“Of course they’re for you, sweetheart. Aren’t you the new mom?” She opened her arms to him and he held her a long moment. “You sure look wonderful for someone who just had a baby.”
“I’ve been very spoiled this week. Lots of help. When you need something, anything, this is the place to be.”
“You’re feeling good?”
“Fantastic. And she’s a good little girl.”
He peered into the cradle. “Ah, then where is she?”
“I’ll give you three guesses. I can’t get John to put her down.”
He chuckled. “Is he holding her while he’s stirring a pot?” Joe asked.
“Lord, I hope not. He said he was going to see if Christopher would lie down for a little nap and took Dana upstairs with him. The one who could use a nap is John. He must surely be exhausted.”
Joe laughed. “Here, honey—sit down. Tell me about it. Did you have an easy time?”
“I had a very long time. It wasn’t so much hard as it took forever. I was starting to think she’d never come. And John almost drove me out of my mind. After about twenty hours of labor, I was afraid he was going to go in after her.”
“He must have been pretty wound up,” Joe said. “Is he pestering you for another one yet?”
“Oh no, I think he’s going to lighten up on all those children he thought he had to have. The birth was kind of hard on John.”
“Really?” Joe said, surprised.
“Yeah, he doesn’t like to see me uncomfortable. And it turns out that this big man who can shoot and dress animals or carry wounded soldiers off the battlefield doesn’t do too well if there’s a drop of blood within ten feet of his wife.”
“He’s a little on the protective side,” Joe confirmed. “Think you’re going to be able to move out to the cabin soon? As soon as you do—we pour the extended-foundation slab and start tearing out walls.”
“Oh—I’m ready,” she said. “I can’t wait to get going on this building. We’re just going to move clothes and toys and the computer. Paul will cover everything, right?”
“It will all be protected—either in storage or pushed up against a safe wall and secured, but you’ll be able to get to it.”
A few minutes later, Preacher wandered in. He was holding the baby in the crook of his arm and she looked small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. Her little pink blanket was wrapped neatly around her, her bald head sticking out of the top, and he handled her as if she were attached to the inside of his forearm. “Joe!” he said, but he said it with quiet enthusiasm. “Great to see you, man.”
Joe stood and reached for the baby. “My turn, buddy. Let’s see what you made here.”
Preacher handed over the baby and Joe brought her into his arms. “God, she’s beautiful. I think you lucked out, Paige. I think she’s going to look like you.”
“John’s been worried that she’ll be six-four and three hundred pounds. I tried to explain that would take a lot more testosterone than she’ll have.”
“I want her to be sweet and beautiful like her mom,” Preacher said.
“How much did she weigh?”
“Eight-ten. Nice and big.”
“She looks like a five-pounder in your husband’s arms,” Joe said. “You two do good work.”
“My man, it was the hardest work I’ve ever done,” Preacher said.
“Um, John,” Paige said.
“I didn’t mean you didn’t work hard, baby, you know that. But I damn near worried myself into the ground. Mel almost had to give me something.”
“Was it everything you thought it would be?” Joe asked.
“It was way more than I thought it would be. I cried like a baby.”
These two, Joe thought. He wondered if they had any idea how cute they were. “We have to call Paul, tell him I’m here. And Brie and Mike. I think we have the plans final and I’d like to get out to the properties today so I can leave early tomorrow.”
“You have to take off so soon?” Paige asked.
“I’m afraid so,” he said. “I could have had the plans delivered, but I didn’t want to miss a chance to see the baby. And if Paul’s building schedule goes as planned, you’ll be in your new apartment in no time at all. You shouldn’t have to spend even six months in Jack’s cabin, which puts you back home before Christmas. Plus, if Preach can cook during the day in spite of the noise, the crews should be able to leave the property by dinnertime. I don’t think the bar will have to be closed much at all.”
“I can’t wait,” Paige said.
Phone calls were made and everyone convened in the bar to look at house plans. When everyone seemed in agreement about their plans, Joe and Paul went out to the general’s house so that Vanessa could comb over her plans, which took a couple of hours.
“Okay, let’s walk your property first,” Joe said to Paul. “Then you’re good to go. We’ll get the Valenzuelas on the way back to town. You have concrete ready?”
“Coming this week. Will you come back for dinner?” he asked Joe.
“I’ll take a rain check,” Joe said. “I want to visit with Jack and Mel a little bit tonight, so I’ll take dinner at the bar. Then I’m on the road early tomorrow morning.”
“Aw, I was hoping to get a little more time with you,” Vanni said.
“Next time, okay? It’s a quick trip for me.”
“Joe,” she said, laying a hand on his arm. “I can’t help but feel we’ve had a big misunderstanding. And it’s affected our friendship. Five minutes before Paul asked me to marry him, he told me I have the worst goddamn temper…and that I’m really hard to shut up. I think I might’ve overreacted.”
He chuckled in spite of himself. “The misunderstanding must have been between the woman and I.” He shrugged. “I still can’t figure out what went wrong. Our friendship is okay, Vanni. Be patient with me. This will pass.”
“I hope so, Joe. I’m sorry you were hurt. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions.”
“Hey,” he said, laughing it off. “What could you do? It’s not like I’m going to help you out with the details. Whatever she says is her business, but I’ve already said more than I like. I don’t want to betray her privacy.”
By five, Joe had left the drawings in Paul’s very capable hands and was headed back to Jack’s, where he found Mel and the kids waiting for him. Before long everyone but Vanni and Paul had gathered. There was a humorous debrief on Paige’s delivery that had them all laughing while they enjoyed Preacher’s broiled trout with rice.
Not long after Mel and the kids left, a group of Hot Shots, USDA federal firefighters, came in—a hand crew of about ten of the usual eighteen—getting everyone’s attention. Most of the firefighters used locally were inmates, felons, but since these guys were not, Jack and Preacher pushed tables together and set them up with beer as well as dinner in exchange for news. There had been a fire back in the Trinity Alps and these boys had been working it for two days. It looked to be contained and they were released to go home and wouldn’t be recalled. They were starved for decent food and a cold beer.
“I can’t believe I wasn’t even aware of it,” Jack said. “I can see for miles from my front yard.”
“Winds have been from the southwest, it’s up the mountain and we’ve had it curtailed to a slow, dense burn for twenty-four hours. I think we’ve got it now. We can’t be recalled for at least twenty-four hours, so we’re probably done with that fire. We’ll be headed to the Mogollon Rim in Arizona, if it’s still hot in two days.”
“Where exactly was this last one?” Jack asked.
“Only about twenty-five miles back there. Just over the mountain.”
Twenty-five miles was uncomfortably close; Jack and Preacher had a lot of questions for them about the winds, the weather forecasts, any controlled burns in the area. “There aren’t any controlled burns near the redwoods right now,” one of them said.
Jack set them up one more time, given they were on the way home and wouldn’t be going back into the forest. Of course he wouldn’t take a dime from them. “You keep our towns safe—you eat and drink on the house anytime you’ve been working a fire. It’s the least we can do. As long as you have a designated driver…”
They all laughed, a couple of them slapping one comrade on the back. “We always try to keep at least one Mormon on the crew—the designated good influence.”
As the hour grew later, Jack kept the bar open a little while longer so the firefighters could unwind. Joe sat up at the bar facing Jack. “You can pour me one good-night pop, then I’m getting out of your hair.”
“Sure you’re okay at that cabin?” Jack asked, pouring him a shot. “There’s room at the house.”
“Oh, Jack—it’s terrific. I’ll have the sheets washed and back on the bed in the morning before I leave. Then we’ll get Preacher’s family in there and start tearing up his apartment.”
“It’s really not necessary to do laundry. There are a lot of women around town who like a little housekeeping work.…”
“Nah, I’ll handle it. I appreciate the hospitality.”
“And that other matter?”
“What other matter?”
“The woman. The one who has you all fucked up.”
He laughed. “No change,” he said. “I’m still fucked up. But I’ll get over it. I have experience getting over women. I had a wife I loved once—she ripped me up good.”
“I’m sorry, Joe. There’s practically no one I’d rather see happy…”
“You know, that’s one of the problems with this place,” Joe said. “You guys. When you opened this bar, there were five of us at loose ends, and not looking to settle down. The only ones settled with women were Zeke, Corny, Phillips and Stephens. The rest of us were getting well into our thirties, pretty damn happy to be single. Plenty of women out there to keep us busy for a little while. Then you guys—Jesus. You not only hooked up, you found these incredible…”
Jack poured himself a shot to join his friend in commiseration. “We got lucky,” he said.
“It goes way past luck,” Joe said. “Some god was smiling on you.” He looked into his glass. “I’m just an idiot. I had my arms around this woman for one long, incredible night and I thought—this is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life. And she slipped away from me that fast,” he said, snapping his fingers. “I woke up alone.” He lifted his drink to his lips.
Chairs scraped back as the Hot Shots got up to leave. They all hollered their thanks, a couple of them coming forward to shake Jack’s hand, then filed out the door.
Alone in the bar, Preacher in the back with his family, Jack said, “How about going after her?”
“I tried. She’s gone.”
Jack leaned on the bar. “I’m sorry, man. I thought that was going to happen to me with Mel. From the second she hit town, she said she was leaving.”
“When did you know? Or think you knew? With Mel?”
“Oh, man,” he said, and laughed. “It was real slow. Took me five or ten minutes. It was the jeans. Have you ever noticed how my wife looks in a pair of jeans? Maybe you shouldn’t answer that…”
“With me it was a pink dress…”
Jack’s eyes widened. “Whoa, damn.”
“You shouldn’t give me alcohol,” he said. “Makes me talk.”
