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One

Once the sun went down in Virgin River there wasn’t a whole lot of entertainment for Sean Riordan, unless he wanted to sit by the fire at his brother Luke’s house But sitting all quiet and cozy while Luke and his neife, Shelby, snuggled and said sweet little things to each other was a special kind of tor tired so they could slip off to bed at eight o’clock at night More often than not Sean just er town on the coast where he could enjoy the sights and do a little -shopping, maybe meet a woman of his own

Sean was a U-2 pilot stationed at Beale Air Force Base in Northern California, a few hours south of Virgin River He had accumulated a ton of vacation and could only carry over ninety days to the next fiscal year, so he had a couple of otten , Sean decided to stay on in Virgin River and use up some of his leave Given the fact that Luke and Shelby had been together about a year, Sean didn’t feel as if he was interfering with the honey around All that loveydovey stuff was not sothe deal, as it was about the hot to trot, as if they’d just met

And there was a lot of talk about babythat surprised Sean about Luke However, Luke’s willingness to step up and try to nail that egg, night after night after night, that did not surprise Sean in the slightest

During the daytime, Sean always had lots to do There was plenty of upkeep on the cabins Luke and Sean had bought together as an invested and rented full-ti—it was still deer season—and the salmon and trout were fat; the river ran practically outside the front door Luke and his helper, Art, were catching soto it fro freezer

There was no denying the appeal of the Virgin River area for a guy with time on his hands Sean was an outdoorsman at heart and the October colors in thebefore the first snowfall, and soon after that he would have to get back to Beale So, in the meantime, all he wanted to do was find a nice bar with a fireplace to relax next to—one without his brother and sister-in-law cuddling up in front of it

“Ready for another drink, pal?” the bartender asked him

“I’ood, thanks I didn’t come in here to check out the architecture, but the detailed carving in this place is impressive,” Sean replied

The bartender laughed “Two things are obvious about you You’re not from around here and you’re military”

“Okay, I adiveaway But the rest—?”

“This is lumber country and this bar is wall-to-wall oak When it was built, the as probably cheaper than the nails The craftss you to town?”

Sean took a sip of his beer “Burning off so my brother I have a little over six weeks of leave left I used to hit the bars withdays are over”

“War injury?” the bartender asked

“Battle of the sexes He just got married”

The bartender whistled “My condolences”

Tonight Sean had landed in a large upscale bar and restaurant in Arcata He occupied a spot at the end of the bar where he could get a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree view of the place So far it appeared as if all the women ith husbands or dates, but that didn’t di for a pickup Sometioing to be spending some time in this part of the world, he wasn’t opposed to the idea of getting to know a girl, take her out, et a little up close and personal

All such thoughts were suddenly stopped and were replaced by, Ah! Looks like I just hit the jackpot

There was a ripple of feroup of woood tie restaurant, he could appreciate their assets The first one was short, dark, a little on the round side and deliciously so She appeared lush and soft and brought a smile to Sean’s lips The second one was tall, thin, athletic looking, with straight, silky, unfussy blond hair Obviously a gy woure, twinkling eyes and a bright sht appreciatively Sean did not discriminate—he was attracted to all kinds of women, not just one type Next was—

Franci?