Redwood Bend (34 page)

Katie reached for her hand. “Oh, I think Dylan knows better than to expect that.”

Eighteen

I
t was just after lunch when Dylan phoned Katie at the cabin. “Hey,” she said, “where are you?”

“I just stopped by Jack’s to call you. I’m having a hard time getting everything I wanted to do done. Are you feeling okay?”

“Sure. Fine. I can’t wait to hear about all the things you’re trying to do.”

“Oh, you might be surprised. You aren’t wrangling a bear or anything, are you?”

“No, of course not. But, Dylan, your grandmother came by this morning. You missed her.”

“Add that to my list—I should see her,” he said. “Will you be okay till dinner time?”

“Well, I don’t know,” she teased. “I might lose my head and chop down some trees or something…”

“I’ll be satisfied if you stay away from the wildlife,” he said. “I’ll bring the boys home. I should finish everything by the time their program lets out. I can bring us dinner from Jack’s.”

“Are you sure? Because I don’t mind…”

“Take a nap or something. I’ll see you a little later.”

When Dylan went back to the bar from the kitchen he said to Jack, “I’ll need some more directions. I missed my grandmother this morning and she’s staying with Muriel St. Claire. Can you tell me how to get there?”

“Sure thing,” Jack said. He wrote out the route on a napkin. “You’re running all over the place today.”

“It’s turning out that way.”

He went first to Muriel’s to see his grandmother, happy to see how comfortable she was in Muriel’s home. Muriel was out riding with the man in her life, Walt Booth, which left Dylan to have a relaxing visit with Adele on the front porch. He didn’t have to say much—Adele went on at length about how much she enjoyed Katie. “I do hope you’re smart enough to see you have a winner there,” she said to Dylan.

Then Dylan headed for a home under construction in the mountains between Virgin River and Clear River…all these rivers…yet another thing this place had in common with Montana. The house appeared to be nearly finished and he recognized Conner’s truck parked outside. Unfortunately there were other vehicles as well and Dylan had hoped to catch Katie’s brother alone. But with no alternative, he went inside.

The house was filled with the sound of hammering, power saws, air compressors and the scraping and sliding of equipment and large slabs of building materials. There were men putting up drywall, installing hardwood planks and cutting ceramic tiles for the floor. He found Conner in the kitchen, fitting granite counters. “Hey,” he said. Conner looked up. “Got a minute?”

Conner’s first reaction was to frown. He wiped his hands on a rag from his back pocket. “Your face is looking better.”

Dylan almost laughed. “I think yours is improved.”

“Just don’t improve it any more. It hurt like a bitch.”

“I came to ask you a question. Want to step outside?” Dylan asked.

“Let’s just do it here,” Conner said. “In case I need backup.”

“You won’t. I hope we’ve made our peace for Katie’s sake. And for Andy and Mitch.”

“As long as you treat her right, I’ll be fine.”

“I’m going to try my hardest to, Conner, I give you my word. Did you know those boys have never been on a horse? Never had a dog? Never been for a ride in a small plane?”

Conner sighed. “What are you getting at?”

He shrugged. “I have a horse, a dog, a small plane…”

“Yeah? And how should this interest me?”

“If it wouldn’t make you go totally crazy, I’d like to take them back to Montana with me for a couple of days. I have things to attend to there—property, animals and a business. I think they might have fun—it’s a good place. I want them to see where I’ve lived the last twenty years. I want them to know me. The real me.”

“Twenty years, huh?” Conner asked.

“That’s right. It’s a great little town and it’s a good place for boys to grow up. Maybe a good place for tomboys, too.”

“Does Katie want to go?” Conner asked.

“I haven’t asked her yet. I’m asking you to go along with this before I ask her. Because after I show her my home, I’d like to ask her to marry me. If you give your blessing.”

“Seriously?” Conner said dubiously. “You’re asking my blessing? Why?”

“Because you’re the most important person in her life besides the boys. And because we started a family, which means we’re going to be family, you and I.”

“Are you saying you love her?”

Dylan noticed that the place had gone kind of quiet. Not so much drywall, hardwood or tile was getting done. He was afraid to turn around and find a gallery of workers hanging on his answer. “You know what, Conner? I’ll tell you about anything you want to know, but that thing? I’d really like to tell her before I tell you. All I want is your permission to show her my home and propose. And I want the boys to go, too.”

Conner took a step toward him. “Listen, if you’re not in all the way, you don’t have to do this, marry her. Because I can take care of my family and I will…”

“Let her decide, Conner. I’ve never been married, never been a father. But I have an idea what it takes and I’ll do my best.”

“Do you have any idea how important Katie’s happiness is to me?”

“I can guess,” Dylan said. “Do you have any idea how sorry I am that her father is deceased? Because I can’t imagine he’d be any tougher to please than you.”

Conner gave a huff of laughter. “You might want to take that back—my dad was a pretty grumpy old coot, even when he was young.”

“Big surprise,” Dylan said. “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Conner thought for a minute. “We should probably go have a beer. Talk about some particulars. Like how you’re going to take care of her with a business that isn’t doing too well. And what you’re going to say if she doesn’t like where and how you live.”

“I don’t hear a lot of pounding or sawing,” Dylan said. “Does most of Haggerty Construction now know I want to marry my pregnant girlfriend?”

“I’d have to say yes, if they don’t know now, they soon will. Let’s go. You’re buying.”

“Fine,” Dylan said. “Jack’s?”

“The only game in town. See you there. I’ll pack up my tools.”

Dylan walked toward the door. He turned back and faced about six men, all very large, all wearing tool belts, all looking like they’d prefer more gossip than a chance to beat him up. “Get back to work,” he said to them. “That’s all I’m giving you.” And then he left and drove back to Virgin River.

Dylan was nursing a cup of coffee when Conner finally showed up. The bar was still empty, the dinner crowd not yet arrived. Conner sat up on the stool beside Dylan and said to Jack, “Give him a beer. And run him a tab.”

“I’m picking up the boys and taking them home.”

“No, you’re not. I checked in with Leslie—she’s going to take the boys home for you.”

Dylan stiffened. “Hey, I haven’t run this plan by Katie yet. I’d rather Leslie not fill her in on our discussion.”

“Relax. Les is going to tell Katie that we’re having a beer together. Hopefully she’ll see that as a good thing.”

“Leslie is a nice lady,” Dylan said. “So here’s a pertinent question—you planning on marrying Leslie?”

“That’s between us. And by the way, she’s not pregnant…”

Jack stepped in front of them, delivering a couple of beers. “I have some experience with this if you’re interested.”

“No,” they said in unison.

“Jeez,” Jack said. “Have it your way.” And he moved away and went into the kitchen.

Conner turned toward Dylan. “I take it you’ve never found yourself in this position before?”

“Nope,” Dylan confirmed. “You?”

“Nope,” Conner said. Then he shrugged and added, “Can’t say why. I’ve never proven myself to be all that smart.”

Dylan laughed in spite of himself. “Katie thinks you walk on water…”

“She’s biased. So, what’s your plan, big shot?”

“Well, it’s simple. I have a meeting in L.A. tomorrow night—should be quick. Then like I said, I have to go back to Montana—I think the kids will like it. It’s a lot like here, but rougher sometimes, like in winter. Winters can be brutal. It’s small, nice people, good schools, clean air, very big sky…”

“Right. So—suppose they like it?”

“If they like Payne and like me, that could make life pretty easy since we should all be together.”

“In Montana…”

“Where to live is up to Katie, all right? If she can’t stand the idea of being away from you, we’ll work with that. I can probably find some kind of job around here…”

“What’s this crap about you being some kind of big star?” Conner asked.

“A long, long time ago. I’m a has-been, and frankly I like it that way. I wouldn’t want to raise the twins in Hollywood. Or this new one, either. I’d rather raise them on egg and milk money.”

“And what the hell does that mean? Egg and milk money?”

“My little airport can probably support a couple of families just on plane storage, maintenance, a few charters, the occasional instruction. The airport is on my ranch, which is about sixty acres—a few cows, some chickens, some goats. I have a hand who likes taking care of the animals. We sell eggs and stock—he bought us a bull several years ago. The little bit of laying and breeding we do just about covers his salary. I lease some grazing land to a rancher but Ham, that’s my hand, he has a big summer garden at my place. We hunt and fish. We process our kill and eat it all winter.”

“You’re not rich?” Conner asked.

“Nope.”

“No big star money?”

“Nope. But I get by pretty well. The way I live—it’s healthy.”

“And you fly? Leave home a lot?”

“Less often than a commercial pilot. And it’s a tight community—we all look out for each other. I live in the valley and we have lots of wildlife—ours can be a little more challenging. We have the occasional grizzly—a lot more aggressive than black bear, but they tend to like the mountains. We have moose, deer, elk, coyote, mountain lions, bobcats, wolves. We have dogs who wake us up if the wolves or cats start pestering the chickens or goats. We keep the barn and pens secure against predators. Why buy a chicken or goat to feed to wolves?” Dylan took a drink of his beer. “Boys and girls grow up strong and healthy.”

Conner put his elbow on the bar and leaned his head on his hand. “I think I want to see this place.”

“Fine,” Dylan said. He smiled. “Summers,” he suggested. “Maybe every other Christmas.”