43
" Brie is back in town. She’s with Mike.” “Really?” Mel said, suddenly giving him her attention. She closed the laptop and put it aside. “I haven’t seen her. When I was leaving the bar, her Jeep was parked next to Mike’s car. She came to Mike. Not to us—to Mike.” She shrugged. “Well, that makes sense. He loves her.” “How do you know that?” Jack asked. “How could you not?” she asked. Jack sat back on the couch. “I thought he was just trying to get laid.” “That’s pretty irrelevant,” she said, laughing. “You’re all trying to get laid. Some of you actually love the women you’re trying to get close to.” “You act like we’re all just a bunch of bulls being led around by our dicks.” She laughed at him, gleefully for a woman who was annoyed to be pregnant, and moody to boot. “Do I? I wonder why?” “So you think this makes sense?” “Extraordinary sense. It even makes me nostalgic.” That caused him to smile devilishly. “Nostalgic enough to take me to bed?” “Tell me something—are you letting go of this weird control thing you have over Brie?” “Yeah,” he said, almost tiredly. “It’s not like I haven’t wanted her to have a full life. I thought she was going to have that with Brad, the shit. It was Mike who worried me—he’s been such a frickin’ tomcat.” He glanced at his wife’s disapproving expression. “Yeah, yeah, let’s not go over that again. We all made our rounds.” “I doubt he made any more rounds than you,” she said. “It was just the marriages that got under my skin,” he said. “So help me God, if he marries her and walks away from her, I am going to kill him.” “Looks to me like he’s totally sunk,” she said. “A complete goner.” “Fine, "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
44
" It’s almost Thanksgiving,” she said. “You’re sure you want to stay here?” He shrugged. “Mel and Jack can’t leave—she has babies coming. Preacher and Paige are here—that’s family. If you want to go to Sam’s, I’ll do that with you. But I don’t want to go to L.A. yet.” “You aren’t keeping me a secret from the Valenzuelas, are you?” “God, no, I’ve told them all, every one of them. I even told them to look out—you’re bilingual and tricky. But I’m not ready to share you. In my mother’s Catholic household, it would be separate bedrooms because we’re not married. Even though I’m thirty-seven and she knows we’re living together—it’s her Catholic home. We could stay in a hotel, but I think we’ll visit later. Just give me a little more time. I’ve never been this happy in my life and all day long I look forward to when we’re finally alone together.” He played with the hair that fell to her shoulder. “I’m greedy. This is the best my life has ever been.” “What about Christmas?” she asked him. “What about it?” “Will your family be upset it we go to Dad’s for Christmas? Because my whole family plus Mel’s sister, brother-in-law and the kids will be there—and I want to be with them.” “Then that’s where we’ll be. We can join the Valenzuelas another time. You have to remember, mija—my family is so large that my parents don’t expect to have all the kids together with their own families every year. We’ll do Christmas with them another year.” Thanksgiving "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
47
" After Mel and Jack return, if you’re not in a hurry to get back to Sacramento, how about if we take a day and go over to the coast. I don’t know if we’ll catch the whales, but there’s a lot of stuff over there. Art galleries, wine-tasting rooms, trails to the headlands and beach, nice restaurants. We could just be tourists for a day.” “Would you be thinking of that as a…date?” He grinned. “I would,” he admitted. A smile tilted her lips. “I could do that,” she said. “Were you good friends with your wives before you married them?” “I shouldn’t really answer any more questions about that. About them,” he said. She sat up a little. “Why not?” “It could give you an unfair advantage in staging my heartbreak. I want to level the playing field.” It made her laugh. Or the beer made her laugh. But this was one of the things that was working on her—he didn’t take her too seriously, and yet he took her very seriously. And she trusted him, which both reassured and worried her. She pulled her feet back, tucking them under her, and turned toward him. “Were you?” she demanded. “Nah. I told you—I was always hunting.” “There’s more to the story,” she said. “Not very much more,” he said. “I’m "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
53
" He’s starting to get on my nerves when he does that thing about the women,” he said, taking her elbow and steering her toward the bluffs. “We’ve been all over that. He can give it a rest anytime. He had a million women before Mel. Two million.” She laughed at him. “You never mentioned to him that we spent a lot of time together over the summer,” she said. “I told you—it wasn’t because you’re Jack’s sister. I met you because of Jack—I care about you because of you.” “Did you tell him you spent the nights he was away in his bed?” Mike laughed. “Would I be walking around today if I had? You know that would put him in a black mood.” “You could have explained—I asked you to come, to stay.” “This would be Jack Sheridan’s little sister. He would’ve expected me to sit guard out on the porch.” “You didn’t tell him I got scared?” He slipped an arm loosely, cautiously, around her waist. “You would have told him if you had wanted him to know.” “Which one of us are you protecting?” she asked with a laugh. He was conscious that she didn’t pull away from him. “You and me, our privacy. What goes on with us just isn’t his business. If you want to know—he asked. I don’t know how he picked up the scent, since apparently no one clued him in. I must be losing my touch—I’ve become obvious. I used to be slicker than that. But he wanted to know if there was something going on between us.” “And you said…?” “I said that I would never do anything to hurt you and if he wanted to know anything, he should ask you. I suggested he be very careful about that because you consider yourself a grown-up.” That made her laugh rather happily. “Oh, I bet you really pissed him off.” “He’ll get over it. He pissed me off.” They "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
54
" And then Jack noticed another thing. A lot had been happening around here, he guessed. While Mel went out the door with David, Brie took a slight detour, finding Mike, who was in a conversation with Paige across the room. She reached for his hand and, holding it, said something to him. Something that made him smile. He leaned toward her and put a peck on her cheek, gave her upper arm a brief squeeze and out the door she went. That might not be a good thing, Jack thought. Brie didn’t know Mike the way he did. Once "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
55
" didn’t plan this,” Jack said. “But since it’s you and me—tell me about Brie.” “Tell you what, Jack?” “When she was leaving… It looked like there was something….” “Spit it out.” “You and Brie?” “What?” Jack took a breath, not happily. “Are you with my sister?” Mike had a swallow of his whiskey. “I’m taking a day off tomorrow—taking her down the Pacific Coast Highway through Mendocino to look for whales, see the galleries, maybe have a little lunch.” “Why?” “She said she’d like to do that while she’s here.” “All right, but you know what I’m getting at—” “I think you’d better tell me, so I don’t misunderstand.” “I’d like to know what your intentions are toward my sister.” “You really think you have the right to do that? To ask that question?” Mike asked him. “Just tell me what was going on between the two of you while I was gone.” “Jack, you’d better loosen your grip a little. Brie’s a grown woman. From where I stand, we’re good friends. If you want to know how she sees it, I think she’s the one you have to ask. But I don’t recommend it—she might be offended. Despite everything, she tends to think of herself as a grown-up.” “It’s no secret to you—she’s had a real bad year.” “It’s no secret,” Mike agreed. “You’re making this really tough, man…” “No, I think you are. You spent some time with her tonight. Did it look to you like anything is wrong? Like she’s upset or anything? Because I think everything is fine and you worry too much.” “I worry, yeah. I worry that maybe she’ll look to you for some comfort. For something to help her get through. And that you’ll take advantage of that.” “And…?” Mike prompted, lifting his glass but not drinking. “And maybe work a little of your Latin magic on her and walk away.” Jack drank his whiskey. “I don’t want you to do that to her.” Mike put down his glass on the bar without emptying it. “I would never hurt Brie. And it has nothing to do with whose sister she is. Good night, Jack. "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)
60
" He chuckled and, leaning over to pull off his boots, said, “You’ll get a good night’s sleep now. I’m staying the night.” “Oh,” she said nervously. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea….” “Relax, mija. Don’t I know everything you’re going through trying to get your life back? You can’t honestly think I’d do one thing to make you feel threatened.” “Well…” “Don’t insult me,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of unforgivable things, it’s true, but I’ve never been unkind to a woman. I am a gentleman. And you need sleep.” She thought about it for less than a second. “I know if you go, I’ll crack up. For God’s sake, when does it end?” “I’m not sure, but I know it does. It turns out this is just a little too soon for you. There’s no need for you to feel self-conscious about this. We just won’t mention it. No one watches my comings and goings. No one watches this cabin to see whose car is parked outside.” She gave a sigh and leaned back into the couch cushions. “I hate what this has done to me. I thought I was tougher.” “Jesus, don’t do that to yourself,” he said. “It’s bad enough what’s been done to you without adding that. It’s not a small thing to get over, Brie.” She "
― Robyn Carr , Whispering Rock (Virgin River, #3)