, I don’t have a reason. I was always looking for attention, I guess. Wanted you to think you had some competition, maybe. But you weren’t a laughingstock—it was you the town respected. I heard them say it—what is she doing with that idiot? Why does she stay with him? They knew why I stayed, even though it looked like I wasn’t satisfied in marriage. Because, Jo Ellen, there’s not a better wife in this town than you. You take better care of me and our home than any woman ever could. But even though you made sure I was never without a good meal or a sewed on button or a perfect house, our days of hugs and kisses have been over for decades. You know everything I like and don’t like, know everything about me, even though we hardly ever have a real conversation. I miss you, Jo Ellen.”
Jo felt the moisture rise in her eyes. “This is so sudden…”
“It probably seems like it. If you only knew how many times I wanted to bring it up, and didn’t know where to start.”
“And why now, Nick?”
“Because, Jo Ellen, seeing you with Ellie and the kids, I realize it’s not too late for us. It might be too late to adopt children, but…I’d like it if we get to keep Ellie and the kids as part of our family from now on. But even if that’s not possible for some reason, it’s pretty obvious we can make it our mission to have family. We can get involved in community stuff to do with children—they’re always begging for volunteers for everything. Make A Wish, Special Olympics, Parks and Rec, Little League, everything. We got us a new church in town—we can help out there. I bet there are single parents everywhere in this county that could use a hand…”
Jo started to laugh and squeezed his hand. “Don’t you dare volunteer us for anything without talking to me first.”
“I promise,” he said. “Jo Ellen, honey, can we start over? We used to have something pretty special, you and me. I don’t think it’s too late for that.”
“Ah. I think I know what you want. Pretty sneaky.”
“Huh? What?” he asked.
“Bedroom stuff,” she said. “That’s what this is all about.”
“Oh, phooey,” he scoffed. “That’s not what I’m after. I just want some good feelings to go with the great way we manage this marriage. Know what I mean?” He leaned toward her. “I want to hug. I want a kiss on the cheek sometimes. I want to help with the dishes and talk about our days.” Then he got a twinkle in his eye. “But, if I remember, we did have that bedroom stuff pretty well figured out.”
“Nick!” she said with a laugh.
“We did,” he said, grinning.
“I’m going to have to think about this a little bit. You took me by surprise.”
“Think about this, Jo Ellen,” he said, taking both her hands across the table. An unaccustomed dark stain rose up on his cheeks, like a youth looking for romantic courage. “We’re going to a fancy wedding on Saturday. In our brand-new church. We could hold hands while they say their vows and we could silently say ours to each other. Nothing official, no big announcement, but a private renewal for you and me. A new start. If you can forgive me for everything I did to screw us up, that is.”
She was quiet a minute. “I’m sorry, too,” she said. “And my list is long, too.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart,” Nick said softly. “I just want a chance to live the rest of our marriage in love again, like we used to be. Like I’ve been all this time.”
“Do you really mean that?”
“Really. Will you think about it?”
“I will,” she said. And by the way she said that, he knew she wasn’t going to say no. He could see relief in her eyes that matched the relief he was feeling in his heart.
“Whew,” he said. “Think I’ll have a brandy. Want one?”
“What about your tea?”
“I hate tea,” he said. Then he smiled at her.
Noah couldn’t wait to tell Ellie about what Nate Jensen suspected—that Lucy was the mother of eight pups left under the Virgin River Christmas tree eight months ago. He had to be patient, however. It wouldn’t do to go bursting in on the Fitch household. And he’d be sure to run it by Ellie before sharing this story with the kids. It made him grin, though, knowing how the kids would enjoy it.
But he didn’t have to wait to tell Jack and Preacher. He leashed Lucy to the porch rail for her dinner, went inside for his own and said, “Wait till you hear this….”
When Noah repeated the story, Jack said, “No way! I never even knew Lucy before you brought her back to life! ’Course, I never knew Silas, either. His ranch was on the other side of the valley. Heard about the wreck, but—”
Jack turned and banged on the wall, bringing Preacher out from the kitchen. And when Preacher heard the story, he said, “No way! Lucy? Two of ’em didn’t get the border collie markings, just the long hair and pointy ears, but those pups could definitely belong to Lucy. Well, Noah, isn’t that just unbelievable? I’m going to have to look that up on the computer, see what I can find out about breeding, about mother dogs being reunited with their pups after a long separation.” And with that, he turned and went back to the kitchen.
Jack grinned. “That’s going to keep him busy for days. He won’t stop till he knows everything.” Jack leaned close. “Noah, Henry Depardeau took your man Arnie away. Said he’d broken some laws in another state and that he’s not going to make quick bail.”
“Good,” Noah said. “Because Ellie has her custody hearing on Friday morning.”
“I know,” Jack said. “It got leaked. Me and Preach, we’re closing up shop and heading for Eureka with our wives. I think we’ll have a good showing for her. I know it doesn’t really count for the judge’s decision, but it’ll make Ellie feel good.”
Noah was touched. “That’s nice, Jack. She’ll appreciate that.”
When the light tapping came at her door, Ellie didn’t have to ask who was there. Arnie was tucked away in jail and it was Noah’s usual visiting hour, which he liked to stretch out till dawn. When he walked in, Lucy by his side, Ellie said, “Oh, thank God, she’s all right.”
“Better than all right,” Noah said, taking off his jacket and tossing it in her chair. “Wait till you hear this. It turns out that little Christopher Middleton’s dog, Comet, and seven other pups that were abandoned in the cold of last Christmas, left to freeze, rescued by the town, are probably Lucy’s pups. Taken from her too early. She might have been trying to find her way back to them. That’s what Nate Jensen thinks could have happened.”
Ellie knelt in front of the dog and began to massage her neck and jowls with loving hands. “Is that a fact, my dear girl? Good for you.”
“Isn’t that remarkable?” Noah said.
Ellie shrugged. “It is if you don’t know much about women and mothers,” Ellie said.
“Are you doing all right?” Noah asked. “When I left you earlier, you were kind of strange. Preoccupied.”
She stood up. “I’m real edgy. Facing that custody hearing, even though Brie said it can only go one way, is bigger than I am. I thought it could only go one way the last time, and look what happened. It’s going to be a long night, getting ready for court.”
“I’ll help you pass the time,” Noah said, reaching for her. He pulled her against him and sighed. “The church will be done, the Booth and Riordan families have all arrived for the wedding, George is coming tomorrow…”
“Everything right on schedule,” Ellie said. “Just like we planned.” She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “When I tricked you into giving me this job, I said I’d get out of your hair the minute I had custody again. It would free you up to get a real pastor’s assistant.”
He chuckled. “The joke was on me. I couldn’t have found a better pastor’s assistant if I tried.”
“Or at least a more accommodating one,” she teased. “I doubt you’d have snuggled up to Mrs. Nagel this well. Noah, I can stick to the deal. If I do get through this hearing and get my kids, I won’t owe anybody as much as I owe you. If you hadn’t given me a chance, it wouldn’t have worked at all.”
“I told you,” he said. “I gave you my word, my commitment, that I’d stand by you, wouldn’t let you down. I’ll love you forever, never let you down, stay with you from now on. I couldn’t have made love to you under any other terms. It’s not just some notion of mine, Ellie, but part of who I am. When I make promises like that, I don’t back out. No matter what.”
She tilted her head, peering at him. “That’s really something, Noah. You must have great willpower. God must be so proud of you.”
“I’m pretty sure I fall short more often than make him proud.” He gave her a little kiss. “I’m sure you made similar promises…”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry to say, I’m not as devout as you. I wasn’t thinking of promises or commitments at all—just that I loved you. Really, I tried not to. I thought it might complicate both our lives. But I hadn’t felt anything like that in such a long time, I just gave in.”
“I’m not sorry you did,” he said, smiling. “You’ll see, Ellie. It’s going to work out for us. And you can have the pastor’s assistant’s job for as long as you want.”
She was quiet for a moment, then she said, “Why, Noah, you might be the most generous man I know….”
Early on Friday morning, Ellie dressed very carefully in the nice pantsuit and conservative pumps Vanessa had loaned her. She straightened her hair so it wouldn’t be wild and wore light makeup. Her nails were shortened and done in a clear polish. And her stomach was upside down.
She walked down to the church and used her key to go in the front entrance rather than the side door she usually used. She walked up the steps to the wide foyer and pushed open the double doors to the sanctuary. Then she walked slowly down the aisle.
The October sun was barely rising above the tall trees at 7:00 a.m., but the inside of the sanctuary was resplendent in shining hardwood, glittering altar accoutrements, including the gold candelabra and cross she had polished herself. She and Noah had worked until past eleven a couple of nights, making sure all was ready for the wedding rehearsal that would take place late Friday afternoon. She had spent hours the day before making sure every last speck of workman’s dust was wiped from the floor and pews. Tomorrow morning Shelby and her family would attach floral arrangements to the end of each pew for the afternoon ceremony. Ellie had promised to help. Shelby and Luke had decided on 5:00 p.m. to exchange their vows.
Ellie was so proud she could burst. She’d helped make all this happen. She’d worked hard. She gave thanks every morning that she’d had the chance. “Little melodramatic of you, messing with my motherhood to force me into the position,” she said to the holy stained-glass image before her. “I know—I can’t be sure that was your idea. But I can let that go if you just settle down on the big life lessons. Really, I’m so damn tired. Gimme a break, couldja?”
“Ready?” a voice said. Noah stood in the hall door that led to his office. He was wearing a very sharp dark suit, blinding-white shirt and royal-blue tie. It brought out the sheen in his black hair, which had finally been trimmed, and his magnificent blue eyes glittered.
“Whoa,” she said, stunned. “I didn’t even know you had good clothes! That’s amazing—you look so handsome,” she said. “If this minister business doesn’t work out for you, you could be a model.”