jack cracked out a big laugh. he put an arm around ricky's shoulders. something he couldn't help but wonder was how his life might have been different if he'd met his melinda when he was sixteen. they'd be broke and have twenty-seven kids by now. but he said, "iraq. what shit is that?"

"it's just the usual. i'll be fine."

"of course you will. there are some people i want you to meet. paul's new wife-she's something else. and i want you to meet her younger brother. he's slated for west point. daddy's a retired army three-star and the kid's a year younger than you. good kid. sharp. he's been seen around with brenda carpenter this whole past year."

"brenda? no kidding."

"you two-you should meet. talk. for both of you, virgin river will always be your base, you know?"

"yeah, jack. as long as you're here," he said.

"i hooked you up with some wheels."

"yeah?" rick asked.

"mel's not able to work yet, which leaves doc the humvee and his truck sitting idle. he says it's all yours."

"perfect," rick said. "i think i'll check in with my gram, then head over to eureka to find that girl. i mean, first things first, jack."

by noon on friday the first of the marines arrived in the person of joe benson from grants pass. he had hooked up paul's fifth wheel as his home away from home for the weekend and walked into jack's with rolls of parchment under his arm and a big grin on his face. he had preliminary architectural drawings for paige and preacher, mike and brie, sketches for paul and vanni. tables were pushed together, coffee was poured and plans were spread out.

only preacher and mike were available to scan the drawings as brie was at jack's helping mel with the babies and paige was sharing christopher's nap.

"how's mel doing?" joe asked jack.

"she's doing great, but she hates being stuck out at the house all the time. brie's bringing her and the little ones over later on, once most of the boys are here."

"she feeling okay now?"

"she gets tired real easy-and you can imagine how that pisses her off," jack said. "wait till you see her. she doesn't look like someone who damn near bought the farm three weeks ago. i'll tell you what, buddy. that about did me in."

"bad, huh?"

"boy howdy, as she would say."

by two, paul came into the bar and the reunion continued. for joe and paul, who hadn't seen each other in at least a few weeks, there was a hearty embrace, robust congratulations to paul. "i didn't figure to see you until much later," joe said.

"there's a maid of honor at the house," he explained. "i was told i was in the way. which suits me fine. and i think the general and tommy will be kicked out pretty soon, too."

next to arrive, josh phillips and tom stephens from the reno area, pulling up in a nice cushy rv, a new purchase for tom. finally, zeke, which made the crowd almost complete. "corny's putting in a no-show," jack explained. "he's got a baby coming in a couple of months and has to save his time off for that. number three. he's still chasing that boy."

beer was set up and at about four, paige came out of the back and walked right under her husband's arm. zeke was the first to spot her and sent up a whoop of excitement, rushing toward her with a huge grin on his face. "whoa, baby, look at you! damn me, girl-you're cooking a good one there!" he rubbed a big hand over her belly. "preacher, you dog-you did fine work here!"

"yeah, i sure did."

"you're about to pop, girl."

"pretty soon," she said, grinning. "how's your wife doing?"

"she's great," zeke said. "i thought i could sneak one more kid by her, but she says i'm all done. i don't know what her hang-up is. we only have four. you think four is enough?" he asked paige.

"i think that's more than i'm having." she laughed. "i don't know how you tricked her into that many."

"what can i say." he shrugged. "the girl's been lightin' my fire for almost twenty years now-since the first time i saw her in that cheerleading outfit." he whistled. "those pom-poms just knocked me out."

"to say nothing of that short skirt," someone supplied.

"and those itty-bitty panties," someone else remarked.

"i am so cut off," preacher grumbled.

"john," paige warned, though she couldn't help but laugh. joe was next, hugging her, checking out the stomach. right behind him, josh. "all right, all right," paige said. "one at a time! you guys," she happily admonished. this crowd of men, each one of them what would be called a man's man, so driven in the masculine pursuits of soldiering, hunting, fishing and the like, loved women, pregnant women especially, and the babies they brought. it was uncanny. and tremendous fun.

doc turned up for his whiskey, the general and tom finally came in. jack pressed a beer into tom's hand.

"where's the cop?" the general asked with amusement. "this kid's underage!"

"i get around that by giving it away," jack said. "in fact, when this crowd's here, i end up giving away the bar!"

"hey, where's rick?" someone asked.

"he went over to eureka to fetch lizzie," jack said. then he grinned and added, "wednesday."

the place was soon throbbing with the noise of men, and paige made her escape, but not without the plans joe brought. the barbecue was lit, the party spilled out onto the porch when doc's old truck rumbled into town and stopped in front of connie and ron's corner store across the street. a hush fell over the crowd. the marines who hadn't already been outside quietly gathered there as rick got out, helped his girl out to go visit her aunt and uncle, but not before pulling her to him for one last kiss. the moment their lips met, the marines sent up a wild cheer.

the couple bolted apart in surprise. rick saw them and his face was split in a huge grin. the cheering and jeering continued and with his arm still around lizzie's waist, he obliged the crowd by pulling her against him again to finish what he started. then he let her go, gave her a little pat on the rump and sent her into her aunt's store.

tom leaned toward paul and said, "i hope brenda stays indoors until these whack jobs leave town."

"aw, don't worry, tom. they wouldn't do that to you."

"no?" he asked.

"no way. you're army." he grinned. "it's just not the same stuff, tom."

to the welcoming cheers, rick walked across the street and stopped in front of the bar's porch. "you guys are so frickin' rude," he said with a smile.

"hey, jarhead," someone yelled. "last i heard, eureka was only a couple hours away."

"make a stop or two, buddy?"

"he looks pretty loose to me."

"come on up here, pal-we don't have much time before the invasion of women! i wanna hear about recon training. they scare you?" rick was asked.

"they did," he replied. "reconnaissance rappelling looked like a suicide mission to me, but then i just couldn't stop doing it. it's such a rush. and i got pushed out of an airplane a few times-that really turned me on."

"i don't know," zeke said, shaking his head. "airplanes make me throw up. well, not regular airplanes. but when i'm in one painted up in camouflage with about a hundred and fifty pounds of gear on my back, it just does something to my stomach."

"'cause you're a sissy," rick said, laughing.

the next to arrive to a huge and affectionate welcome was mel and brie and jack's babies. jack took immediate charge of david, but couldn't hang on to him long as he was passed around and admired. next came vanni and her girlfriend nikki. "hey," she said, smiling. "is this some kind of bachelor party?"

joe benson was sitting up at the bar when these last two women walked in, and he was brought instantly off the stool and to his feet. nikki, small and dark-haired with big dark eyes and a small pink mouth, knocked the wind out of him for the second time. he had to shake himself. he'd met her briefly a couple of months ago and the memory hadn't let him go. there was something about her that made his mouth drop open and his eyes shine. he couldn't stop staring at her.

paul hung on to little matt for vanni so she could be welcomed and introduce her maid of honor. steaks were turned on the grill, salad tossed, potatoes baked, ears of corn buttered and some of preacher's finest pies set out. there was feasting and laughter. toasts were made to rick, tom and the wedding couple. women disappeared to nurse babies and reappeared as the sun slowly set.

the general found paul. "you ready to take the plunge, son?"

"sir, i've been ready for a long time. i promise you, i'll do right by her."

"i have no doubt. nice group of men you have at your back."

"they are, sir. the best. thanks for making them welcome. thanks for sharing tom's going away with all of us."

"it's an honor, paul. it's good for him to see this-he'll have this in no time, a crowd of brothers, shoring him up. i'm going to miss that boy."

"we'll all miss him, sir."

"think you'll ever just call me walt? or even dad?" he asked.

paul smiled. "i don't know, sir. i think i'd kind of miss the edge."

as the evening aged and dinner was done, joe stepped out onto the porch, pulled a cigar out of his pocket and snipped the end. he struck a match against his shoe, when he heard a sound and looked up. nikki was leaning on the porch railing. "oh, sorry," he said, shaking out the match. "i didn't know anyone was out here."

she smiled at him. it seemed a shy smile, maybe a sad smile. "vanni's nursing the baby," she said, then looked upward again. "i couldn't figure out what she saw in a little town like this. but then i had a look at this sky."

joe stepped up beside her. "it's something, all right. nikki, isn't it?"

"yes. and you're joe. paul's friend from oregon."

"that's right," he said with a smile. she remembered him. she remembered him? "you must be a city girl."

"san francisco. what's grants pass like? big? small?"

"small, but not this small. twenty-three thousand, some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world."

"have you lived there a long time?"

"pretty much all my life. i have a big family there."

"lots of kids?"

"no kids." he shook his head. "no wife."

she frowned at him. "still single?" she asked.

"divorced."

"oh. sorry."

"no problem. it's been a long time. you?"

she looked away. "single," she said. "recently broken up, actually."

"oh, then i'm the one sorry," he said. "he must be an idiot."

she laughed. "he is. you can have your cigar. it doesn't bother me."

he slipped it into his pocket. "it'll keep. how long have you known vanni?"

"we started flying together eight years ago. she stopped flying when she got pregnant, so we don't see each other as often as we used to." she looked out at the sky again. "this is the second time i've been her maid of honor. she promises it's the last."