Shelter Mountain (13 page)

“Witnesses to this beating?”

“Plenty. There’s me, Preacher, Rick here, my wife, who took the woman to the doctor in Grace Valley. You can catch up with her later. It was an emergency.”

“Hey!” Lassiter yelled. “I’m over
here!
”

Henry glanced lazily over his shoulder and said, “Yeah? Then shut up.” Back to Jack, he said, “I suppose I can trust you to stay right here?”

“Where am I gonna go, Henry? I want to be sure Mel’s okay.”

“Tell you what we’re going to do. I’m going to book him. And if the sheriff wants you to come in, you drive on over. Okay?”

“Sure thing, Henry.”

He shook his head again. “I just can’t figure out why anyone in his right head would bother these Virgin River women.”

“Yeah. Makes no sense,” Jack said.

The baby spontaneously aborted—miscarried—before Doc and Mel could even get Paige to Grace Valley. John Stone and June Hudson loaded her in their ambulance and took her to Valley Hospital where, thankfully, a D and C caused the bleeding to slow and no further surgery was required.

When Paige woke from her procedure, she was told that fortunately it appeared there had been no further damage to her reproductive organs. She would only stay through the night for observation and could be released in the morning, but Dr. Stone wanted her to stay off her feet for at least a couple of days.

The next face she saw was Preacher’s. “Hi,” he said softly.

She reached for his hand. “Where’s Christopher?” she asked sleepily.

“He’s with Mel and Jack. They’re staying at the bar till I get back. I’ll keep him in my room through the night and bring him with me to pick you up in the morning.”

“Hmm,” she said.

“Paige, are you awake enough for me to tell you some things? I want to tell you without the boy.”

“Hmm,” she said. “I think so.”

“Here’s how it is. Wes was arrested. Paige, they found drugs on him. They wouldn’t tell me what, just that he’s going to be arraigned for a couple of felonies—battery, possession, defying an order of protection. He might make bail but he’s going to have to go to trial. Judge Forrest promises he’ll at least get a fast trial—and believe me, if I have to stand over you twenty-four hours a day until he’s in prison, I’m willing to do that. I’m so sorry I let this happen to you.”

“You did all you could, John,” she said sleepily.

“He’s not getting off this time. You did it, Paige. Okay? You with me, Paige?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m with you.”

“Then…” He stumbled. “Then, when he’s convicted and locked up, you can go home if you want to. Get your custody and divorce. He can’t get custody if he’s in prison. No ifs. Felons can’t get custody. He can’t keep you from getting a divorce.”

“Home?” she asked.

“You can do whatever you want.”

“How long will he be in jail?” she asked.

“No idea,” he said. “Your lawyer is trying to get them to add attempted murder to his charges, given the baby, but that’s a real stretch. Paige, I’m awful sorry about the baby.”

“That baby,” she said weakly. “I tried, but it just didn’t have a chance.”

He put his big hand softly against her tummy, the most personal he’d ever been with her. “I know you did. It wasn’t your fault. It was more my fault than yours.”

“John, stop saying that. Of all people, it was least of all your fault.”

“You’re as good as free.”

“Free. I won’t know how to act.”

“Think you’ll want to go back to L.A.?” he asked.

“I don’t know. So many bad memories.”

“If you want a place to sit for a while, while you think things over, you can have that room that smells like bacon in the morning for as long as you want.” Then very quietly, almost to himself, he said, “For life, if you want.”

“I could help out,” she said. Eyes closed, she smiled sleepily. “I could do dishes.” Her eyelids fluttered a little, but she couldn’t keep them open.

He brushed her hair back. “Jack wants to build a house,” he said. “It’s going to take him away from the business. I could always use the help. You and Christopher…”

“Hmm,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. “You’re done. You have to sleep.”

“Hmm.”

He leaned over and gently touched his lips to her forehead. “I’ll be back for you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

He started to leave and she said, “John?”

He turned back to her bed.

“Could I? Stay there until I feel better?”

His chest felt suddenly full, as if it might burst. He tried to tamp down hope, but it was impossible. “Of course. I love having you there. Everyone loves having you there.”

“It’s nice there,” she said, and her eyes closed.

P
aige was once again burrowed into the room over the kitchen, but this time her injuries were not terrible. She had to recover from her D and C by staying off her feet for a couple of days, and although she’d received a bloody nose, it was not broken. While she rested, Preacher watched Christopher. Via long distance, Brie helped line up a lawyer in L.A. to appeal to the court to reverse the order to return Christopher to his father, given his pending trial. Wes Lassiter made bail after three days and went back to Los Angeles, returning to his job before his employer could sniff out the arrest. Preacher was not content to take Lassiter’s lawyer’s word for that—he called Mike Valenzuela, who was happy to check, twice a day if necessary, to be sure that Lassiter was back at his job, hundreds of miles away from Virgin River.

It seemed as though things might calm down, at least until the trial, but then Mel was surprised by a patient she wasn’t expecting. A patient and condition she would never have anticipated.

Doc was off fishing when Mel’s friend Connie came to the clinic. Connie was in her early fifties, a good-natured little redhead who was still recovering from
cardiac bypass surgery that she’d had last May. She was almost back to her old self. With her was her niece, Liz. Upon seeing Liz’s face, Mel’s first reaction was to smile brightly, but then, noting that Liz’s eyes were downcast, her smile froze. Mel’s gaze drifted lower to the very slight rounding of her tummy, and she felt her heart plummet. Oh-oh. Then she stole a glance at Connie’s face and saw her friend grimace, then shrug, helpless.

Connie’s sister had sent Liz to her from Eureka last spring, right around the same time Mel had come to Virgin River. March. The reason was that Liz was a handful, too much for Connie’s sister to handle. She’d been reportedly running wild in Eureka. Both Connie and her sister thought Virgin River might calm the girl down, or at least prove to have fewer opportunities for getting in trouble than were available in the much larger town of Eureka. But when Connie had a heart attack in May, Liz was sent home to her mother.

“Hey there,” Mel said cheerfully. This was Mel’s work—she knew how to get beyond the shock, the panic. “Welcome back. How are you?”

“Not totally great,” Liz said.

“Well, it’s good to see you, anyway,” Mel said, reaching out and taking her hand. “I bet you’re here for an exam. Why don’t you come with me.”

Liz let herself be led to the exam room. The girl looked quite a bit different than she had last spring. She came into town looking like a hussie; she wore skirts no bigger than napkins, high-heeled boots, abbreviated tops, belly button ring, glossy lips and thick black mascara on her sexy long lashes—like an ad for
Playboy.
And at the time she was all of fourteen, a very beautiful, provocative fourteen who looked more like eighteen. No wonder her mother had been terrified. Now she was clad in jeans and a bulky sweatshirt that was pulled down to cover her
tummy, but it was still evident she was pregnant. Her makeup was much more natural looking and conservative than it had been, but she really didn’t need it at all. She was lovely. And she actually looked younger today than she had last spring. Younger and more vulnerable.

Rick had taken one look at Liz last spring and went bonkers. Jack and Preacher had been looking out for Rick for years, kind of surrogate big brothers or dads. According to Jack, he’d had a serious talk with Rick about the dangers of intimacy, especially with such a young girl. After Liz went home to her mom, Rick had told Jack that they were no longer seeing each other. Knowing Rick, the kind of young man he was, Mel couldn’t imagine that he would get her pregnant and abandon her. He just didn’t seem like that kind of boy. Mel thought perhaps Liz had wasted no time in finding herself a fella back in Eureka.

“So,” Mel said to Liz. “Want to tell me why you’re here?”

“I’m pregnant. Obviously.”

“Have you been examined by a doctor yet?”

“No. I wasn’t sure I was until…I thought I was just getting fat.”

“Liz, how many periods have you missed?”

She shrugged. “Who knows? I hardly ever got any, anyway. I never knew when I was supposed to.”

“Do you have any idea how far along you might be?”

“I have a perfect idea. Since there’s only been one person. One guy. One time.” She lifted her clear blue eyes and looked directly into Mel’s.

Mel had a brief and delusional hope that Rick had escaped this mess. She asked, “If that’s the case, if you can remember the approximate time of conception, it will help us set a due date.”

“May 7th,” she said, and her eyes grew moist.

Rick, she thought. Damn. Two days before the heart attack that sent Liz home to her mom. And it made her
even further along in her pregnancy than Mel was. “Well, first things first. Let’s examine you and see how you’re doing. Can you put on his gown for me? Everything off, bra, panties, the whole bit.”

“I’ve never…I haven’t ever had one of these….”

“It’s okay, Liz. It’s not terrible. I’ll give you a few minutes to undress and when I come back, I’ll explain everything as I go. I promise you’ll be fine. Once you’re sexually active, it’s very important to have regular exams, pregnant or not.”

Even if Liz hadn’t delivered that date of conception, any of Mel’s curiosities would have been quickly answered when she found Connie in the waiting room. “My sister,” Connie said with an ounce of disgust. “She said, she got knocked up in Virgin River, she can go back there and have the baby. You’d think I did it.”

Mel shook her head. “It happens, Connie. Too often.”

“I don’t know which one of them I want to kill most.”

“No killing,” Mel said, reaching out and giving her hand a pat. “Let’s just get them through it and see if they can have their young lives back.”

“Stupid idiots,” Connie said. “What were they thinking?”

Mel sat down beside Connie for a second. “What gives you the impression they were thinking? If they were, they were thinking below the waist. How are you feeling? We don’t want your blood pressure up.”

“Ach, I’m fine. This just took me by surprise.”

“I have a feeling it’s going to take everyone by surprise.”

“How the hell could she not know?”

“Oh, Connie, you’d be amazed at how tight denial can keep those fourteen-year-old tummy muscles.”

“She’s fifteen now. Not that it matters too much.”

Mel heard herself laugh, though humorlessly. “It’s slightly less stunning. Let me take care of my patient while you practice deep breathing. Hmm?”

Liz was already more than five months pregnant. Almost six. She might’ve felt the baby move already, but she wasn’t sure. She thought it was just gas. She thought her breasts were sore because her period was coming. This was so typical of a young girl, especially a young girl who wasn’t getting regular periods. She was oblivious to the changes in her body, combined with an overwhelming desire for it not to be so.

“You’re staying here now?” Mel asked. “With your aunt Connie?”

She shrugged. “I guess so. If she doesn’t just throw me out.”

“You know she wouldn’t do that. Does this mean you’ve decided to have the baby?”

“Yes. What else can I do?”

“At this stage, your options are definitely limited.”

“I’m having it. I can’t do anything else now.” She took in a ragged breath. “This is going to be really bad.”

“How can I help you, Liz?” Mel asked.

She just shook her head miserably. “I don’t think anyone can help me now.”

“Honey, you’re not the first teenager to get pregnant. I won’t kid you—there will be some tough times, getting through this. But you will get through it.”

“I’m just hoping to get through today.”

“What’s so important about today?” Mel asked.

“I guess I better tell him. Huh?”

“He doesn’t know,” Mel said, and it was not a question.

“No.” She lifted her eyes and they welled with tears. “He’s going to be so mad.”

“Sweetheart, you didn’t get this way alone. You remember that. I’ll give you a few days to settle in, then we’ll drive down to Grace Valley and get an ultrasound. You’ll be able to see your baby. I think you’ll be able to determine the sex, if you want to know.”

“Okay,” she said. “Yes, I want to know.”

“You can think about who you would like to deliver your baby. You’ll meet the OB in Grace Valley when you have the ultrasound, and given this is a first pregnancy, there’s plenty of time for you to get to Valley Hospital. Or, you can have the baby here, but I don’t administer anesthesia, something you might want to keep in mind.”

“Okay. I don’t know what to do yet,” she said.

“You take your time. Some advice?”

“Sure,” she said. “Join the club.”

“Don’t wait. Tell him right away. Get that part behind you.”

Liz shuddered. “Yeah,” she said. “I know.”

Rick parked his little truck right next to Jack’s behind the bar and, whistling, he bounded up the back steps and into the kitchen. Preacher was rolling out dough for pies, and right beside him, sitting up on the counter crosslegged and pounding at his own little wad of dough, was Christopher. Preacher’s shadow. Rick tousled the boy’s hair. “How you doing, buddy? Makin’ pies?”

“I’m making my own,” he said, concentrating.

“Good for you,” Rick said.

Preacher said, “Rick, there’s someone out in the bar here to see you.”

“Oh, yeah?” he said, grinning.

“Listen, Rick,” Preacher said. “Nice and easy, Rick. Take it nice and easy. Use your head. Think before you talk, okay?”

“Yeah?” he said again, in question.

Rick went into the next room and saw that Jack was behind the bar serving beer to a couple of men. He met Rick’s eyes and his expression was real serious. Then he inclined his head slightly, into the room. Rick glanced across the room to a corner table, and when he saw her
there, his eyes lit up and he grinned. Liz, he thought. Oh, God—
Liz!
His heart actually started to hammer—he hadn’t seen her since last May and he had missed her like mad! He couldn’t imagine the number of times he thought about her. He’d
dreamed
about her.

As he walked quickly around the bar toward her, she stood. And as she stood, her hands automatically went to her middle, as if holding up her round tummy, and the bottom suddenly dropped out of Rick’s world. He stopped dead in his tracks, stunned. Paralyzed. His mouth hung open and his eyes went from her face to her belly to her face. He wanted to run for his life. He wanted to die.

From across the room he could see that tears instantly gathered in her eyes. She was scared, he could see that. He heard Preacher’s voice in his head—nice and easy; think before you talk. He managed to close his mouth, swallow and take slow steps toward her. As he neared, she lifted her chin bravely, even though a big, fat tear spilled over.

His head was spinning. How could this be? It couldn’t be his—she said she was okay—no baby. Next thought—I’m a senior in high school and the only girl I ever did anything with is pregnant, standing here right in front of me, scared to death of me. While I’m scared to death of
her…
Please, God, let this not happen to me.

Then, helplessly, What does she think—I’m going to blame
her?

And then he concentrated real hard, as if grabbing hold of his brain—get a grip. A pregnant girl you did it with is standing in front of you, scared to death of you. He heard Jack in his head—it’s not enough to feel like a man, Rick—you have to think like a man. Do the right thing.

He had limited options. He could run, he could deny, he could pass out, and when they brought him around, she and her belly would be gone.

Another tear spilled down her cheek while he was in
shock. He tried to imagine what Jack would do, because he admired and respected Jack. What would Preacher do? And he got a picture in his mind of Preacher watching over Paige and Chris. He decided that no matter what he was feeling, he’d just act like them. He’d deal with the real issues later. For now, he was at least going to look like a man.

He stood in front of her, looked into her eyes, her terrified eyes, and managed a soft smile. He put an arm around her waist and drew her close enough to put a kiss on her forehead. His life was unraveling, but what he noticed was that she smelled so good—like he remembered. “Lizzie,” he whispered. She let her head drop against his shoulder and he could feel the trembling, feel her shoulders quaking. He pulled her against him and held her. “Don’t cry,” he whispered. “Come on, Lizzie. Don’t cry.”

He looked over his shoulder at Jack and Jack solemnly inclined his head toward the door. He turned back to Liz. “Come on. We have to go somewhere and talk. Come on,” he said, his arm around her waist, leading her out of the bar as she leaned against him in tears.

He led her out behind the bar where there were no people, where they were alone, and stood with her under a tree. “Here now,” he said. “How we gonna talk if you cry?”

“Rick,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Rick.”

He lifted her chin with a finger and took in her red eyes, her chapped cheeks. He tried to keep his voice soft. Tender. “What happened, Lizzie? You said it was all right.”

She shrugged. “I thought it was. It seemed like that’s what you wanted me to say.”

“Only if it was true,” he said.

“I didn’t know, that’s all. I just didn’t know.”

“I thought you got your period. Didn’t you tell me that?” he asked her.

She shrugged again. “I never got ’em very much. I only had, like, four last year, all year. You asked me every day, so I said it was okay, so you’d stop asking me. And you broke up with me. Right then. That minute. On the phone. Pretty soon, that was all I thought about…not anything else. Just that you broke it off. That you didn’t want me. Like I did something wrong, something bad. I felt like such a—”

“Stop. You didn’t do anything wrong,” he said, ashamed of how he’d made her feel.

“That’s how it felt,” she said in a whimper.

It took him less than half a minute to remember those details, and to feel like total crap at the accuracy. Just a couple of days after the little mishap that caused this pregnancy, Liz went home to her mom in Eureka. He called her all the time, kept asking her if she was okay, if she’d gotten her period so they could relax that they hadn’t been caught. Finally she said yes, they were okay. And in that very same conversation he told her they should cool it, not see each other anymore. He told her he cared about her, but holy God—they obviously couldn’t control themselves. And they were both too young to get caught with a baby.