Robyn Carr

by Moonlight Road

  “Great,” he said, sitting up beside her. To Jack he asked, “What are the chances Preacher’s still making breakfast?”

  “For you? I don’t see a problem. Coffee?”

  “Please,” he said, giving the bar a couple of taps. “How’s the Sheridan family?”

  “Growing, always growing,” Mel said. “If we can get David to stop peeing in the yard, we’re going to really celebrate.”

  Jack leaned on the bar. “Tell her, Aiden—men love it when they figure out they can pee anywhere. Women hate it. Women hate the complexity of their sit-down lives. This is why I put the seat down—it’s pity. I realize they have it rougher. Plus, we just have to shake…they have to wipe. Life just isn’t fair sometimes, is it?”

  Aiden couldn’t help but laugh. “If you think I’m getting anywhere near this discussion, you’re delusional.”

  “Fine, be a wimp,” Jack said, pouring him a coffee. “I’ll go back and talk Preacher into one more omelet.”

  “That would be appreciated.”

  Mel turned toward him. “You still logging on hiking miles?” she asked.

  “More or less. And other stuff. Mostly kicking back—but I did have a quasi-interview with a couple of OBs who have a practice in Redding. Great practice, but I don’t know about the location…”

  “What are you looking for? As far as location?”

  “Not sure,” he said with a shrug, lifting his coffee to his lips. He took a sip and lowered it to the bar. “Maybe more to the south…”

  “Bigger city? Like maybe San Francisco? John Stone from Grace Valley was in an OB practice in Sausalito. Very successful, well-known and according to John, totally dysfunctional practice. Maybe you should talk to him about it, just so you can avoid the well-known dysfunctional shops.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Seriously, south of here? Like, where?”

  He thought for a second, then felt himself smiling automatically. “Really, not sure, but I’ve just started kind of seeing a woman from Chico….”

  “Erin?” Mel asked immediately, with excitement in her voice. “Erin Foley?”

  “You know Erin?”

  “I do!” she said. “Oh, I love Erin. She’s awesome, isn’t she? How did you meet her? Because she’s way out there on the mountain and hardly ever comes to town.”

  “I was hiking,” he said. “I put in a lot of miles around these hills and valleys and came across her cabin.” He decided to leave out the part about the concussion, but if he knew anything about Virgin River, plenty of people probably already knew.

  Jack came out of the back and said, “You lucked out—no grumbling from the cook. He’s working up an omelet and some sausage patties.”

  “Jack, Aiden has been seeing Erin Foley!” Mel said rather enthusiastically. “Isn’t that great news?”

  “I guess so,” Jack said with a shrug. “Women get a lot more excited about those kinds of hookups than men do. I’ll tell you this, though. This place? A lot of guys, including me, come here thinking they’re just going to have a quiet, peaceful life, do a little fishing, maybe in your case, hiking. But if you happen to run into a woman here—it’s curtains, man. Quiet is out the friggin’ window.”

  “Jack,” Mel scolded with a little laugh.

  “It’s the truth, baby. I’ve seen it a dozen times, starting with me. I was way past getting married and having a family when this hot little mama came sashaying into town and I fell hard.”

  “Bet you fought it like a man, though, didn’t you, buddy?” Aiden asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

  “I fought it not at all, my brother. She did all the fighting, but I trapped her.” He leaned toward his wife and gave her a small kiss. “Preacher will bring out your breakfast, Doc. I have to drive over to Eureka for supplies. We have a big town picnic on Monday.”

  “So I heard.”

  “You’re coming, aren’t you?”

  “Me and every Riordan and Booth within a hundred miles.”

  Jack’s lips split in a huge grin. “Now, that’s what I like to hear.” To his wife, he said, “I’ll be gone about three hours, baby. Can you manage without me taking Davie along?”

  “I’m keeping the babysitter all day. I’m going to catch up on some paperwork at the clinic and then I’m going home early. If there’s nothing going on, that is.”

  “Perfect,” he said. “Later, Doc.” And he was gone.

  Aiden focused on Mel. “So. I’ve known Erin a few weeks at most. How long have you known her?”

  “I met her a couple of years ago, but hadn’t seen her till she came back up here this summer. I know her sister, Marcie. Marcie came up here in search of her late husband’s sergeant—her husband’s best friend and the man he served under in Iraq. Well, actually, Ian wasn’t just his sergeant and friend, but the man who saved Bobby’s life. But sadly, Marcie’s husband was catastrophically wounded—a quad with severe brain damage. He lived in a nursing home for a few years before a sweet, quiet death. And Ian was holed up in that cabin, almost as unresponsive as Marcie’s husband. Do you know Marcie?”

  “I haven’t met her, no,” Aiden said.

  “Well, she’s a spitfire. She was determined to find Ian and make sure he was all right, that he didn’t have posttraumatic stress disorder or whatever. Ian had risked his life to save Bobby’s and had been wounded in the process, then just disappeared. So Marcie felt she had to know what happened to him. But Erin was very concerned. She came up here to bring Marcie home.” Mel laughed and shook her head. “Marcie wouldn’t go and Erin was a little beside herself. She was used to calling the shots in the family, used to being the parent figure…”

  “I guess things worked out,” he said. “Marcie’s the one having a baby, right?”

  “That’s right. I haven’t seen Marcie since just before Christmas. She and Ian like to come up here for the lighting of the town tree.”

  “I hear they’re due back for a visit—maybe they’ll come into town.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” Mel said. “She’s an amazing young woman, but all that determination…I just can’t imagine what it must have been like raising her.”

  Preacher brought out a steaming plate and placed it in front of Aiden. “Morning, Doc,” he said. He reached under the bar for utensils rolled in a napkin. “That do it for you?”

  “Perfect. I really appreciate it.” Then to Mel he said, “Erin said her folks have passed away, so I guess you’ll never know.”

  “Erin would be the one to ask. She raised her brother and sister.”

  The fork was midway to Aiden’s mouth and stopped in midair. “She said she had a lot of responsibility….”

  “Well, that’s putting it mildly. Erin’s mother died when she was eleven years old. Marcie was four and her little brother, Drew, was about two years old—still in diapers. As I understand it, their father was kind of oblivious—grief-stricken and all. When he wasn’t grief-stricken and oblivious, he was working and Erin was needed to manage the house and kids. Erin rushed home from elementary school and then junior high to babysit, clean house, do laundry, start dinner and get babies settled into bed. Then, when the younger kids were just teens and Erin was in her first semester of law school, their father died. I think the youngest was thirteen. Really, she’s been mothering since she was eleven.”

  The prom, he thought. “Eleven?” he asked. He put a forkful of omelet in his mouth, though his horrendous appetite seemed to have dried up.

  “Quite something, isn’t it? And it’s not as though she got them to the age of eighteen and could finally have a life of her own. Drew went to college and then medical school—Marcie said he’d never have made it without Erin. Oh—and Marcie? Well, she had a disabled husband and gives Erin all the credit for eking every available benefit out of the Marine Corps for his care. And she didn’t just manage that—she was there at the nursing home along with Bobby’s family and Marcie, helping hands-on. I know she doesn’t look like your average nurse’s aide, but
Erin was as involved as anyone in the two families.”

  He took another bite, though he could barely swallow. Eleven? A full-time law student running herd on teenagers? A lawyer with a busy practice helping to care for a disabled marine in a nursing home? “Sounds like she had to work unbelievably hard her entire life….”

  “To tell the truth, I think she missed a lot of her childhood,” Mel said. She jumped off her stool and walked around the bar. She grabbed the coffeepot and refilled his cup. “Marcie and Ian just moved out of her father’s house last summer. Drew went to L.A. to start his residency in orthopedics. I don’t think Erin’s had a life of her own before now.” Then she smiled. “You just can’t imagine how happy it makes me to think you’ve been seeing her. A good man to pass the time? That’s perfect. So, don’t tell me anything that will make me blush, but how do you pass the time?”

  Aiden grinned at her and it was the best acting job he’d ever pulled off. “Well, let’s see—I chased a bear out of her kitchen.”

  “Get out!”

  “I did. I think that’s what made her decide I was man enough for other activities. She was baking cookies, left the doors open while she was in the bathroom and Yogi paid a visit. There’s a bear out there somewhere with a bellyful of chocolate-chip cookies and cookie dough. Then I took her biking along the coast and almost killed her—apparently she hadn’t indulged in any strenuous exercise that lasted longer than fifteen minutes. So, next, we had dinner together—lifting the fork worked out. A little sightseeing, a lot of getting to know each other…you know…”

  “It’s been a long time, but I think I remember. Jack took me to see the whales.”

  “I guess since we’re all going to be around town for the Fourth, we’ll meet each other’s families,” Aiden said. “I’m anxious to meet Marcie and Ian, but I don’t know if I’m ready to introduce Erin to my family.”

  “Why ever not?” Mel asked in surprise. “You have a wonderful family!”

  “Have you met my brothers? Do they ever shut up?”

  “Oh, I see—you’re going to be teased.”

  “Pretty much relentlessly,” he said.

  She patted his arm. “You’re a big boy. You’ll get through it. And if it’s any comfort to you, I won’t tease you. And if Jack starts, I’ll step on his foot.”

  “Very nice of you, Mel,” he said.

  She looked at her watch. “I’m going to leave you. I want to get that paperwork finished so I can get home early today. When you’re ready to settle up, Preacher’s in the kitchen. Just poke your head in.”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  “Good luck on the job search, Aiden. I wish you were staying close, but I understand your need to find a bigger town. We can’t really support another OB around here.”

  “Mel? Do you think Erin missed things that she still thinks about sometimes? You know—things that the rest of us took for granted. Like football games and dances? Sports and other after-school stuff. The prom? Things like that?”

  “Probably. She’s been completely devoted to Marcie and Drew for twenty-five years. That wouldn’t have left much free time. And I do know she never moved out of her parents’ house. Most young people go away to college, get horrible first apartments with equally horrible first roommates. But Erin never left home because of the kids.”

  He was quiet for a moment before he said, “What an amazing woman.”

  “Isn’t she? I’m so glad you two met.” She walked briskly toward the door. “See you Monday at the picnic, Aiden.”

  “See you,” he said. But he was thinking, she rushed home from school for child care and chores, and did that for twenty-five years? Aiden had grown up on the poor side, but he’d never missed a thing. He’d gone to the prom; he’d thought it was a totally useless waste of money not to get laid. It took quite a few years to recognize that girls didn’t see it the same way. But the way Erin thought of it? That was way out of his experience.

  He took his plate back to the kitchen and put it on the counter. “Hey, Preach. What do I owe you?”

  Preacher looked at it and scowled. “Was something wrong with it?”

  “It was perfect,” Aiden said. He rubbed a hand on his stomach. “I ate some fish last night that was a little off, y’know? I didn’t want to press my luck.”

  “Well, hey, I can’t charge you if you can’t eat it.”

  Aiden laughed. “How you guys make a living is beyond me. Pretend I ate it. What’s the damage?”

  “Eight,” Preacher said.

  “And coffee?” Aiden asked, pulling out his wallet.

  “Eight twenty-five.”

  He put a ten on the worktable. He added a dollar. He added another dollar and pushed it toward Preacher. Nowhere he’d ever lived could you get a huge breakfast like that for eight dollars. Maybe the navy mess, but that stuff could be inedible. Preacher’s food was fantastic. “Thanks,” he said to the cook.

  Preacher scooped up the bills. “And that, my friend, is how we make a living.”

  Ten

  Jack had supplies to get, for bar and kitchen stock as well as the Fourth of July picnic on Monday. He’d convinced Preacher they should supply the ribs and beer and that got the big man leafing through his recipes for barbecue ribs.

  But Jack had another mission. He had an appointment with Dr. John Stone.

  Jack had a lot of respect for John. Although Jack had ended up delivering his own babies, John had been good backup. But more important, John had saved Mel’s life when she’d suffered a postpartum hemorrhage. Of course, she’d lost her uterus, but John had tried to save it and understood that would be a hard loss for Mel. But her life, her life…What was there to think about? Jack couldn’t live without her.

  He only had to sit in the waiting room for ten minutes before John came out and shook his hand. “Jack, how you doing, man?”

  “Good, good,” Jack said. “It’s been a while. You coming out to the picnic on the Fourth?”

  “I don’t know, Jack—I heard fireworks are out…”

  Jack just laughed. “Listen, idiot, we don’t like to send sparks over a lot of dry timber in the middle of fire season. You could come for the company….”

  “Might think about that. Come on back. I have the office. Dr. Hudson snuck out early. Her son bit someone on the playground.”

  “Ew,” Jack said. “What do you do about biting?”

  “There are many unproven theories,” John said. “But no matter what you hear—don’t bite back. I think that gets you a visit from Child Protective Services.”

  They entered the small office, and while John went to sit behind the desk, Jack sat in a chair facing it. “We’re totally safe,” Jack said. “Social services still has us on a wait list for the newborn baby that was left on the clinic’s porch about four years ago.”

  They both laughed.

  “So,” Jack said. “You know why I’m here, right? To talk to you about how natural and everyday business this whole surrogate baby thing is for you…”

  “Was,” John said. “We don’t do so much of that here. We tend to refer. We did have a woman who had a baby for her sister and we handled prenatal care and delivery. The clinic I worked with in Sausalito had a very busy fertility business—we could do everything but create life in test tubes. We could harvest eggs, collect and freeze sperm, inseminate, implant fertilized ova. The subjects…or parents and surrogate had their own lawyers to negotiate the terms and we had a consultant to keep us legal, but yeah, it was a pretty regular event.”

  “A good option for women who can’t have babies on their own, I guess,” Jack said.

  “Really, it is,” John answered. “We don’t have many patients in the valley who are looking for help in that area. It’s expensive, for one thing. Insurance won’t cover it. But, Jack, if you’ve got all the stuff—the eggs, the sperm—and all you need is a womb…Think about it. Couples who couldn’t have children with their own DNA twenty years ago are doing it now for not much more tha
n the cost of adoption.”

  “Just a regular, standard, typical day at the office?” Jack asked with a big grin. “Tell me how that worked.”

  “Well,” John said, leaning back. “We had our own surgi-center. We could harvest a woman’s eggs there and use a very high-tech lab to freeze them and store them. We sent them the father’s sperm….”

  “You sent it?”

  John chuckled. “We collected it and sent it. We had a very private, nice little bathroom stocked with reading material—the staff called it the masturbatorium.”

  Jack burst out laughing. “You are shitting me!”

  “I am not lying.”

  “And if a guy wanted to stay in there all day…?”

  “We could go a long way toward the respect of a man’s privacy,” John said with a little chuckle. “I mean, who knows if it’s hard for him to get in the mood or if he’s trying to beat his record, no pun intended. A little vial of sperm went lickety-split to the lab to join the eggs. The mother or, if the mother didn’t have a viable womb, the surrogate, came to the clinic and we could either inseminate or implant. We had a very good success rate.”

  “And how many surrogates did this for a new house or a boat?”

  “That wasn’t my department. That’s between the surrogate and the parents, and it’s the legal department’s job to make sure all the laws—strict laws—are followed, which is why we refer from the Grace Valley Clinic. I can recommend some very good clinics not too far from—”

  Jack leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. He clasped his hands and hung his head. The small office fell silent. Finally he looked up at John. “This isn’t the thing to do,” he said quietly. “John, this isn’t the thing to do.”

  John leaned toward Jack. “What are you doing here? You said you wanted to talk about it. Mel led me to believe—”

  “I know. Mel led you to believe I was on board with this and wanted to know the particulars. Listen, John—that’s not how it is. I told her I didn’t like the idea. That we didn’t need more children. I told her if she wanted to adopt a kid that otherwise wouldn’t have a family, I could probably be talked into that, but…” He shook his head.