she was led through the foyer, past a gorgeous and huge great room with a beautiful marble fireplace, past a large dining room and huge kitchen, out onto a redwood deck that was furnished with handsome wicker patio furniture that would be as much at home in a living room as outdoors.

"this is an amazing house," vanni said.

"we'll give you the tour later if you want one," stan said. "a builder's house has to be a good house-people look at that. it's way more than we need, for sure, but marianne wants room for the family. what can i get everyone?"

"i'd love a beer," vanni said, sitting in one of the chairs outside.

marianne followed, still clutching the baby possessively, holding him against her. "sure, sweetie," she said to her husband without ever taking her eyes off the baby. she migrated to a chair near vanessa while paul went with his dad to get beer. "he's so beautiful," she said. "so sweet. is he a good baby?"

"he is," vanni said. "sleeps through the night and is hardly ever in a bad mood. but of course he gets a lot of attention, so i'm sure when he's older, i'll be in for it."

"no, you can't give a baby too much attention."

"paul tells me you have five grandchildren."

"yes," she said. "three boys, two girls. they're brilliant, each one. oh, i could eat this little one up!" marianne turned her eyes toward vanni and said softly, "i'm so sorry for your loss, vanessa. we miss him, too."

"thank you. i remember your card and flowers."

"it was so wonderful for paul to be with you when this one was born. he talks about it."

she laughed. "does he tell you about how hard he tried to get out of it?" she asked just as paul came back onto the deck to hand her a beer. he stood behind her chair and that hand was again on her shoulder.

"he doesn't admit to that, but it doesn't surprise me," his mother said.

vanni reached up to caress the hand that possessed her. and it wasn't until that moment that marianne's expression changed and she exchanged looks with her husband.

"yes, mom," paul said. "once i told vanni what wonderful grandparents you two are, she agreed to marry me. she even agreed to more children. so you see-i'm not going to die a lonely old man after all." vanni looked up at him and saw that his smile was soft.

"oh," marianne let go in a surprised breath. "oh, how long has this been going on?"

"for me, quite a while," paul said. "vanni just gave up the fight a little while ago. but i think she can convince you she's happy."

smiling, vanni said, "i'm happy. very happy."

stan stuck out a hand to his son. "congratulations, son. this is good news." then he stooped to put a kiss on vanni's cheek. "welcome, daughter," he said. "it's an honor. an honor."

all marianne said was, "excellent. i don't have to let go of this baby for a second!" then her face sobered and she said, "oh, forgive me, vanessa! i'm so happy to have you in the family." she grinned happily and said, "you and the baby!"

it wasn't long before the rest of the haggerty family arrived-mitch and jenny and their three kids, north and susan and their two-the women bearing food to contribute to a big family dinner. vanni was welcomed warmly with hugs, everyone offering their condolences for matt's death since the boys had grown up together. the baby was fussed over and passed from woman to woman. in no time paul had charge of the baby while vanni joined the women in the kitchen getting the meal on the table.

dinner with eight adults, five kids and a baby is a loud affair, but vanni felt so much more comfortable in the chaos than she ever had at the rutledges'. paul's mother, she thought, has such an ideal existence, surrounded by loving family, her life filled with happy noise and small children's arms around her.

this, vanni thought. this is what i want to do next.

before dinner was consumed, stan stood and raised a glass to toast vanessa and paul's engagement. excited whoops and hugs followed with questions about the when and where, to which vanni and paul could only answer, "the sooner the better. after all-we've known each other for years."

when dinner was over, the cleanup and female chatter continued, and vanni pitched in happily. it was during this time that she stole a look at paul, out on the deck with his father and brothers, jiggling mattie against his chest, trying to keep him from getting too fussy as he waited for his mother's attention. mattie was squirming anxiously, ready for a feeding, but paul was completely comfortable and confident.

when the last dish was put up, vanni asked marianne if she could borrow a bedroom to nurse the baby. "of course, sweetheart," the older woman answered. "but no one in this family is uncomfortable with a nursing mom, not even the children. do whatever you'd rather-take a bedroom or sit with us, it's entirely up to you. we're kind of homespun around here."

"what about the men?" vanni asked.

"they're even less uncomfortable." north's wife laughed. "the first time i put angie to the breast, demurely covered by a blanket, stan walked right over to me, lifted the blanket and said, 'marianne, honey, come and see how good this little critter sucks!'"

"oh, my," vanni said. "think they'll stay outside a while?"

"i think stan will give you time to get used to us before he pulls his tricks," marianne said with a smile. "not much time, though-take that as fair warning."

so vanni went to collect her son from paul and chose the great room, settling with the women, who had a hundred questions about vanni and paul and how the whole romance came to be.

on the deck, paul was talking to his business partners, his family. "i think there's money to be made in virgin river and the surrounding towns. when jack was looking for a contractor to help him finish his house, he couldn't find one, which was what brought me down there." he grinned. "that and all the overtime he paid."

"how would you prefer to do it?" mitch asked.

"i could extend the company into another branch and we could participate in any profits, or i could use my house equity to start my own company, since the house is paid for. i leave that to you."

"you have plenty of stock in haggerty construction," stan said. "if you want to cash out..."

"i don't want to pull money out of your company, dad."

"it's not mine, son. we've all put a lot of sweat equity into this operation-it's ours. we back each other up."

"vanni would move up here if i asked her to. but i have interests there. there are building contracts, there's vanni's dad, who's alone now. and...well, there's matt. i want mattie to have a connection to his dad, to know everything about what a great man he was." he shrugged. "we're close to grants pass-it's not a bad drive. if i hang on to the house, we could come back up here to work if there aren't contracts down there. you know i wouldn't be a stranger. but god, dad, it's a beautiful place. i'd love to raise a family there. i'd love to live there with my wife and children."

"then we'll set you up, son. sounds like a place primed for opportunity."

"we could provide jobs-there are a lot of people looking for opportunity in home construction. and a lot of city money comes up to us from the bay area. virgin river is isolated and grows slowly, but there are dozens of towns around the area just dying for renovation and new construction. i don't think you'll regret it-but i'd rather you not shoulder the risk. i can afford it."

stan grinned. "you saying we made you rich enough to start your own company?"

paul returned the grin. "you did, in fact."

"then you owe it to us to give us a piece of the action."

"i agree," mitch said.

"i hate to lose you," north said. "if you take on a new division, we'll have to put someone in charge of building operations up here. and damn, you're the best there is."

"i've been pretty absent since last fall. a long time now."

"true," stan agreed. "but it looks like it was a good investment, personally and professionally. anyone around here have cigars?"

"you have cigars," north said.

"i do, don't i?" stan said, getting up.

"you know," paul said. "you guys have to come down to virgin river. you're going to fit right in."

ten

w alt had begun making it a habit to be away from the house for long periods of time when paul was there for the weekend. he stretched out his stable chores and frequently took liberty out for long early-morning or early-evening rides. his reward for this new behavior was a decent night's sleep.

it appeared these trips to grants pass during the week would continue for a while, and the kids would be back on the weekends. he looked forward to seeing them, but they also needed their space. so, after friday night's dinner at the house, with tom out with brenda, walt left cleanup to paul and vanni and went for a ride.

he was moving along the river trail when an animal darted down the path toward him. it wasn't much more than a streak of brown fur and walt reined in patriot. he could hear horse's hooves and then the air was split with a loud whistle and that chocolate streak stopped on a dime. and sat. panting.

momentarily, a horse galloped up toward him, a pretty woman astride. she wore a cowboy hat, but even that wide brim couldn't hide her peachy complexion, rosy cheeks, pink lips. "good girl, luce. break."

the dog got out of her sit position, at ease, and wagged at her mistress.

"sorry," the woman said to walt. "i hope that wasn't a problem for you, or for your horse."

"we're fine. amazing little friend you have there."

"luce. she's a bird dog, still in training. i'm muriel. are we neighbors?"

"walt booth," he said. "i'm a little embarrassed. i've been meaning to bake you a cake and bring it over. welcome you to the neighborhood."

she laughed. "i'll bet you were planning to have your wife do that," she accused.

"widowed," he said, and he plucked his hat off his head in gentlemanly fashion. and curiously, he wondered what his hair looked like. that should have been his first clue.

"i'm so sorry," she said.

"years ago now," he answered, smoothing a hand over his head. "how about you? married?"

"several times," she said with a laugh. "i'm trying to quit."

"you shouldn't have much trouble. there aren't so many prospects in virgin river. what use do you have for a bird dog?"

"i've been known to hunt. i don't know how much of that i'll get in this year-i'm working on that house. but luce needs a little time on her skills and i should get her in the water before too long. keep her up to speed. i'd like to get a litter out of her in a couple of years, after we check her hips. she's got such a good line."

walt looked at her hands. they weren't fancy-girl hands. her manicured nails were short and she wore no rings.

"do you hunt?" she asked him.

"i haven't in a while, but i'm planning to get back into it. soon." it made her smile at him; she knew a flirt when she saw one. "i guess i thought you'd be breeding peacocks on that ranch. or something. not working on a house and training a bird dog."